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Flooded purp seeds...

Took some purp seeds out of stratification today(and am really hoping they work well for me since I tried the paper towel method). Anyway, I put them into a container outside(peat and sand mix). Lo and behold we get a hard rain that night. Funny thing is that I somehow remembered them so got up at 6 in the morning to move them to a protected spot. Anyway, the seeds are now floating around in the container. Am I correct in assuming they probably still think it is sleepytime? I think I'll just leave it till the water level drops.
 
Hey, it rains in their bogs and fens and swamps in the southland! I would thing the spring rain would be part of the germination process - but I am just theorizing.

BTW, I had 4 bags of different Sarr seeds in bags of cold water for the past 3 months. I just poured them into containers that are soaking wet and warmer, at a window sill. I'm hoping they get the message!
 
Sarracenia seeds are thought to be dispersed by water in winter. They float well.
 
Alexis, if I have Sarracenia seeds or VFT seeds sitting swampy conditions, outside, in full sun, would it be necessary to cover them?
 
Hi Jim

They shouldn't need covering - they'll often be sitting in puddles in full sun in the wild.
 
FWIW, I use only the towel method, with excellent germination ratios. For example, I stratified 182 S. leucophylla seeds for five weeks in December/January. I potted them onto straight Sphagnum peat on January 8. When I upsized them into cell packs yesterday, I had 160 well-started (two or more tiny little pitchers each) leucophyllas to upsize. 160 out of 182 is an 88% survival rate, and I'll take that any day!

Paper towels and Sphagnum peat...doesn't get much easier...

Regards,

Mike
 
Could you describe the process with more detail? Did you have them in a fridge? Did you use fungicide?
 
yes please me and jim would both like to know

Cheers
 
Updates.

We have been getting crazy amounts of rain so the seeds got flooded again. I noticed pretty much all the seeds sink now(or maybe all the floaters got washed out? I looked around but didn't see any). I'm guessing that means they are ready to germinate.
 
  • #10
I see sarracenia sprouting in someone's lawn. The seeds are hydrophobic for a while. Meaning they don't absorb water well at all. Stubborn! Jest plain stubborn! I think the rain may have washed them out. Better look around real hard and see what you find. Sar seed always lay on top of the soil, and usually germinate from there. A root sprouts at one end, and harpoons the ground beneath it. Then, the cotyledons (seed leaves) work there way out of the seed coat. An interesting spectacle when you have 100's of seed. Before long, small pitchers begin to appear, the seed leaves die back, and the pitchers go from there. An interesting show of development from baby to mature plant. Look hard. I don't want you to have lost your seed. If they were in a pot, they are'nt anymore (I think). Seed should be obvious. They don't sink!
 
  • #11
Their are some in their that have indeed sunk. I have jiggled the container a bit and you can see them amongst the peat at the top(they will be on or very close to the surface when this container dries). And a few floaters still in the container too. If any others floated out I'll have a careful search tomorrow.
 
  • #12
Good! Now one thing, make sure they stay on the surface of the peat and watch for sprouts. As in nature, If it rains hard enough, the seed can be "beaten" down into the soil. Try to be careful of algae growth on the soil surface as it can smother out the seed/seedling, and if a cottony looking growth starts on the surface of the soil, beware! You may have the base growing for a carpet of green moss that will also smother your babies!! Now you know what a mother goes through with their kidz!!!!
 
  • #13
LOL I hope I get everything right with these ones.

How far below the peat can they be and still sprout...they don't have to be directly on the top do they?
 
  • #14
I have had peat just barely cover them, and they did sprout. Others, only an eighth of an inch of peat, smothered many. To me, the more on top of the soil they are, they more likely they will germinate. Watch for the cottony spreading of the moss spores. It sends out a carpet of moss that can smother and kill your babies!
 
  • #15
Would it be suggested then after it dries to dig for any seeds buried in the peat or perhaps scratch away the peat above them?
 
  • #16
Heck no!! Just trying might make it worse. Let sleeping dogs lie, and let the seed do whatever it is going to
 
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