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Ceph from seed?

CP30

A Cajun(isc) Carnivore
I am ready to sow some ceph seeds that I have had in the fridge for 3 months now. I have read what I could find about sowing ceph seed, but it hasn't been much. My questions are:

Have you been successful with this?
If so, what did you do?
If not, what did you do?

Thanks for your help!
 
From the ICPS Seedbank:


QUOTE
Propagation of Cephalotus

Cephalotus can be propagated by several means, namely seed, leaf /pitcher cuttings, crown divisions and root cuttings. Unfortunately, all of these approaches are rather slow to produce large plants, although the crown and leaf cuttings are certainly faster than by seed.

The first approach is by seed. This is difficult in two aspects. First, Cephalotus seed is hard to obtain, although it sometimes shows up in the Seed Bank. Even when it does show up, it is often on the “seed donor only” list (i.e. people that have donated enough seed to have a seed credit with the bank). The second problem with propagation by seed is that it is a very SLOW method; you will need a lot of patience! Once you get your Cephalotus seed, you should plant it immediately. Finely chopped sphagnum moss works well as a seed germination substrate. Place the seeds on the surface of the substrate and do not bury them. Water the seeds well and then put the pot into a sealed plastic bag and cold stratify the seeds for 8 weeks in the refrigerator. Once the stratification is over, remove the pot from the refrigerator and put it in an area with bright, diffuse light but no direct sun. Leave the pot in the plastic bag. With a little luck, germination should occur after several weeks and although it can take months. The plants are very small to start, so I leave the pot in the bag for a long time while the plantlets grow. Since the plants are tiny, they are easily overgrown by moss, so keep an eye on the moss and make sure it does not overgrow the Cephalotus seedlings--it is not unusual to transplant them to new media several times. When the plants are big enough to safely transplant, then start to open the plastic bag a little at a time over the course of a few days to let the plantlets adjust to the new lower humidity levels. After transplanting the Cephalotus seedlings, the plants should be kept in a propagation terrarium or other place with high humidity until the get large enough (~2.5 cm across) to transition to their final growing place. You can expect to get a mature plant in 3 to 5 years depending on conditions.

A quick little experiment was conducted with fresh seed. There were three treatments: no stratification, 4 week stratification and 8 week stratification. The seeds (18 per treatment) were planted in April and they were germinated on sphagnum moss in 3" square pots. After the stratification time, the pots were moved to a greenhouse and put in partly shady conditions. After 5 months, only 4 seeds germinated and they were all in the "8 week stratification" treatment. However, by November (7 months after start of experiment), considerably more seeds germinated. The results from the no stratification, 4 week stratification and 8 week stratification were 8, 4 and 9 seedlings (per 18 seeds planted) in each treatment. Most of the germinations occurred during the fall time, so the time of year may be more important than the stratification time. However, the results confirm the notion that stratification is either beneficial or has no effect. Also, the seedlings that germinated earlier were the largest seedlings at the end of the experiment, thus it is beneficial to get the seedlings going as fast as possible.





Pitcher cutting. Notice a piece of the stem. This can be rough on your plants.

Leaf / pitcher cuttings and a crown divsion in pots in plastic bags.
 
Thanks Jim, that is one of the few things I did find. Does seed need to be moistened to be stratified, or is dry seed stored in the fridge stratified?
 
I'm currently growing two ceph from seed, they germinated about a year and a half ago. This is what I did.... I placed the seeds (I got them on ebay, if it matters) on a damp medium consisting of one part peat to two parts perlite. I then sprayed the seeds with a fungicide mixed to the specifications on the bottle. Finally, I covered the pot with a plastic bag and placed them in the fridge at about 38f for 9 weeks. After the 9 weeks, I placed the pot bearing the ceph seeds under florescent lights for 14 hours a day for 4 months. Nothing happened. I needed the space so I took the pot out, and put it on a grow self in an east facing window behind a Nepenthes. I figured the seeds were dead, and promptly forgot about them. The seeds remained in deep shade for another two or three months. Finally, I decided to use the pot for something else, and as I was taking off the plastic bag I noticed a tiny little green something growing. I put the plant back under lights, and after a few more weeks, another tiny green thing came up as well. Both plants continue to grow, and I am looking forward, some day soon to them having more then one teeny, tiny little leaf at a time!

Thats what I did, and despite a rather dumb mistake, it all worked out with about the success rate the article from the ICPS would have predicted. Good luck, hope you have a LOT of patients!
 
yeah, i figure its worth a try. I have about 6 other ceph pots to keep me satisfied in the meantime......
 
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