Drosophyllum seedlings

[DJ57]

Last year I threw a handful of untreated/unscarified Drosophyllum seed under the mass of dead leaves from a droso plant that had expired the year before and then I torched the whole thing. I left the pot sit outside and this spring this is what popped up in that pot. I don't know if the smoke/heat from the fire helped with germination or not as I have had other untreated droso seed sprout after being left outside through winter, but never had this many sprout at once without any treatment.

[/url]IMG_5612.jpgx1 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]IMG_5607.jpgx1 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]IMG_5615.jpgx1 by Djoni C, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[nimbulan]

That's something I wish I'd see, but alas my seeds are being slow.

 

[theplantman]

Grow, little Phoenixes, grow!!

 

[hcarlton]

Like other seeds that often sprout with scarification, Drosophyllum is fire-adapted. In the wild, the adult plants don't survive the occasional fires but seeds will germinate rapidly after a burn.

 

[Tanukimo]

Did you water the pot at all before the seeds germinated?

 

[DJ57]

To Tanukimo:

The pot was ignored and nearly forgotten, so no I did not water it. It was left out in the elements of our PNW weather; snowed on, iced on, and got rained on a lot. Then I walked by it one day in early spring, saw the sprouts and said "holy crap, I should do this again with another pot that needs torching."

 

[Tanukimo]

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Are you going to transplant them?

 

[DJ57]

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Are you going to transplant them?

Probably not, I will just let them fill the pot. I have limited space to overwinter Droso pots so can't generate too many of them, but that will change hopefully next year. I have trouble finding good local homes for the babies when I have too many in separate pots, and shipping them is a crap shoot whether they survive USPS handling or not.

 

[Smooter80]

Pretty cool. I just had some seeds arrive in the mail today. I think I'll try torching a few.

 

[jimscott]

I just scarified and put seeds in water for a day. I now have 5 of them in individual pots, covered, with a relatively high water table, hoping to achieve germination and avoid damp-off.

 

[DJ57]

I just scarified and put seeds in water for a day. I now have 5 of them in individual pots, covered, with a relatively high water table, hoping to achieve germination and avoid damp-off.

I wish you good luck with your seeds and will be sending good thoughts your way

 

[DJ57]

Pretty cool. I just had some seeds arrive in the mail today. I think I'll try torching a few.

I have heard some people have had success putting dried leaves and/or dry grass on top of Droso seeds in a pot and torching the dried leaves/grasses. It is the smoke from the fire that helps break down the seed coat, the same affect as scarifying the seed before sowing.