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Ten types of seeds - how to germinate?

Cindy

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Here they are:

aliciae
burmanii
binata
paciflora
peltata
pulchella
broomesis
dilato-petiolaris
falconeri
spatulata

Your call now, Tamlin.
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I have the aliciae and binata seeds for 2 weeks now, but still no sign of germination.

Also, how long do Byblis liniformis (sp?) seeds take to germinate? 2 weeks and still nothing.
 
haha, Tamlin is the expert here =D. Tamlin knows everything
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Well, I can pipe up on spatulata and aliciae.
For both spatulata and aliciae, just sprinkle them on top of your potting medium (I used 1:1 pete/perlite). Spread them rather thinly, as they usually experience a high germination rate (in my experience). You don't have to spread them TOO thinly, though, as they are used to fairly crowded conditions (they clump). I would make the alicaie a little more sparce than the spatulata. They both take 4 to 6 weeks to germinate. Keep them on the tray method.
 
The following text was written by Tamlin Dawnstar earlier this year. It should be helpfull for you.

Good luck
Steve


"Seed has been sent to many growers from the Dawnstar Collection :) I want to present to you my thoughts on how to best succeed with the coming adventure many of you will have growing this seed into beautiful flowering plants.

We begin with the consideration of the meduim onto which the seed will be lightly sown. This medium should be both clean and acidic.

The best germination medium is finely milled New Zealand long fiber sphagnum spread in a layer on pure peat. The acidity and natural antifungal and antiseptic properties of this medium will discourage the growth of opportunistic fungi and algae, which is a very important step towards winning the game! Seed can germinate and damp off in hours if attacked by fungi. You will never even know it was there.

When I say clean, I mean the peat used should be well rinsed prior to its use. The sphagnum as well should be rinsed with pure distilled water prior to its use to remove any trace micro nutrients that will allow the growth of fungi and algae. I leave my peat open to the rain for the season outside, so it is always ready for my needs. I sterilize it in the microwave before use. The moss I plunge in a bucket, squeeze out the water, repeat. The moss is then milled in a food processor until fine, and is ready for use.

Pots should be new and clean, and any water used should be distilled. Not rain! Rain water usually carries algal spores with it from various sources of contamination. If tray watering is used, the trays should be squeaky clean, and the water distilled.

The reason for all this care is that if your seed becomes involved with the life cycle of fungi, algae, mosses and liverworts, your seed will not germinate, or it will be so compromised seedlings will die shortly after germination, or languish without good development.

Will it always happen if you don't take precautions? Maybe not. But if you get some rare seed that is a once in a lifetime try, do you want to chance it?

The sterile peat is put in a pot or tray, and the milled moss spread 1 or 2 inches deep. The medium should be moist but not very wet. I find the disposable food storage containers to be ideal as the can be sealed and reopened easily.

If you are awaiting seed, now is a great time to begin preparing the medium. It is best to have the medium "age" a little, and to observe it for any potential problems.

There are reasons for such precautions. Many of these species have evolved in habitats that have been washed clean for millions of years. They have no natural defenses against many of the various fungi and other opportunistic byrophytes for they are not present in the plant's habitat.

Later, when the plants have established and built up some strength, things can ease off a little. Rain water can be used, humidity decreased, etc. They establish quickly if there is no competition.

Remember, little things make big differences in growing CP with success. The more you can do in little things, the more the plants will reward you. Don't be scared, it's really not a difficult thing :) You can do it!

Next Chapter: Sowing the Seed :)

I know everyone has read the prior post on the importance of a clean medium. Now that the substrate is ready for the seeds, all that remains is the careful sowing of them. The seeds I sent all were stored cold and are ready for sowing without any additional need for stratification.

I sow the seeds by carefully rolling or tapping them off a folded sheet of white paper. Sow them on, not in, the medium. The seed must not be covered. Remember as they roll off, each has the potential to become a plant, and try not to over sow your seeds. 25 seeds is a good planting, and after attrition you should still have all the plants you will need. Try to drop each seed by intent, not by chance, and keep the spout of the paper moving around. It is easy to roll them to the center of the pot, but try not to focus there, rather more toward the rim. Seeds will make it to the center all on their own with little help from you. Its harder to sow them toward the rim, so concentrate. Immediately label the pot. I suggest marking directly on the pot, not the ziplock bag. This is a *very* important detail. Do not wait, do it immediately or you will get confused over time with the potential of spreading this confusion exponentially to other growers if you make an error. This caution applies to “expert” growers as well as “newbies”: No one is immune, and I have received misidentified material from many respected sources. This is one way that mistake can happen. If you do lose a label, you will have a 6 month wait to know what you are growing, and will also have an adventure in taxonomy trying to figure out what you have!

The label should contain as much data as is possible. Do not use marker pens, laundry pens, or any ink that is not India ink. A soft lead pencil is much better. Ink fades and washes away. Make sure the label sits well into the medium, or bury it at a corner of the pot if you dont like the look of it sticking out. All collection data regarding locality, elevation is very valuable information and should be retained, as there is considerable variation in droserae populations. I also mark the date the seed was sown, along with the scientific binomial or cultivar name if applicable. Keep a record of where the particular seed came from, in case there is need to correct an ID, or other communication is needed. I use a code that refers me back to a notebook entry containing this information.

Once the sowing done, I generally ziplock the pot in a bag, with maybe 1 cm pure water at the bottom.. I zip the bag shut, and place it in indirect light. You want to keep the light levels low until you note germination. Light at this stage of things only encourages algal growth, and the seeds do not require it for germination. Don’t place them under the lights if you can possibly avoid this. I use no subsequent water until germination is noted, unless there are evident signs of drying of the medium. Seed does not have to be in a soaking wet medium, just moist. I never spray the medium since this often washes the seed away and buries it.

The time until germination will vary according to species from 2 weeks to 2 years. You must be patient, and not give up if the plants do not appear. Keep the bag as long as you can afford a bit of space for it somewhere. I have had Brazillian species appear after a years wait. Petiolaris complex plants germinated after 6 months. D. glanduligera and D. arcturi took close to 2 years. There is no excitement that compares to seeing a forest of seedlings when you had long given up any real hope. There is *always* hope, provided the culture is not overgrown with moss and algae (see the prior topic on preparing the mix for details on this, and how to avoid it)

After a long wait, if nothing appears I usually retain the original labels, but I resow the pot with seed from other genera, with a new label. There can always be surprises, and I hate to waste anything. By this time the culture will have proved itself free of algal or bryophyte contamination, and is a good bet for valuable seed of another genera, since there will be no further worries of contamination. For this reason I like to prepare my medium as far in advance of sowing as possible: it gives time for potential problems to appear

Temps of even 70F with little night time drop will facilitate germination in most species, the exception being the winter growing Australian and African species. Some possible places to keep seed is atop the fridge, on the stove top if you have gas pilot lights, sitting above the ballast on fluorescents. I have gone so far as to put a pot on top of my computer monitor, but be SURE there is no drip!

Once germination is noted, plants should immediately be placed close beneath fluorescents. Be wary of exposing the seedlings to direct sunlight too quickly, although this is to be encouraged over time, along with a gradual lessening of humidity. I leave the seedlings sealed for a week after germination, then I crack the seal for longer and wider periods over time. Once the bag can safely remain totally open, I transfer the pot to tray watering and begin normal culture under strong light indoors, or direct sun outdoors (with appropriate screening until acclimization is reached)here in Upstate New York.

My best wishes to you all. Happy sowing. "
Text written by Tamlin Dawnstar 2003
 
Holy Cow!! You beat me with my own advice, LOL! Errr, for the record, Tamlin does NOT know everything, but thanks for the kind opinions! However, I do agree with everything I said, as far as seed sowing goes, hee hee.
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Your seeds are of 3 types, each requiring a different strategy.

D. aliciae, D. burmannii, D. binata, and D. spatulata may be treated as tropical varieties: sow anytime without stratification. The protocol is straight forward and typical. I use 50/50 clean sand/peat. I have abundant seed of all but D. aliciae should your initial attempts fail.

D. broomensis, D. falconeri and D. dilatato-petiolaris are from the Petiolaris Complex of plants and are best sown when the temperatures are HOT. They appreciate no drop in nightime temps, but I have heard others have had no difficulty germinating the seed even in winter, although my experience is other. I have found this seed to be stubborn, and have generally gotten poor germination. I advise you use a light airy substrate. I use LFS/pearlite 50/50 for these plants, and try to sow them so that they can develop well before having to transplant. Don't give up on these for at least a year.

D. pauciflora will be the most difficult of the lot. Both these and D. peltata are wintergrowing species. D. peltata should be sown as the cooler weather approaches, although I have had seed come up at any time as weeds in the pot.

D. pauciflora has never germinated for me, but I have heard seed needs to "ripen" in the hot summer sun before germinating. I have heard that seed sown in the spring will not germinate until the fall months. Smokewater may also be effective in breaking the inhibitory auxins in the seed coat, but it has not worked for me to date, nor has the use of GA3. This species prefers a gritty compost similar to that used for Australian tuberous species. The flowers are the largest in the genus, quite shocking really, and its a pity that I have never seen them :-(. I have a pot I sowed last spring that has sat protected over the summer outside where the rains have reached it. I hope this will have removed the inhibitors from the seed coat, but I really have little hope after so many repeated failures although I will continue to try to grow this species until it evolves into something else!

D. pulchella is an Australian pygmy species and also will germinate in the cool wet season as it does in habitat, if you are lucky. It is very stubborn seed as well, as are most of the winter growing species in this genus. The usual method of reproduction is via gemmae, but sowing seed means the possibility of new and different forms through sexual recombination. Gemmae produce only identical clones, so it is a good work that you do.

I hope this helps you in your efforts to bring these wonderful species to growers in Singapore. Seed is the very best way to adjust the plants to your own conditions: seed grown plants always fare the best.

Ebeyonder:

2 weeks is too soon to start chomping at the bit, LOL. You must be patient. Sometimes they go in 2 weeks, sometimes its over a month for the tropicals, sometimes longer! My advice is to constantly seek out seed and keep on sowing it, this way there is always something new coming up, and the wait isn't so painful.

As soon as I get some little envelopes I will be offering a plethora of seed on the Trading Forum, as this seasons seeds are harvested and ready.

I am off to look at the vacant D. pauciflora pot. I think I will put it into production now. Cross your fingers for me and I'll do the same for you!
 
Wow, that was a great read. Thanks for all the advice, Tamlin!

For my previous seed sowing attempt, I did not sterilize the peat or the sand. That's why I fear that something's wrong with them now. Shld I spray some fungicide on them (Captan) now or simply leave them alone? I have them with little plastic sheets over the pots, placed in a shaded area in trays of rain water.

With regards to the medium, is LFS required for all the seeds? Indeed, you wrote that for D.aliciae, D.binata, only a sand/peat mix is sufficient. From this, I gather that LFS is recommended, tho' not necessary? As for sterilizing, can I just leave the pre-mixed sand/peat in the hot sun instead of putting them in the microwave?

Finally, about the part of putting the pots into ziplock bags. Do I need a tray of water, or is the water simply poured into the ziplock bag along with the pot and then sealed? Will I need to replace the water from time to time, or will the water last since the bag is sealed?

Thanks a lot!
 
Oh, I'm panicking after 2 weeks becos I read that for Byblis liniformis (sp?), the seeds usually germinate in days! So, just trying to make sure that all is well
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I heard Byblis germinates quickly so I don't know about this one. I have had little experience with the genus, maybe someone else can tell you their experiences with this plant.
 
  • #10
I have never heard of Byblis germinating in 2 days as a standard. I've had it germinate within about 2 weeks but can be longer than that.

Suzanne
 
  • #11
I sowed some Byblis liniflora seed earlier this year and the seed germinated in 4-6 days. I would think this would be normal for plants that grow as annuals. If they don't sprout, grow and flower quickly, they'd be completely wiped out.



Tamlin,
It's great to hear your harvests are going well. The seed you sent out last time has produced marvelous little plants that some are even putting up tiny scapes of their own. You really have to love the genetic variation one can only get from seed.
 
  • #12
Hi,

in my experience its a deal about light and heat:

During winter time Byblis liniflora needed between 2-4 weeks to germinate under lights, during summer the first seedling appeared after 5-7 days. For me there are some quick germinating seeds, then there is the "main group" and after some weeks or months every now and then one seed of the later ones germinates.

Good growing,
Jan
 
  • #13
tamli,can d .capensis be germinated in a peat\perlite mix? and if so what combination? thanks
 
  • #14
Hi,

I've parked my D. broomensis, D. falconeri and D. dilatato-petiolaris on top of my florescent lamps ballasts. They are in a food container wrapped up with black paper to cut out light.

Starting with these because they take some time to germinate...while the winter-growing ones need smoke.

Which I have no idea what material I should use for burning. Any help?
 
  • #15
Hi Cindy,
please look at your messenger!
Thanks,
Jan
 
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