How Quickly Can Nep Seeds Germinate?

[SubRosa]

I frequently read how long it can take Nep seeds to germinate, but I'm interested in the other end of the spectrum. I'd really like to hear first hand accounts of people's quickest germinations. Thanks!

 

[BigBella]

I have had seeds germinate in as little as ten days to two weeks; conversely, others have taken months -- upwards of ten . . .

 

[Ambanja]

Seen photos of seeds germinating in the seed pods, with the pods barely even split open. On the other end I've had seeds germinate almost two years later.

 

[PsychoSarah]

My fastest was at about a week, but the majority of that seed set still took 2 weeks to really get started. And even months later, I am still having some germinate.

 

[hcarlton]

Had germinations once within 2 weeks, with really fresh seeds I regularly get germination within 3-4.

 

[morbus]

My fastest was just under 3 weeks, but a friend had Flava come up within 1 week. thats the fastest ive ever heard of.
when sowing my own seed soon after harvesting, I expect them up within a month. age typically makes them take much longer

 

[morbus]

interestingly, I got some of those same Flava seeds from said friend and tried germinating them straight in the GH (early winter - not ideal) and they hadnt come up after 3 weeks. After moving them to a warm terrarium, they came up after a week.
Conditions obviously play a huge role. I dont know what would have happened had I left them in the GH -

 

[Adelea]

I have had mirabilis (normal) and Viking seed germinate within 2 weeks of sowing, but I have had others take up to 5months

 

[Cthulhu138]

About a week and a half is the record for me. 3-4 weeks being the average.

 

[SubRosa]

Hmmmmmm........... I sowed the seeds from Andrew's giveaway, which I presume were extremely fresh on the 12th, and yesterday I noticed a few little green thread-like things starting to grow. I thought it must be some moss but now I'm not so sure. I'll get as good a pic as I can with my phone later today.

 

[Whimgrinder]

What Nepenthes seeds look like newly germinated:http://nitrogenseekers.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/nepenthes-seed-germinating/

If you are seeing seedlings of some sort appearing in under 3 weeks (usually, 4-6 weeks is much more likely) then you may be seeing weed seeds germinating. Compare with my photos, above.

 

[morbus]

very good pics there Paul!
I know well how hard they are to photograph at that size

 

[Red Lowii]

I've never had germination faster than 3months, but I only really started playing around with seed germination relatively recently. My conditions are not ideal by any stretch, basically just use ambient light and food containers with sphagnum/perlite. One of the overseas growers managed to beat me in the germination game (25days from sowing)with my own seed! So i think conditions play a big role here and it seems like artificial lighting can really speed things up.

Just for fun I thought I'd show off some pics of a recent complex hybrid I made:

My first relatively 'successful' complex hybrid, and by relatively I mean 12 germinated from roughly 1500+ seed (1/2 of the pods on the flower spike)!

Which from what I hear and have seen is quite common for complex hybrids, especially ones with 5 parents species and a double dose of N.ventricosa

I started the process of pollination in August 2013 and since it's been a full year, I've got some pics to show of how things developed.

It took around 4months for the first seedlings to come up and now a full year on I just had another recent germination, my 12th one.

Pods just beginning to open and you can see the yellow pollen being used

Both parent flowers side by side

Pods fully opened and pollinated

Swelling up a little

Pods swelling and still green

Pods browned up, about 2 weeks from ripening and the tips blackening

Cutting off the pods one by one

Pitchers from both parents:

And here's what I have at the moment

 

[jafvortex93]

Its like a family album!

 

[Whimgrinder]

Marc, you have brought up a couple of valuable points; climate conditions play a role in germination speed (and possibly percentage of seeds that germinate), and some hybrid seed lots have less than 1% germination rates - even those that appear to produce huge numbers of viable embryos. (This mirrors my experience, anyway) I have had some seed recipients achieve germination weeks before I got any, and vice versa. Temperature seems to play a significant role: warmer conditions bring about germination sooner. (Not surprising.)

I recently harvested a few crosses from N. Helen (From BE; spathulata X spectabilis, select clone, female) and it appeared that almost every seed contained a fat (and presumably viable) embryo. Well, six weeks from sowing there has been some germination of these crosses, but at a rate of less than 1%, much to my surprise. Of course its always possible there will be a rush of new germinations in the weeks ahead, but I have a feeling that is unlikely.

With complex hybrids, results can (and often are) unpredictable.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Marc, you have brought up a couple of valuable points; climate conditions play a role in germination speed (and possibly percentage of seeds that germinate), and some hybrid seed lots have less than 1% germination rates - even those that appear to produce huge numbers of viable embryos. (This mirrors my experience, anyway) I have had some seed recipients achieve germination weeks before I got any, and vice versa. Temperature seems to play a significant role: warmer conditions bring about germination sooner. (Not surprising.)

I recently harvested a few crosses from N. Helen (From BE; spathulata X spectabilis, select clone, female) and it appeared that almost every seed contained a fat (and presumably viable) embryo. Well, six weeks from sowing there has been some germination of these crosses, but at a rate of less than 1%, much to my surprise. Of course its always possible there will be a rush of new germinations in the weeks ahead, but I have a feeling that is unlikely.

With complex hybrids, results can (and often are) unpredictable.

Well, it explains why you don't see many complex crosses beyond 4 or 5 different nepenthes species in the lineage

 

[Red Lowii]

Here's an example of very high level of germination:

 

[Red Lowii]

Has anyone ever encountered this? three primary leaves as opposed to the normal two, I've had it on a few seedlings from this batch of seed

 

[PsychoSarah]

I have had a couple with deformed leaves, resulting in weird splits, but not three normal ones

 

[Nepenthesis]

I've had some germinate in two weeks (N. attenboroughii, month old) and others took five months for me (common Nepenthes species, month old seeds)... Depends on species, lighting, temperature, humidity, possibly time of year and freshness of the seed, also viability because some hybrids are too complex and won't germinate, while others almost all germinate. I would expect some hybrid to be in the middle there where some seeds are viable and some are not.