Hi,
I got some seeds of nice tuberous Drosera species. As most species have the attitude of being hard to germinate, I read about some tricks. Once I tried GA3 with no great success, so I wanted to use a heat or fire treatment this time.
Then I read on a orchid webpage ( http://www.myorchids.de/thelymitra1.htm ) that some growers get the plant to flower by bringing the tubers in contact with fresh fruit like bananas. The fruit releases ethylen and the tubers get the idea of a bush fire, as ethylene will be realeased in bush fires, too. After the dormant season they bloom to produce seed and then colonize the burnt area.
During my investigations I got to know that apples release a lot more ethylene than bananas or tomatos, so I put the pots with the seeds (sown on a peat/sand mix) in a big bag and added three apples (I got only Granny Smith, I do not know if the other cultivars release more or less ethylene). Now the pots are in the bag for the third day, tomorrow I will put them back in a tray and begin to hope.
I've got no clue if this will perhaps stimulate germination. As the seeds are from Phill Mann, I assume them to be rather fresh. The last fresh tuberous Drosera seeds I tried with and without GA3 germinated all well. There was no difference to see, so I assume that only very old seeds which won't germinate without such treatment profit from that plant hormone.
If my apple method won't work, I will try a fire resistant pot in a barbecue grill. First burn some leaves and other plant litter than close the barbecue to collect the smoke. After the heat sinks to a lower level, put in the pot and let the cover closed. The chemicals from the smoke will get into the soil and the seeds and perhaps stimulate germination. There are nearly indefinetely chemicals released in a bush fire and many research groups try to specify the important ones. A provisorical solution for this problem is a so-called 'smoke disc'. The disc has been treated with smoke or smoke water from burning material and releases those chemicals when put in water form some hours. After that you can put the seeds in the water before sowing them and/or use it to water your pots from above.
If anyone has additions or questions, please post here. I will publish my germination results, here too. If the method will succeed I start a double blind test later.
Jan
I got some seeds of nice tuberous Drosera species. As most species have the attitude of being hard to germinate, I read about some tricks. Once I tried GA3 with no great success, so I wanted to use a heat or fire treatment this time.
Then I read on a orchid webpage ( http://www.myorchids.de/thelymitra1.htm ) that some growers get the plant to flower by bringing the tubers in contact with fresh fruit like bananas. The fruit releases ethylen and the tubers get the idea of a bush fire, as ethylene will be realeased in bush fires, too. After the dormant season they bloom to produce seed and then colonize the burnt area.
During my investigations I got to know that apples release a lot more ethylene than bananas or tomatos, so I put the pots with the seeds (sown on a peat/sand mix) in a big bag and added three apples (I got only Granny Smith, I do not know if the other cultivars release more or less ethylene). Now the pots are in the bag for the third day, tomorrow I will put them back in a tray and begin to hope.
I've got no clue if this will perhaps stimulate germination. As the seeds are from Phill Mann, I assume them to be rather fresh. The last fresh tuberous Drosera seeds I tried with and without GA3 germinated all well. There was no difference to see, so I assume that only very old seeds which won't germinate without such treatment profit from that plant hormone.
If my apple method won't work, I will try a fire resistant pot in a barbecue grill. First burn some leaves and other plant litter than close the barbecue to collect the smoke. After the heat sinks to a lower level, put in the pot and let the cover closed. The chemicals from the smoke will get into the soil and the seeds and perhaps stimulate germination. There are nearly indefinetely chemicals released in a bush fire and many research groups try to specify the important ones. A provisorical solution for this problem is a so-called 'smoke disc'. The disc has been treated with smoke or smoke water from burning material and releases those chemicals when put in water form some hours. After that you can put the seeds in the water before sowing them and/or use it to water your pots from above.
If anyone has additions or questions, please post here. I will publish my germination results, here too. If the method will succeed I start a double blind test later.
Jan