Hi all,
Finally, I found a method for germinating Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed under my growing conditions. Previously, I tried scarifying the seed, soaking in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, and placing them in a tube of distilled water (changed daily). I also tried scarifying them, soaking in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, and sowing them onto moist perlite. Both methods failed under my conditions.
Most recently, the seed I sowed were approximately 2 years old, and kept dry in the fridge before sowing (from the same batch as the prior attempts). I scarified the seed lightly with a filer until its white endosperm was just visible. The seed were then soaked in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, then sowed onto fine vermiculite. The pots were placed in a tray and sat in 1/4" water. The tray was covered with clear plastic wrap (with air holes) and placed onto a heat mat set to "medium." The tray was placed 3" under 160W cool white fluorescent tubes (15h photoperiod). Ambient humidity=100%, temperature= 80F/60F day/night.
5 seed were sown; 3 germinated (the other two rotted). The seed germinated in 1-2 weeks. After germination, they were individually transplanted into peat pots containing 1:1:1:1:1 peaterliteumice:quartz sand:vermiculite, and topdressed with a thin (1-2mm) layer of vermiculite. When transplanting, a generous amount of surrounding vermiculite was taken so as not to damage the roots. The potting medium has been kept constantly moist for the time being. The seedlings have been left uncovered and placed 3" under the same lighting conditions, with slightly lower temps (70F/60F day/night) and humidity (50-65%). They have grown ~1mm vertically in the past week and appear very healthy.
A fairly verbose description, but I thought I'd share my method in detail with the forums, should anyone find it helpful (though I realize that sowing Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed onto vermiculite is nothing new).
Ken
Finally, I found a method for germinating Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed under my growing conditions. Previously, I tried scarifying the seed, soaking in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, and placing them in a tube of distilled water (changed daily). I also tried scarifying them, soaking in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, and sowing them onto moist perlite. Both methods failed under my conditions.
Most recently, the seed I sowed were approximately 2 years old, and kept dry in the fridge before sowing (from the same batch as the prior attempts). I scarified the seed lightly with a filer until its white endosperm was just visible. The seed were then soaked in 500ppm GA3 for 24h, then sowed onto fine vermiculite. The pots were placed in a tray and sat in 1/4" water. The tray was covered with clear plastic wrap (with air holes) and placed onto a heat mat set to "medium." The tray was placed 3" under 160W cool white fluorescent tubes (15h photoperiod). Ambient humidity=100%, temperature= 80F/60F day/night.
5 seed were sown; 3 germinated (the other two rotted). The seed germinated in 1-2 weeks. After germination, they were individually transplanted into peat pots containing 1:1:1:1:1 peaterliteumice:quartz sand:vermiculite, and topdressed with a thin (1-2mm) layer of vermiculite. When transplanting, a generous amount of surrounding vermiculite was taken so as not to damage the roots. The potting medium has been kept constantly moist for the time being. The seedlings have been left uncovered and placed 3" under the same lighting conditions, with slightly lower temps (70F/60F day/night) and humidity (50-65%). They have grown ~1mm vertically in the past week and appear very healthy.
A fairly verbose description, but I thought I'd share my method in detail with the forums, should anyone find it helpful (though I realize that sowing Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed onto vermiculite is nothing new).
Ken