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An adventure in Sarracenia growing

  • #21
Sigh...still no signs of germination, should I be worried yet?
 
  • #22
Doyou know when the seeds were harvested or how old they are?
 
  • #23
How warm and humid is it in the germination area?
 
  • #24
That One Guy: According to the members here I got them from, they were all harvested recently.

kulamauiman: The temperature stays around 60-70 degrees F. I don't know how humid it is exactly, but when I stick my hand in it is definitely more humid than outside. Could this be the problem? I am getting algae, does that mean it's too humid?
 
  • #25
Felt the need to post my ghetto reflector thingy:
DSC00633_zps0cf4cec0.jpg


DSC00631_zpsc7f1c99b.jpg


thanks for teh inspiration. I hope that your seeds do well.
 
  • #26
Haha you're welcome! I actually did the exact same thing when I had a fish tank :-O Love it!
 
  • #27
That One Guy: According to the members here I got them from, they were all harvested recently.

kulamauiman: The temperature stays around 60-70 degrees F. I don't know how humid it is exactly, but when I stick my hand in it is definitely more humid than outside. Could this be the problem? I am getting algae, does that mean it's too humid?


Maybe a bit on the cold side for quick germination. Should still work just might take longer. Growing inside I have them in an area with 80-90 F conditions. Germination is rapid but with all things might push them too much and cause seedling death. So keep watching for about another week or so....
 
  • #28
Maybe a bit on the cold side for quick germination. Should still work just might take longer. Growing inside I have them in an area with 80-90 F conditions. Germination is rapid but with all things might push them too much and cause seedling death. So keep watching for about another week or so....

Alright, I'll wait some more. If it doesn't work out, what are some inexpensive ways to heat seedlings?
 
  • #29
I concur with Mach. More heat and more humidity. At least 80F with high humidity. Mine always germ in 10 to 25 days if they are viable. The quicker you can get them to germ, the quicker they will outgrow algae and other death causing bacteria.
 
  • #30
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to look around at my seed heating options...
 
  • #31
Ugh bad news... Instead of using a seedling heat mat I tried to use a plastic tarp to keep everything warm, and it actually worked at first. A few days later, I open it up and like 10-20 fungus gnats flew out! :eek: I bet there are going to be more... any quick ways to get rid of them? I'm getting really discouraged...I didn't know it would be this hard :headwall::down:
 
  • #32
When my plants got fungus gnats I used the potato slice method for larva and then added a top layer of silica sand in all my pots (except the seed trays and bigger planters because I have more plants to put in them). I haven't seen but maybe less than ten gnats since then. With the potato slice method you just cut a strip of potato and stick it on the soil surface and the larva are attracted to it. There is more info about it online.
 
  • #33
Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out later today. About what size are the larvae? I haven't seen any yet, just the adults.
 
  • #34
Really, very small. I never saw any on my potato slices. But it didn't matter because once I covered with the silica top layer they were trapped. The silica stabs them as they try to get past (oh I will add that if you have perlite in your mix, the perlite tends to pop out of the silica layer when it rains). The adults lay their eggs in the soil and the larva munch on the root systems then leave the soil as they become adults and fly about. They are not just annoying, they can spread diseases as well.

Here is a random example of what it looks like with the top layer.

Seedlings002.jpg
 
  • #35
Wow that looks really nice! I will definitely do that, but would this damage the seeds? Maybe I should just do a thin layer.
 
  • #36
I would do a dusting or thin layer on the seeds, until they get bigger.
 
  • #37
YESSSSSSS!!! !:-O GERMINATION!!!! :boogie: :woot:

I don't know if you guys can see it, it's really tiny:
DSCN6567.JPG

Unless some seeds jumped pots, it should be S. (Scarlet Belle x flava var. ornata) x flava var. flava.

lil hokie: The fungus gnats seem to have gone away, thanks for the tip!
 
  • #38
Congrats! Hopefully the others follow as well ;)
 
  • #39
YESSSSSSS!!! !:-O GERMINATION!!!! :boogie: :woot:

...

lil hokie: The fungus gnats seem to have gone away, thanks for the tip!

Double Hooray! Hooray for the germination and hooray for a good tip!!
 
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