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keeping attenboroughii seedlings alive

K

kevnep

hey guys so four weeks ago i received attenboroughii seeds from cz and one week ago they started germinating. Now currently 17 of 23 seeds have germinated and i want to know from those who have experience growing this species from seeds how do i keep it alive and growing well and how do i minimize death rates?

The form is from mt victoria, can anyone give me more information about that population?
 
My primary suggestion is to water them from below -- say, in a tray ad offer a mid temperature drop at night. Getting the crowns if the seedlings overly wet, can cause problems. Nepenthes seedlings are especially prone to damping off and other fungal diseases . . .
 
Nepenthes plants don't like as much water or light as other carnivorous plants. And they constantly require high humidity. I sure hope that your plants have at LEAST 60% humidity. Nepenthes plants are native to rainforests and can tolerate 100% humidity. As for light, give it diffused light or just give it less light.

NOTE: If you grow your Nepenthes in a greenhouse or terrarium, make sure it doesn't overheat when it gets in the sun!
 
Glad to hear you got germination! I have observed that Attens will grow incredibly faster with a heat mat under the seedling tray. However, this may just be due to the intermediate conditions that the heat mat is simulating. One tip I received about Atten seedlings is to begin transplanting then when they put out their 3rd leaves so they are large enough to keep death rates at a minimum.
 
Thanx guys. I do not grow them in the gh because winter temps might kill them. They are grown indoors in a tank. I planted them on boiled sphagnum peat which really helped to kill off mould. They are sown in a big tray covered with plastic so humidity is very high they are standing in water
 
Nepenthes don't like sitting in water. They don't need as much as other carnivorous plants. Just top water it each day. You can keep a little water in the tray for humidity purposes. It looks like you're on the right track!
 
Plant Planter said:
Nepenthes don't like sitting in water. They don't need as much as other carnivorous plants. Just top water it each day. You can keep a little water in the tray for humidity purposes. It looks like you're on the right track!
Click to expand...

I have grown all of my Nepenthes in shallow trays from day one, without any issue or loss. It mainly depends upon the type of compost, in my opinion . . .
 
Yeah, I use the tray method, albeit only in very shallow trays as BigBella said, for almost all of my neps too, especially young seedlings. I've found that, especially if your neps are growing in live sphagnum, sitting them in some water really helps keep the sphagnum from drying out as quickly. With no harm done, at least in my case, to the neps.

Edit: Oh, and congrats on the germination kev, keep us posted with your progress.
 
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Hey Kev,

I'll be following this thread closely as well, my first Attens have germinated this weekend! As BigBella and Iwest have noted, I too use a shallow tray method and do not top water in fear of washing the shallow rooted seedlings away. I probably should have boiled the sphagnum because mold has been a problem for me. I've been very successful with other Nepenthes seedlings without having to treat the sphagnum in any way. But these prove to be more susceptible to mold in my case :(

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sovetskjeff/8732981614/" title="Nepenthes Attenboroughii by sovetsk.jeff, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7293/8732981614_388a9d74d0.jpg" width="338" height="500" alt="Nepenthes Attenboroughii"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sovetskjeff/8731863125/" title="Nepenthes Attenboroughii 2 by sovetsk.jeff, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7289/8731863125_e807eb2c21.jpg" width="373" height="479" alt="Nepenthes Attenboroughii 2"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sovetskjeff/8732981522/" title="Nepenthes Attenboroughii 3 by sovetsk.jeff, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7290/8732981522_cc8fb5664d.jpg" width="500" height="461" alt="Nepenthes Attenboroughii 3"></a>
 
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  • #10
Great work there Jeff I must say boiling the peat made all the difference because I have had no problems with mold o even algae. I'm currently up to 17 seedlings out of 23 and I'm sure the rest will germinate too.

Nep seedlings should sit in water untill they are at least 2cm across in my experience
 
  • #11
When I germinated my jamban seeds, I had some sprout many months after the fact. The last sprouted I believe almost 8 months after planting... I thought they were long done when I check on the larger ones and suddenly saw one more tiny green sprout. The other seedlings were already over an inch across.
 
  • #12
Ooh, a Nepenthes jamban... And you say it sprouted eight months after the others? Seeds are weird.

(Toilety goodness! :D)
 
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