Seedling Sarracenia first dormancy...

[IronTom]

I started some various sarracenia seedlings, and had pretty good germination using refridgerator stratification. Since they got started late they are still small and winter is looming around the corner. I worry they are to weak to survive the winter still, which brings me to my question.

Can these sar seedlings skip thier first dormancy in a green house without artificial lights? I know they can be grown year-round with heat mats and fluorescents. Will the low light of winter coupled with warm temps spell certain doom?

I stay in the sandhills of NC, so you would think I could just leave them outside. I had to lose a few cps to figure out that little pots don't keep roots as warm as the ground... These guys are in the smallest of pots still. I could build a cold frame if it came down to it.

Before anyone chastises me for throwing all my eggs in one basket, I did keep some seeds back to stratify the way mother nature intended. Even if they are two years late in doing it :grin:

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

I think you may be able to get away with setting them in the green house without artificial light (given of course that the heat issue is not a problem). You most likely may end up loosing a couple and maybe more and most likely see some etiolation but as long as they can get some direct sunlight for at least a couple hours a day, you MIGHT be able to pull it off. That would be my GUESS.

If you do end up placing them in the greenhouse, please update once in a while and let us know how they're doing. I'd be very interested to hear! Plz and Thank you

Out of curiosity, what kind of seedlings are they?

 

[Woodnative]

I would think either would work fine. If you keep them in the greenhouse, you can always have them on the floor, or close to the glass.....either of which will be signicantly cooler, esp. at night.

 

[IronTom]

A few varieties of Flava along with some Oreophilia and Leucophylla. One of them didn't germinate too well after a 3 week stratification. I think it was one of the Flavas. I've done a horrible job keeping up with whats what, but should be simple enough to ID once they get bigger.

Some of the germination problems could be due to the algae/fungus attack midway through sprouting. Coco fiber seems to be really bad for algae growth...

I haven't seen what sort of temps the greenhouse will hold in winter time yet, so they may not be any better off then facing the deep freeze. Indeed they could be in for a worse treatment from temperature swings every night/day. Just hope the seeds I set back are still good

 

[Alexis]

They'll be fine outdoors where you are, but there won't be any harm keeping them in a greenhouse either. They'll still go dormant either way.

 

[jimscott]

I am seeing germinated seeds from last year going through dormancy with the adult plants. Here's an example of one: