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seed trays for germinating neps

I have a good number of nepenthes seeds that I am getting ready to plant and want to give them the best chance to germinate properly. I was thinking about getting seed trays under grow lights and trying to start them that way and was wondering what everyone thought the chances might be?

I know that many of the seed trays have peat pellets as the growing medium and some have cocofiber is one better then the other for starting them or should I scrap the pellets that come with and mix my own?

I have lowland species currently and would really like to get it right from the start. Just wanted to get as many suggestions as I can before I start planting.
 
Do you have a lowland enviromnent/greenhouse? If so then sow the seeds on live spag (nothing on top, can cause bacteria...etc) and keep a tray of water around the seed tray (I always forget to spray the seeds). In 10 days (if the seeds are fresh)you should see little green buds coming out of a few seeds.

Lance
 
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I have read it can take 3 and a half months or more too to see sprouts too.
 
I sow my nepenthes seeds on a mix (50/50) of peat and sand and keep them covered to increase humidity and put them in a low light area like under the bench in the shade house or on the bottom shelf of the grow rack. The only problem I have had is sometime moss will take over and crowd out the seedlings or occasionally I will have mold problems. I have read that chopped LFS is resistant to both mold and moss so I am trying it on a couple batches of seeds but it is too soon to tell how it will work...

I hope this helps..
 
I've had the best results with finely chopped LFS.

Sprinkle the seeds over the medium, then bag them or put them in a terrarium, I've also had really good luck in those cheap domed seed trays. After you've done that, wait...and wait...and...wait. You get the idea. When you water them I'd suggest soaking the lower part of the pots for a few minutes in an inch of water. I foudnt that when I mist them it tends to disturb the roots and casualties occur. I've had seeds sprout in 2 weeks and other take over 6 months. Patience is key :).
 
I use 4" x 4" or 6" x 6" GLAD sandwich containers (about 2" tall) filled 1/2 full with milled (shredded) long fiber sphagnum moss to germinate my Nep seeds. Any clear container like a 99cent plastic shoebox from home depot or a jiffy seedling tray will work. I just happen to like using these best, square, stackable, clear, accept sharpie markers well, etc.

After sowing the seed I soak it with a hand mister to get it settled into the sphagnum. Until the seeds germinate I mist them with a superthrive formula of 1 drop per gallon of water.

As I await germination I place the seed on a shelf ABOVE the lights (not under the lights as I used to do), this gives a bit of bottom heat to the germination containers and helps keep them very humid.

The changes I've made of germinating in ambient light, with bottom heat and misting with superthrive solution every few days has made a HUGE difference in the germination rate and speed compared to my earlier method of misting with plain water, putting under lights - I really only grew algae and molds when germinating under light and after very long time maybe one to 3 seedlings. Now I am getting dozens and dozens germinating at about a month to six weeks time provided the seed is viable.

Should add the faster germinating stuff is Lowland Neps, the HL stuff seems to take a longer time.
 
Thank you everyone for the great replys. I am getting some soil mixes made up on my weekend and I am really hoping that some of the seed that I have will take. When I tried before I got a lot of very nice moss but no young plants, I had the pots in bags under fairly bright light and I didnt get anything. I am going to try to keep them under more soft light and try the superthrive and see what happens. I hope to soon be posting picks of my first seed grown neps. Thanks again to everyone.
 
can you allow the seed tray to sit right in the water to allow for dampness of the media or should you allow it to drain?
 
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I would not leave the tray in water. You need to keep the media moist, but not waterlogged.
 
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