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Germination problems

Hey all... I was wondering what I seem to be doing wrong here... In a previous post, I mentioned that I recently sowed some D. Capensis and D. Rotundifolia seeds. According to the information that I got, they both should have sprouted within 15 days time. I'm now at day 19, and have seen no results. Here was my method used: 2 inch pots, filled full with a dried sphag., perlite combo, equal amounts of each. Both mediums were washed. I let them soak, in a stainless steel bucket, with plenty of water, for 24 hours, mixing them up at about 4 hour intervals. I then squeezed the excess water out, re-rinsed till the water ran clear, and potted the soil. I sowed the seeds appx. 1/8th of an inch under the soil, but under other advice, 3 days later seperated the soil back to expose the seeds to fresh air. The pots have been in standing distilled water, in full 6.5 hour a day sunlight since. The average temp here has been about 78 degrees, with 65 % humidity. Any help would be greatly appreciated... I'm starting to lose hope that they will grow for me!
 
If you buried them, they probably won't sprout as sundew seeds are very tiny and would be hard to see. Don't give up as it can take them a month or two sometimes.
dewy
 
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Wow! I had no idea it could take that long! should I keep the soil as wet as I have been, or do you think I should try drying it out a little bit?
 
If you have the set up covered, they only need a little moisture. You also want to avoid getting mold.
 
Did you cold stratify the D. rotundifolia?

Cheers,

Joe
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (The Griffin @ April 02 2006,4:06)]Did you cold stratify the D. rotundifolia?

 Cheers,

 Joe
I hate to make myself sound stupid here, but... Huh?
 
D. rotundifolia comes from northern climates, and the plants flower in summer, so the seeds expect there to be a long, cold winter ahead. Then, the seeds sprout in spring. So, to get the seeds to sprout in cultivation, they need to have around 3 months of coldness, like in the fridge. Then, sow them on any sort of peat mix, and they should sprout within a few weeks to a month. "Cold stratify" just means to give seeds a cold period of weather in order to make them sprout.

-Ben
 
It needs to be cold and moist, just putting the packet of seeds in the fridge won't do it.

You can sow them in a pot, then put the pot in a bag, and place the bag in the fridge.

Or you can place them on a moist paper towel, then place that in a bag, and put that in the fridge.
 
Ahh. I get it now.... So, new question here. Since I have had these pots sitting outside for the past 3 weeks, will the rotundifolia still sprout if I were to begin the cold stratification now?
 
  • #12
See? You know more now than when you started this hobby! Sarrs need the cold stratification too. Germination times are anywhere from 10 days to as long as six months with most seed. However, with d. macranthra, d. ramellosa, and d. platypoda, it took time. 4 years to be exact So your month or two is NOTHING compared to the germination rates of some seed.
 
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