CP Water Germination Experiment Phase 2

[Shadowtski]

I tried to germinate CP seeds in test tubes filled with distilled water, using a magnifying glass to easily see when they started to germinate and sprout a root and leaves. I tried tropical and subtropical species, mostly Drosera. I wrote that up a few months ago as CP Water Germination Experiment Phase 1. I also had some temperate species of CP. I put those seeds in test tubes filled halfway with distilled water and stuck them in the refrigerator for 8 weeks of cold treatment or stratification. On May 1st, 2016 I took them out of the fridge, put them in a bright warm place, and waited for something to happen. Here are the results. Some stratified seeds did germinate.

Drosera intermedia (seed from 1999) germinated. 4 days after stratification period done.
Drosera filiformis “Manchester NJ” (1999 seed) germinated after 5 days
Drosera anglica germinated after 5 days.
Drosera rotundifolia “Manchester, NJ”germinated after 8 days.
Drosera tracyii germinated after 10 days.
Drosera filiformis “Florida Red” germinated after 10 days.
Sarracenia purpurea “Wisconsin” germinated. 34 days

It is now close to the middle of July. I'm calling an end to the experiment. The following stratified seeds showed no sign of germinating. Maybe they were too old. Maybe they didn't like my technique. I'll pot them up normally and see what happens.

Cephalotus follicularis “Hummer's Giant ” x self
Darlingtonia californica
Drosera erythrorhiza “Collina”
Pinguicula macroceras
Sarracenia alata
Sarracenia flava
Sarracenia leucophylla
Sarracenia minor x S. psittacina
Sarracenia oreophila
Sarracenia purpurea “purpurea”

During the course of this project, I continued to add tropical and subtropical species to test tubes to germinate them. Here are my results since my last article on this subject.

Drosera capensis “Gifberg” germinated. After 8 days.
Drosera omissa (Giveaway) germinated 8 days.
Drosera burmannii “Humpty Doo” 10 days until they germinated.
Drosera hartmeyerorum 2nd batch 10 days until germination.
Drosera indica “Africa” germinated in 10 days.
Drosera hartmeyerorum seeds germinated after 11 days.
Drosera binata “Multifida” seeds germinated in 15 days.
Drosera hartmeyerorum (Fish Farm east of Kununurra, Kimberley, WA ) germinated after 16 days.
Drosera madagascariensis ( 2nd pkg of 30) germinated in 19 days.
Drosera madagascariensis germinated after 21 days.
Drosera capensis “Bain's Kloof” germinated after 40 days.

I think my failure with Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, and Pinguicula happened because I was using old seed (except for the one species that did germinate). It would be interesting to try this again with fresh seed.

I am quite happy with this technique for tropical and subtropical seeds.

I would call my results with temperate Drosera seed better than I could have hoped for.

From now on, this is how I am going to be germinating seeds.



Good growing,
Mike

 

[nimbulan]

What sort of stratification did you do for Drosera erythrorhiza?

 

[Shadowtski]

I gave it the same treatment as the others. In retrospect, I probably should have left it sitting on a heating duct for several months, being Tuberous Australian Drosera. This was old seed, stored in the refrigerator. I initially tried to just stick it in a test tube to germinate with the tropical and subtropical species, but after waiting for a few months, I tried the cold wet germination with the Sarracenia and temperate Drosera. I'm going to toss those seeds on top of a pot of something else, maybe Drosophyllum, and see what happens.

Good growing,
Mike

 

[plantsnfish]

sprouting 17 year old drosera seeds??!! 4 days??!!

I going to have to start trying this method and see for myself!

 

[BigBella]

I have never been able to germinate Darlingtonia, Sarracenia, or Cephalotus seed, simply in water; and even in compost or in vitro, it may take months for some. For some older seed, GA3 has proved beneficial; and there are no shortages of threads dealing with gibberelins . . .

 

[Grey Moss]

Very interesting. Are the seed sown on media immediately after germination? Would you say you get better yields from water germination than just sowing over soil?

 

[nimbulan]

I gave it the same treatment as the others. In retrospect, I probably should have left it sitting on a heating duct for several months, being Tuberous Australian Drosera. This was old seed, stored in the refrigerator. I initially tried to just stick it in a test tube to germinate with the tropical and subtropical species, but after waiting for a few months, I tried the cold wet germination with the Sarracenia and temperate Drosera. I'm going to toss those seeds on top of a pot of something else, maybe Drosophyllum, and see what happens.

Good growing,
Mike

Yes tuberous sundews (barring a small number of species) definitely need a heat treatment. I was recently recommended to put seeds in a food dehydrator set to 110F for a month, though I've read you can also let them cook in the sun in a sealed container outdoors. Give it a shot, there may still be some life in those seeds!

 

[Shadowtski]

Very interesting. Are the seed sown on media immediately after germination? Would you say you get better yields from water germination than just sowing over soil?

I check my test tubes daily with a good 10 power magnifying glass. As soon as I see the radicle definitely emerging, I declare it germinating, record it, and within a day or two I gently pour it out onto a pot of prepared media with a thin top dressing of finely milled and chopped Sphagnum moss.

I get good germination this way in less space. My original idea was to try to germinate some very old seeds. Any germination of 17 year old CP seed would have been considered a success. It might be interesting to run a second experiment. Take an equal number of seeds from the same plant and germinate half of them in a test tube. Germinate the other half in a pot.the traditional way. To satisfy the purists among us, both sets of seed should have identical light and temperature and whatever other pertinent variable we can control.

Good growing,
Mike