Darlingtonia from Seed

[mcantrell]

Cool, just watch how wet you keep it right now. They might rot during this time of year if kept too wet.

Ok, I'll try to keep the water conservative.

It doesn't look dormant but I'm not sure how they look while dormant. They're right next to my VFT and Sarr that's inside, the VFT has a flower growing and the Sarr has an explosion of like 6 new pitchers coming up, so I am HOPING that's means that windowsill is getting enough sun to keep the Darlingtonia alive for a month or so until I can take it outside to stay. I plan on keeping the seedlings half inside half outside for the first few years or so.

 

[theyellowdart]

Awsome thread, lotsa' great info.

On the dormancy issue:
My death cube Darlingtonia has been kept outside all winter here (zone 6-7) with constant low temps, some nights below freezing, and minimal protection (just some mulch over the media). All of the top pitcher growth has browned, but some green is still visible at the base of each pitcher, meaning, hopefully, the plant has survived, and is still surviving (we had a huge blizzard today).
So I believe these plants are pretty cold hardy and should survive in your conditions with a little bit of protection.

Good luck with the seedlings.

Matt

 

[mcantrell]

Well, in theory I'm in Zone 6, but I might be closer to Zone 5. It's been below freezing all night long for the past few months, with a few weeks in a row of 24x7 temps below 20F.

Weirdly enough, my outdoor temperature sensor says it's 51 degrees, Weatherunderground says... 51. Huh. Well, if it keeps this kinda temperatures up I'll be able to put my Tracyi and Darlingtonia out this week.

 

[Not a Number]

Cold stratify the seeds on damp media (peat, LFS, paper towel etc.) in the refrigerator for 4 weeks.

Sow on top of media. Chopped LFS is my media of choice - tamp it down lightly to minimize spaces for seeds to drop into. Live Sphagnum will quickly over grow the seeds unless you trim it back constantly.

Peat/Perlite mix is ok for Darlingtonia. Keep it about 30/70 Peat to Perlite. About the same if using LFS and Perlite. You want an airy substrate.

Germinate the seeds covered under lights at room temperatures. I average about 10 days for germination.

Oversize your pots by at least one size.

 

[mcantrell]

Well, they've been in there for 6 weeks now, not quite 3/20 like I was thinking, but I am not a patient man and today seemed like a good day to try new things. With my new plant rack lights I decided to take half the seeds and put them in the chosen growing chambers.

LFS Container:

Rooting Container:

Think it might need something to take care of the green stuff, but I'm loathe to risk it...

 

[mcantrell]

So 2 weeks later... 0 strikes. The seeds seem to be fine, but, they're not growing.

Any ideas? They are sitting on top of upside down saucers as close to the light as I can get them. Maybe I should bring them down to the base level of the shelf and put my heat mat under them? Right now they're room temperature (60-70 F), on a 14 hour photoperiod.

 

[BigBella]

So 2 weeks later... 0 strikes. The seeds seem to be fine, but, they're not growing.

Any ideas? They are sitting on top of upside down saucers as close to the light as I can get them. Maybe I should bring them down to the base level of the shelf and put my heat mat under them? Right now they're room temperature (60-70 F), on a 14 hour photoperiod.

It can take longer than two weeks with Darlingtonia seeds. How long were the seeds stratified? I chilled mine back in 2005-06 for about four weeks and had a reasonable amount of germination after three-four weeks -- though I have heard that upwards of two months is required. I didn't have the patience. I would give your sown seeds more light (closer to the elements), slightly less moisture, but the room Tbs seem fine.

Good luck . . .

 

[Not a Number]

I wouldn't get concerned until after 6 weeks. Even then just leave them be. Some experienced CP growers will give a pot of germinating seeds two years or so before giving up.

You can try a heat pad but remove the seedlings from the pad immediately after germination or you'll end up with dead seedlings. This I found out the hard way.

I agree with Dave, looks like your substrate is too wet to me.

 

[mcantrell]

Well, the live LFS pot is really really wet, intentionally so. the other one has no drainage or steam holes, so... Yeah. I'll try draining it off a little bit tonight. The LFS has a few bugs in it that I just can't get rid of, but they don't seem to be affecting the seeds.

The seeds were stratified for 6 weeks, and I have about half my steeds still in there stratifying. I can try and get the containers closer to the light, maybe removing the clear lids.

My 3 year Darlingtonia seedling was frozen solid last few nights, but is dethawing in the morning, so... Kinda hoping to have some spares.

 

[BigBella]

They are far tougher than they look. I saw some plants at high altitude, half buried in the snow a few years back. The one piece of advice I could offer is to provide more drainage than you have.

Darlingtonia is fond of a great deal of moving water but a consistently stagnant environment will only invite pests and rot . . .