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Planted Seed Too DEEP !!!! HELP ME OF MY bABIES WILL DIE !!!!!!

Empyrean

Destiny VS Cause And Effect
well i didn't know that i shouldn't bury the venus fly trap seeds and sundew seeds, but i actually buried them in about 1 inch deep >.< in a 20 gallon fish tank, because of the seed is so small and dark color i couldn't do anything i m worry if they can sprout them selve out of the 1 inch peat moss >.< please tell me what i should do to help those poor little thing, and will they be alright? -in pain- my babies TT_TT help my babies TT_TT :cry: :headwall: :help: my babies :down: :sorry: my babies
 
What else is in the terrarium?
did you plant the seeds in one general area?

If the area you planted is generally free of other plants, and if you know the general area they are planted..I would try this..

scoop out all the media in that area containing the seeds, throw it all into a big bucket of water..and try to separate the media from the seeds...

if its peat, you can make a big sludge milkshake out of the peat, dilute it with a lot of water..(im thinking a fist-full of peat in a 5-gallon bucket of water)..strain it through some fine mesh, and you might be able to recover the VFT seeds..

If its spagnum, the seeds might also separate from the media..seeds will either sink or float..either way you might be able to separate them from the media..

sundew seeds might not work so well, because they are usually REALLY tiny..
what kind of sundew seeds are they?

IMO thats your best bet..try to separate the seeds from the media and re-sow..
yes, 1" deep is too deep..

as a general rule of thumb, any seed, regardless of the plant, shouldnt be planted to a depth that is more than twice the diameter of the seed..the smaller the seed, the shallower the depth..something like a sunflower or pumpkin seed can go 1" deep..

and BTW, growing CPs from seed is way overrated..its not really worth the effort IMO..
(it takes 5 years to get an full-size VFT from seed..and nearly all will die before they make it that far)
its much easier to just buy mature plants.

Scot
 
...ouch.

I'm kind of unsure what to do, thats an awful situation...

I dont think most of those will be able to reach the surface level... what type of drosera?

I really dont know what to do...If there's like a zero chance of germination at that depth which I'm not really sure of I guess since I havn't had this happen before... but
maybe stir up that top inch? and pray? I'm not really sure

I hope someone has a good solution to this
 
and BTW, growing CPs from seed is way overrated..its not really worth the effort IMO..
(it takes 5 years to get an full-size VFT from seed..and nearly all will die before they make it that far)
its much easier to just buy mature plants.

Scot

I agree to most of your points...but the point that most die. I have had every seedling that sprouted survive. its been 2 yrs and a couple of seedlings are already like 4 inches size in diameter. Are u referring to the strike rate? I agree in taht department as I have had like only 60% germination rate with like only a 10% mortality rate in the seedlings that have germinated.

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113412
 
Well it doesn't matter how long it takes for them to grow to mature size its fun to raise them from seedling u have the feeling that u been there watching them grow o_O i actually enjoy the steps from baby VFT to mature VFT, all i wanted now is for my babies to sprout out of the peat moss T_T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is there any chance for my babies !!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?
 
yeah the seed is replaceable but I doubt you can separate the seed from the soil as they are very very minuscule...

Well look at it this way, you won't make this mistake a second time. If you want a decent sized fly trap or a nice sundew Andy sells cheap for their size, you get what you pay for if not more.
flytrapshop.com
I personally recommend D. capensis 'red', it's easy to grow and beautiful.
dcapensisallred-store.jpg


"Buy me!"
 
=..[ its mixed sundew seeds, sundew and VFT r tiny really really tiny, from what u suggest i guess its hopeless for my babys oh well i guess i will start a step later, wait for next years to collect seeds from 6 types of sundew i purchased, and its growing super duperly healthy in that goldfishy bowl, and 3 types of VFT dente/ red D/ and the regular kind / when i bought the dente the flower stem has been CHOPPED OFF @@@@@@ -.- oh well but one good news is i see a offshoot =] growing next to the mother dente sharing the same bulb XDDDD and a red D have 2 babies <3333 i love babies
 
yeah the seed is replaceable but I doubt you can separate the seed from the soil as they are very very minuscule...

Well look at it this way, you won't make this mistake a second time. If you want a decent sized fly trap or a nice sundew Andy sells cheap for their size, you get what you pay for if not more.
flytrapshop.com
I personally recommend D. capensis 'red', it's easy to grow and beautiful.
dcapensisallred-store.jpg


"Buy me!"
that D. capensis 'red' surely is beautiful but it would be a shame if i have to put it in a terrarium or a fish bowl, where i live is dry =[ very low humidity =[
 
  • #10
in the terrarium is nothing but seeds and 40% perlite/60% peatmoss with right amount of sphagnum moss dressing o_O
 
  • #11
@_@ ur plants r beautiful how long have u been planting them? @_@
 
  • #12
It's harder to kill than grow, mines outside in the rain right now! as long as you don't let the soil dry out I imagine capensis can tolerate low humidity.

If you want to grow a sundew from seed get a capensis they produce 15-20+ flowers on one flower stalk and they self pollinate, each flower produces like 100+ seeds.

You are most welcome to have others verify what I have said.

GOOD price guys?, Is capensis a seed factory?, Easy to grow?
Most definitely.

PS. Andy also has nice healthy fly traps with prices that beat most vendors.
 
  • #13
how long I have been growing VFT;s??? well.... around 2 and a half years only actually. If you search you can find freakish threads that I made about my VFT's in the early days. :p lol! One thing to realise for VFT's is to give them a lot of light. Thats it. Lots and lots of light + pure water is all they need. Forget humidity and intricacies of media choices. Mine grow in the standard peat + perlite and they are doing alright. They have been potted in these pots for around 8 months or so now.
 
  • #14
yeah I second the notion on the choices of media and humidity, when I started I grew mine in about 20% humidity and I' had both in peat, peat/perlite, and all LFSM at the same time and they all grew comparatively identical rates... I've yet to really determine a growth difference... though now I really just repot to a standard peat/perlite with maybe a thin top of LFSM. but eitherway its really not important for VFT's, if you give them the light they will grow... ( and of course RO water.. )

better than just throwing your whole sowing adventure away due to this mishap I'd still say at least turn around that top inch of soil... and give it a couple weeks and see what happens... its better than just tossing it...

it takes another kind of person to really drive to grow from seed that often... but its a rewarding experience. to say the least.


good luck in your endeavors

haha... just had a thought... how much media did you say was in this thing? you could get a bunch of wide flat trays and just distribute all your media to alittle under 1/2'' thick and then wait for germination and then repot :) haha yeah its crazy I know... but it could work if you were crazy enough haha
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #15
Would I be too crazy to suggest taking away just a little under an inch of soil?

xvart.
 
  • #16
What else is in the terrarium?
did you plant the seeds in one general area?

If the area you planted is generally free of other plants, and if you know the general area they are planted..I would try this..

scoop out all the media in that area containing the seeds, throw it all into a big bucket of water..and try to separate the media from the seeds...

if its peat, you can make a big sludge milkshake out of the peat, dilute it with a lot of water..(im thinking a fist-full of peat in a 5-gallon bucket of water)..strain it through some fine mesh, and you might be able to recover the VFT seeds..

If its spagnum, the seeds might also separate from the media..seeds will either sink or float..either way you might be able to separate them from the media..

sundew seeds might not work so well, because they are usually REALLY tiny..
what kind of sundew seeds are they?

IMO thats your best bet..try to separate the seeds from the media and re-sow..
yes, 1" deep is too deep..

as a general rule of thumb, any seed, regardless of the plant, shouldnt be planted to a depth that is more than twice the diameter of the seed..the smaller the seed, the shallower the depth..something like a sunflower or pumpkin seed can go 1" deep..

and BTW, growing CPs from seed is way overrated..its not really worth the effort IMO..
(it takes 5 years to get an full-size VFT from seed..and nearly all will die before they make it that far)
its much easier to just buy mature plants.

Scot


Another idea..

scoop out all the media containing the seeds that are buried 1-inch deep.
spread the media, containing the seeds, out on a flat surface so the media mass is 1/4 inch thick...make a big thin pancake out of the whole mass.

Get a bunch of 4" pots, with water trays, how ever many pots you need.

Fill the pots nearly to the top with new media, leave one pot empty for now.

Use the top of one empty pot to cut out disks of 1/4" thick media from the seed/media pancake..."cookie cutter" style..
place the 1/4" disk carefully on the top of one of the new pots, already filled with media..
maybe use a spatula or something..

Now you have a 1/4" thick layer of seed containing media in pots filled with new media, that can sit in water trays..all the seeds are now 1/4" or less from the surface.

Scot
 
  • #17
it would be a shame if i have to put it in a terrarium or a fish bowl, where i live is dry =[ very low humidity =[

There probably isn't any need for that, capensis is extremely hard to kill. They can get used to almost any climate, probably.
 
  • #18
scotty's idea is a much nicer version of mine... it sounds less crazy when he set it up... but yeah same idea... eitherway if you really cared about the seed you sowed that'd be the answer...

oh and thanks for the merge xvart :)
 
  • #19
Welcome to TF! Here's an idea, though. Perhaps you can spread the soil media out onto a large surface area and keep saturated for awhile. That would lessen their chances of being buried.
 
  • #20
:) jim did you even read the previous posts :)

just playing around of course, just thought it was funny.
that idea seems to be the one to run with...
 
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