Germination ideas

[carfreak69]

I'm doin' a little research on the Venus Fly Trap, and I notice that it's rather difficult to germinate. I think I have an idea for a good process to use. Let me know if you think it would work.

1: put the seed in a shotglass full of water, and put it in the fridge to imitate the winter season.

2: take it out of the fridge after a couple months and put it in a window sill that gets a lot of sunlight.

3: wait for the taproot to show and put the seed on top of the soil to grow.

Just an idea that might speed up the gerination process a little. If that wouldn't work, I guess there's nothing wrong with just puting the seeds on the soil, keeping them warm and humid, and waiting for them to grow themselves. I heard that the winter period of germination needs to be moist also, so that's why I thought of using the fridge and a shot glass for that.

 

[carfreak69]

check out this thread ... I just found out someone else germed a VFT seed the same way.

http://www.petflytrap.com/cgi-bin....t=18315

 

[peter]

Since you are a newbie I STRONGLY suggest you just go ahead and buy a prepotted plant from this website.  In my experience you have to start from the bottom up when dealing with cp's.  No short cut here.  You will probably fail at growing them from seeds since they are a lot harder to keep alive and it is just a hassle especially if you are a new grower.
The seeds cost the same as a potted plant and by the time you get a seed grown plant to become mature (a few if you are lucky), you'll probably end up with TONS of divisions from an already bought mature plant.
Trust me, I've done the things like that before with less then perfect results.
If you want to try seeds anyways stratification isn't necesary in my experience, and the water method will work, but I find it easier just to sow them on cp soil and wait, wait, and wait.  But experimentation is the key to growing these awesome plants!

 

[carfreak69]

Quote[/b] ]The seeds cost the same as a potted plant

not really ... $4+ package of 20 seeds, or about $4-5 for one plant.

Quote[/b] ]In my experience you have to start from the bottom up when dealing with cp's. No short cut here. You will probably fail at growing them from seeds since they are a lot harder to keep alive and it is just a hassle especially if you are a new grower.

I'm up for the challenge. I'm a newbie carnivorous grower, but not a newbie grower. In my opinion ... I am starting from the bottom up. It wouldn't be right to be able to take care of, feed, and flower a plant that I can't get to start growing. I see what you're saying ... I know it would be a lot easier and possibly more rewarding to get an already established plant, but when you grow something from seed ... if you really enjoy growing as a hobby, they're not just your plants, they're your children. lol

Quote[/b] ]you'll probably end up with TONS of divisions from an already bought mature plant.

by divisions ... do you mean nodes? Can you take a flytrap cutting and root another plant as a clone?

 

[Kate]

Quote[/b] (carfreak69 @ May 04 2005,9:55)]by divisions ... do you mean nodes? Can you take a flytrap cutting and root another plant as a clone?

Yes, and no, yes you can, though it is rather difficult and some who have been growing them for years are still thwarted. I believe what was being alluded too was the fact that when well grown the plant will produce numerous plantlets.

As for seed growing.. I am inclined to agree with what everyone else has said. Start with an already established plant. CP's are like nothing you have tried before. You can research from now till eternity but until you actually try to care for a mature plant you will never learn the things you need to know. So much of it is intuition and will go against everything you have learned about plants in general.

If you really want to attempt seed first, by all means go ahead, just don't be surprised when you end up with no plants at all. Many growers who have been growing CP's of all varieties for decades are still struggling with seed grown Dionea.

 

[jimscott]

I haven't had any success with germinating my own VFT seeds and had no success in duplicating what was done with putting a VFT leaf (with white part) in a 50 ml centrifuge tube. I had 25 % success by putting 4 leaves in a plastic pipette dispenser (glorified grow chamber). I am currently trying and experiment with leaves placed on live LFS, with the white part embedded in the LFS.

 

[peter]

Quote[/b] ]not really ... $4+ package of 20 seeds, or about $4-5 for one plant.

I'm kind of missing your point here.  From experience if you buy seeds from other sources like on ebay or some other shop the seeds are pretty iffy at best.  If you buy only about 20-30 seeds most of the time only less then half germinate since the history of the seeds is unknown.  For all I know they could be seeds from years ago.  They only remain pretty viable for a few months and after that the germination rates start going downhill fast.
When my vft's produced seeds last year, I sowed them the same day they were harvested and still it took a good month or two untill germination started.
I might have some spare seeds this spring so if I have have extras you are certainly welcome to some.

Divisions are when the plants split into seperate plants.  This happens a lot with plants bought from tissue culture and seem to divide more then other plants.  Its not uncommon to have six or more vft's from the mother plant by the end of one season.

 

[Alvin Meister]

The seed is pretty easy to get to germinate. First, you need fresh seed. After a few months it loses its viability.

Second, just sow straight on top of some peat. Stratification isn't needed. Wait 4 years and you have a mature VFT.

 

[jimscott]

Or... ya can just go to a nursery and pick up a TC plant!

 

[peter]

cough...cough... PFT vft's maybe?