What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Sarr Stratification

Well, I'm going to be getting some Sarr hybrid seeds soon(Thank you Ozzy and Pyro). I want to stratify them by putting them in pots with a baggie and soil and stratify. But, I want to hear what people with experience want to say. What has worked for you the best? And should I stratify for about 4 weeks?

Edit: Also, should I put it outside or in my tank, really close to the lights?
 
I put them in a wet paper towel inside a zip loc bag in the fridge for 6 weeks. You can put them outside or under lights whichever you prefer.
 
as far as cutting down on mold, has there been one stratification media that has performed better?
some say paper towel, some say damp LFSM, some say put the whole pot in,
any opinions?
 
I've had much luck with poking holes in the bottom of the cups in styrofoam egg cartons and filling them with the peat/perlite mix. I use the lid of the egg carton as a water tray and put it in the butter compartment of the fridge for a month. That's it and it has worked quite well for me.
 
Live Sphagnum with most of the water squeezed out of it is the best mold inhibitor I've found, followed by finely milled dried sphagnum moss.

As long as it's cold and damp just about any medium works for stratification. I've found no difference in germination rates based on what was used for stratification.
 
I think cinnamon helps discourage mold ask someone else for more info. Also the papertowels from public bathrooms tend to not mold as easily.
 
Live Sphagnum with most of the water squeezed out of it is the best mold inhibitor I've found, followed by finely milled dried sphagnum moss.

As long as it's cold and damp just about any medium works for stratification. I've found no difference in germination rates based on what was used for stratification.

Ok, I have dried sphagnum, so I should just chop it up and what not? I've heard Dried Sphagnum rots quickly in hot weather.

Edit: Actually, I just so happened to have heard that bathrrom towels don't mold easily so I have some. But I'm not sure if I should use that or milled Sphagnum.
 
Just toss some of dried stuff into an old food processor and sprinkle a thin layer on top of your pots. It doesn't matter if you put it on over the seeds or the seeds on top of the chopped stuff. Lois prefers to cover the seeds. Mist lightly with water. I recommend wearing a dust mask when messing with finely milled stuff.

Or put a pinch of the milled stuff in a plastic bag or cup with seeds mixed in it. Damp of course, with most of the water squeezed out.
 
Just toss some of dried stuff into an old food processor and sprinkle a thin layer on top of your pots. It doesn't matter if you put it on over the seeds or the seeds on top of the chopped stuff. Lois prefers to cover the seeds. Mist lightly with water. I recommend wearing a dust mask when messing with finely milled stuff.

Or put a pinch of the milled stuff in a plastic bag or cup with seeds mixed in it. Damp of course, with most of the water squeezed out.

Ok, but can I put peat/perlite and have a top layer of the milled stuff? Plus, I'm not sure what a food processor, so would chopping it into fine little pieaces still work?
 
  • #10
I remember someone saying that stratifying with moist sand worked really well for them.
 
  • #11
How about algae? I have seedlings in pure milled sphagnum and it greened up almost immediately. I've moved them to a different tank with more circulation, but they were getting a breeze in the other tank as well.

Capensis, Mosser Lee makes a bag of milled sphagnum that I picked up for about $3 at a garden center. Of course, that is the stuff that turned green for me but it is commercially available milled moss.
 
  • #12
...Should I just do an experiment using both pot and towel?
 
  • #13
How about algae? I have seedlings in pure milled sphagnum and it greened up almost immediately. I've moved them to a different tank with more circulation, but they were getting a breeze in the other tank as well.

Algae doesn't seem to bother the seedlings. I scoop off what I can with a spoon and let the media dry out as much as possible for a day. What it does to germinating seeds I haven't had any experience with.

...Should I just do an experiment using both pot and towel?

If you have enough seeds and the patience by all means experiment and see which technique you like or works best for you.
 
  • #14
If you have enough seeds and the patience by all means experiment and see which technique you like or works best for you.

I'll be receiving about 30 seeds and one thing I need to know is how long I need to stratify. Does 5 weeks sound good?
 
  • #15
What species? 4 weeks for most everything. 5-6 weeks for S. purpurea.

You can chop LFS by hand but it's a PITA. Just shake shake out the dust from the bottom of the bag. That's what I do until it runs out.
 
  • #16
It's (leuco 'red' x okee minor) x psitt.
 
  • #17
I actually got some of that exact seed in the begining of april. I stratified it for four weeks with moist lfs and got about 85-90% germination. It did take awhile to germinate and start putting up pitchers. Mine were sown at the begining of may and they're just now starting to put up their second pitcher. Here's a pic from a couple weeks ago.
 
  • #18
Is that lfs mixed with perlite, or all 1:1:1 of peat/perlite/lfs?
 
  • #19
They're growing in peat moss and perlite. The lfs on top is what I stratified it with. I just spread the seeds and lfs across the surface and let them germinate. I guess I could pick the lfs off now but I probably won't.
 
  • #20
Sorry to bring this thread up, but it's been four weeks now and I now having the results. I did pot and baggie of sphagnum, and the seeds in the pot ending getting some kind of mold, or that's what it seems like. As far as I can tell, I see two that were uneffected. The ones in the baggie has no mold or fungus. I had the seeds at the bottom of the sphagnum as well, so in my opinion, I think the baggie with LFS is better. But with the pot, I kept it a baggie that was slighty open, so could this have caused the mold? Here is a photo of some seeds that have mold (I think it is).

Edit: In the pot was peat/perlite and with a top layer of LFS.
 
Back
Top