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getting seed to grow?

U

USMCSKI

What am I doing wrong?!?!
I recieved some seed from folks on this board....set the seed in some peat/ pool sand mix and put it into one of the small , flat greenhouse type trays that you can buy at the big hardware stores and set on my picnic table outside and....NOTHING GREW!
Did the temps get too high? Too much moisture?

I NEED HELP!!!!
 
it would help if we knew what kind of seeds they are.. dont throw them out yet either!
 
How long ago and what species did you plant?

Jason
 
Sometimes, and unbeknownst to the sender, seeds may not have been fertile.
 
darlingtonia seeds
capensis
spatulata var. lovellae
burmannii
all were planted about 1- 2 months ago
 
Darlingtonia normally want to be cold stratified. The rest often germinate without any intervention, but typically, what I do is sprinkle them on slightly moist media and cover. At ~70 F, in ~3 weeks, they germinate. But sometimes all the bes techniques end up in failure, just because the seeds weren't viable from the get go.
 
The capensis seeds should've sprouted, so something was probably wrong in your setup. Did the tray have a cover? Depending on where you live, you could've cooked them inside.

Tell us all you can about your setup, weather, and sowing method.

Jason
 
I think thats what happened....too much heat, cooked the seeds! :(
 
Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the seeds. For next time, here are a few guidelines that you should try to follow:
I've found what works best for most Drosera seeds is to have the seeds in cooler temps, using a heat mat during the day if it isn't that warm, so it's around 80F and then turning it off at night, so it can get down to 65 or lower. South American/African dews germinate exceptionally well in these conditions. Give them as much humidity as possible. You don't need all that much light until they germinate, but by the time they have 3 baby leaves, you should definitely have them in a brighter location. Also, be sure to have rinsed the media extremely thouroughly prior to sowing the seeds, or else you will get funky smells and algae/fungus growth. That should get you started for next time...
 
  • #10
I think I cooked my seed too, reaching 100F isnt that good..... I followed the ICPS and put them in baggys. so... yea 90F+ isnt too good, but im just guessing xD
 
  • #11
That's basically what happened to the seed I got. I put em' in a tray under humid, light, and moist conditions but absolutely none of the seeds sprouted except for a lone D. tokaiensis that's truckin' at the moment. I measured the heat in there and it reached 94F. :[ I should try again in late winter or early spring.
 
  • #12
I am located in NC so I think just throwing them into some dirt may be what is needed to get them to grow now....its been humid as heck and in the 80-90s all week!!!
 
  • #13
Not to hijack this thread, but I figured it might be better than cluttering up the board with a new one. How many seeds should be sprinkled in each pot? Do they have a high germination rate so just like 4 or 5 in a pot, or do i need to sprinkle like all 40 that come in a packet in the same small container? About to plant quite a few seeds and I hadn't seen this addressed so I figured I would ask.
Thanks,
Kyle
 
  • #14
I might be having the same problem. And I accidentally forgot about my setup after I turned off my fan to let the temp increase a little. I forgot to turn it back on, and my thermometer said 99 degrees. It was probably only that high for an hour, but that might have been enough to kill 'em.
 
  • #15
I recently seeded my prop chamber, out of 50-100 D. Filiformis Florida All Red I've had 2, maybe 3 strikes. Further strikes probably won't happen, as when I tried to take a single leaf pull from my P. "Yucca Do 1713" I ended up with... about 15 leaf pulls, and they had to go into the same chamber. @.@

Fortunately those 3 starts seem to be doing ok, they have the first 2 spatula shaped leaves. Not sure when I should attempt to take them out, but hopefully they'll be ok to go into a real pot in a few weeks.


How long do you guys usually wait before moving seedlings out of a humid prorogation chamber (covered pot) to a normal pot?
 
  • #16
vbkid- if seed is fresh, and you do everything perfectly (is rare for me) you only need 3-4 seeds per pot (4 inches tall x 2 inches on each side). However, this assumes that all 4 seeds will germinate and make it to adulthood. I always manage to kill off a good portion of my seedlings due to underwatering. A better way is to oversow a pot with 50 or so seeds and then "weed out" clumps when you see a bunch of sprouts in one area (or let the best sundew win). Keep in mind if seed is older, germination rate will be much lower, so you could sow more than you normally would.
Here's a crop of what it looks like when you plant D. aliciae too close together:
aliciae_seedlings.JPG


mcantrell- I let them get about 3 carnivorous (or non-carnivorous if they are in dimmer light) and then take off the humidity cover. This is about 1.5-2 weeks after germination. I don't need to make it a gradual humidity acclimation here, because the natural humidity is around 80%- so it's not a significant drop.
 
  • #17
It might be a moot point -- as some of my Filiformis Tracyi cuttings are getting taller, I'm realizing that a few of them are bright red instead of green. ;) Since I was growing those cuttings in the same pot as the seeds that I *thought* hadn't sprouted last time... :D


But yeah, I have a few seedlings that are about that tall now. Will probably crack the humidity dome one I see a few more leaves, or maybe once I start to see the P. "Yucca Do 1713" leaves start to strike.
 
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