Darlingtonia Seedlings in Window Sill

[CorneliusSchrute]

I have two pots with about 40 to 50 Darlingtonia seedlings each. The plants range from about a week to a month or so old. I hve all of them on my covered (fully shaded) northern porch right now. I was thinking about putting them in a south facing window sill, though. There is no direct sun this time of year, and I can better protect them from heat waves inside.

My final option is artificial lighting, but my grow light area is almost full and I want these plants to become accustomed to how I want to raise them: in natural light ( either in a window sill or outside).

What would you do?

 

[Steve Booth]

Natural light outside is the best option, however if you have seedlings, I presume that they will be in a smallish pot , that will heat up and cool down quickly, which unless you can mitigate the sudden excesses of temperature change (especially heat up of roots), may cause some deaths. If that is the case you may be better off growing them indoors or under lights till you prick them out and pot on into larger containers, they will probably get etoliated unless your lights are good, but that may be better than being outside in a small pot this year. Next year you can arrange to harden them off and grow them outside

cheers
Steve

 

[utricularia]

Yeah, I agree with Steve on this one. Trying to keep Darlingtonia seedlings alive is hard enough (at least for me), they are much more sensitive to the heat than adults. I personally would grow them under fluorescents (is that the right spelling?) and try to keep the lights as close to the seedlings as possible without cooking them. Some stores carry fixtures which are very reasonably priced. When I get home from work I will try to remember to followup on this and send a picture of my current seedling propagation area and perhaps the new one I am starting.

 

[Plant Planter]

Definitely don't roast your plants. Darlingtonia has a reputation for not being exactly easy to grow (then again, no carnivorous plant is easy to grow, I mean 'easy' such as Drosera capensis difficulty), and as has been stated already, seedlings are much more sensitive than mature plants. And, yes, you spelled 'fluorescents' correctly.

 

[BigBella]

Oddly enough, I have seen that Darlingtonia seedlings have been far more resilient, in terms of temperature, than more mature plants. Those that I keep in vitro, for example, see far higher temperatures than those I have in pots . . .

Darlingtonia californica

 

[utricularia]

Oddly enough, I have seen that Darlingtonia seedlings have been far more resilient, in terms of temperature, than more mature plants. Those that I keep in vitro, for example, see far higher temperatures than those I have in pots . . .

Really? That's interesting, is it just the ones in agar? What conditions do you have them in?
My experience has been just the opposite- seedlings seem to die out more easily. I had a really hard time with Darlingtonia in general until I got my currently plant. Since then she has been a breeze- but its also a mature plant. Granted, my problems with seedlings could have been caused by a number of factors including genetics.

 

[BigBella]

Really? That's interesting, is it just the ones in agar? What conditions do you have them in?
My experience has been just the opposite- seedlings seem to die out more easily. I had a really hard time with Darlingtonia in general until I got my currently plant. Since then she has been a breeze- but its also a mature plant. Granted, my problems with seedlings could have been caused by a number of factors including genetics.

No, it was also the case with those in moss. They are prone to damping off and other fungal problems; but temperature was never really an issue. Those in gelzan -- "the agar" -- seldom see temperatures below 25 degrees Celsius; and those outside frequently experience the low thirties by mid-day without any issue . . .

 

[CorneliusSchrute]

Interesting notes on the tolerances of Darlingtonia seedlings, folks. I will take that to heart, especially the comments about vulnerability to damping off, etc.

Since I have two pots of seedlings, both with about 40-50 seedlings each, I will split my chances and put one in the southern-facing window sill and leave the other on the front porch with some Sarracenia minor seedlings I have going. This way I will hopefully end up with at least a few plants in each pot that can tolerate--or maybe even thrive in--the conditions they experience.

Since I have about 90% or better germination right now, I feel it is best to ween them off the extra humidity provided by the clear pot covers. In the past I have accomplished this by just leaving the lid off seedlings for increasing amounts of time each day: a few minutes every couple hours, fifteen minutes every few hours, an hour every few hours, and finally nothing at all. Are there any special concerns regarding Darlingtonia seedlings and adapting them to lower humidity?

 

[Steve Booth]

Hi CB
They will have no problems if you remove the top in accordance with your regime above.
Good luck and let us know which pot does the best.
Cheers
Steve

 

[CorneliusSchrute]

Thanks Steve, et. al.

I have accustomed one pot to no lid and have yet to loose one seedling there. I'm working on the other pot now.

Thanks again, all!