Best practices of growing tuberous drosera from seed

[plnsixteen]

I've recently got some D. menzeisii seed in the mail, though it looks like the characteristic tails on some of the seeds broke off during transit. I believe there still are enough viable seeds in here to get a couple germinations?

I was mainly wondering since the growing season is still close to 4 months away before I can sow these, what the best practices for these seeds are. Would I notice any difference in germination if I were to keep these seeds in the fridge vs. leaving them out in regular room temperature (a slightly cool basement)?

I've also heard some tuberous drosera seed needs to be heat stratified. Is this something I should be doing for this particular species, or should I expect to see some germinations either way?

Furthermore, I was told these may already be ready to go (to sow), so would there be any issues putting them in the fridge again?

Thank you all for your help! It's a bit confusing sometimes knowing certain species tend to dessicate quickly if they're not in the fridge, so I want to give these the best shot I possibly can.

 

[bluemax]

That's kind of a tricky question. My best thought is to keep them in the refrigerator (frost free) until you are ready to sprout them. I'm unsure if D. menziesii needs a heat striation or not. You might pot up some of them while the hot weather is still upon you and see if that makes a difference. I would keep them dry and just let them experience the end of summer heat, if you do. You seem to have plenty of seed to experiment with. Maybe someone else has direct experience with sprouting this species?

Another suggestion - if you have a dissection probe, essentially a pin/needle on a stick, you can lightly wet the tip of it on a wet paper towel and it will allow you to directly select individual seeds which will lightly stick to the tip. 'Makes it easy to plant an exact number of tiny seeds in a preferred pattern. 'Just a thought.

 

[hcarlton]

menziesii is a weed. Throw the seeds on the soil in mid-August, start watering in September, and wait. You need not do anything else. If they're viable, they'll sprout sometime between November and February.