Icps seedbank

[Bugweed]

What I used to like about the ICPS seedbank, was the location information on the seed packet. You used to know where every plant came from. And it was easy to keep different locales apart when seeding as you knew where they came from, and didn't mix bogs. John doesn't give locations, and probably wouldn't if he had the locations. Tre, send him seed with locale info, and see if that information gets to the seed bank, on the list. I wonder if John will even bother. Next time I see John, we need to have a talk. I would buy species according to location as I knew what to expect, and the suprises I would get. Today, a plant species is listed without so much as a how do you do. WHERE did it come from? Which Bog is this plant associated with? With what they give now, you will never know. The oreos are still oreos, the alabamensis has their location codes, but where in the heck did the flava come from? And the psitts, and rubra's? I want more than just a plant species. The color diversity just isn't there anymore, because you have NO idea what you are getting, or where it comes from. I myself, NEED that information. A leuco from Tate's Hell Swamp, is vastly different than a leuco from Perdido, Baldwin County, Alabama. Start listing the locales, and I will buy seed, and even donate location seed. Getting John to do it, is another story.

 

[CP2k]

Not sure if it is different with the Sarracenia, but most of the Drosera species I received just a while back included location data, even species that did not have the location data listed on the website.
One thing to note about the CPS seedbank is that it includes seeds purchased from commercial sources such as Lowrie, so not all the seeds were donated. However, even without the purchased seeds, the inventory is still much larger.
I guess that there are much more UK Sarracenia growers with large collections than US Sarracenia growers...just take a look at the growlist of Mike King. Maybe this is why there are so many different Sarracenia seeds.
As for the petiolaris complex Drosera, most of these plants will only produce seeds when crossed with a different clone. Last year, I was able to produce a small quantity of paradoxa seeds by rubbing the flowers together. Each stalk can easily produce hundreds of seeds, if each of the flowers were pollinated. The flowers open one per day per stalk and will close quite fast. Unfortunetly, the flowers only opened for me during the middle of the day(when I am usually not home) and closed in the afternoon as I grew them outdoors.

 

[CP2k]

After looking at both the ICPS seedbank site and the CPS seedbank site, I noted some key differences. The policy on the CPS site states that members receive 4 free packets of seeds and could receive 2 more packets of seeds by paying a small fee. To obtain more than 6 packets of seeds, members need to donate seeds. For every two packets of different seeds donated, members receive one packet of seed. There is no limit on the number of packets a members can receive, assuming that members can donate enough different seeds. I assume that members cannot keep donating capensis and spatulata seeds.

On the ICPS website, members can always purchase seeds(limit set at 40 packs a year). Members receive one packet of seed for every 15 packs of seeds donated.

The policy of the CPS seedbank makes it much more difficult for members to receive seeds unless they are able to donate many different packets of seeds, whereas members of the ICPS can just purchase the seeds(up to 40 packets) or donate many of the same seeds. One policy appears to be more beneficial towards growers with larger collections of plants who may be able to donate rarer seeds, while the other policy appears to be more beneficial towards beginning growers.

A while back, I remember that the ICPS site had some rare D.graniticola seeds. These disappeared quickly as members I imagine that many members purchased the seeds. The variety of seeds in the seedbank did not significantly increase, so I assume that not many people donated seeds to obtain the graniticola seeds. If these seeds appeared in the CPS seedbank, I would bet that they would still be there after several years because of the smaller membership base(?) and the seed policy. The retention rate of seeds in the CPS seedbank is probably much greater, so there would be more diversity. The only problem with a higher retention rate is that some of the seeds might be inviable because of age(many Pinguicula,Utricularia and Genlisea seeds do not remain viable for very long).

 

[Treaqum]

True on that seed. The problem with the locations on ICPS is that as Bugweed said the location 'Baldwin County, AL' just will not cut it. That is generic. S. leuco from 'Pitcher Plant Park' and S. leuco from perdido are different. In growth habit and looks. I could show you with S. minor locals one is very slow where as others are rapid.
I like the CPS because you have to donate to get any reasonable amount of seed (12 packets a year). Where as ICPS I can buy as much as I want. The problem with that is that not all var. of stuff will be there by the time my check gets there. At least CPS you have a chance because everyone has to donate seed. I should include that I bought 26 (I think) packets of seed last year in two groups and always one species had to be substitued (which was okay when I did not have many plants but now I have a lot more and am picky-er). But I must comliment John for all the hard work he puts in. Folding those little packets would drive me insane.