Is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of pollen this spring?

ASK THE HORT AGENT

Question Since I’ve had a cold nearly all winter (and I’m sick of it), is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of pollen that will aggravate my allergies this spring?

Answer As Captain Sully said before landing on the Hudson River, “Brace for impact.”

You may be able to reduce the concentration of pollen in your house or office by using various filtering systems. Hepa filters and ionic breezes may give you some relief while you are trying to sleep or watch tv.

Plants produce microscopic pollen grains in order to transfer genetic information as part of their reproduction process. Some plants use the pollen from their own flowers to fertilize themselves. Other plants must be cross-pollinated. Cross-pollination is when pollen transfers from the flower of one plant to another plant of the same species for fertilization to take place and seeds to form. Insects do this job for certain flowering plants, while other plants let their pollen ride the wind.

As far as planting in your yard, there is not a whole lot you can do. Plants with large showy flowers and sweet smells generally don't contribute to your allergy problem. Their pollen is large and usually carried by insects like bees.

The types of pollen that most commonly cause allergic reactions are produced by the plain looking plants (trees, grasses, and weeds) that do not have showy flowers. These plants manufacture small, light, dry pollen granules that are custom-made for wind transport. Samples of ragweed pollen have been collected 400 miles out at sea and 2 miles high in the air. Since airborne pollen is carried for long distances, it does little good to rid an area of an offending plant. The pollen can drift in from many miles away. In addition, most allergenic pollen comes from plants that produce it in huge quantities. A single ragweed plant can generate a million grains of pollen a day.

Grasses and weeds generally produce their offending pollen in the fall. In the spring, it is the trees that hit us the hardest. Trees that produce allergenic pollen include oak, ash, elm, hickory, pecan, and box elder. Pine tree pollen is produced in large amounts by a common tree, which would make it a good candidate for causing allergy. However, the chemical composition of pine pollen appears to make it less allergenic than other types. Pine pollen is relatively large and heavy. So it tends to fall straight down and does not scatter. Therefore, it rarely reaches our noses to cause a problem.

Windy conditions, which are typically experienced during spring, are excellent for spreading pollen. Since it won't do any good to cut down the oak trees in your yard, you can either hold up in your house for a few weeks or try to get a prescription for relief from the wind blown part of tree sex known as pollen. For more info about pollen, visit http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/600-699/nb603.htm If you don’t have internet access, call me at 910-893-7533 or email me at gpierce@harnett.org

You can also move to Arizona or New Mexico. The spring pollen count is a lot lower out there.

Gary L. Pierce

Horticulture Extension Agent

Harnett County