Nepenthes attenboroughii seeds germinated!

[DonH]

I received these attenboroughii seeds from Jeremiah on Saturday, November 17 and sowed them the next day. They are in a propagation dome with a heating pad underneath to keep the temp near 80F during the day and dips down to about 76F at night.

Almost 2 weeks later!!!!

Also tried some in TC but nothing yet.

 

[mylesG]

that is most excellent

congrats!

 

[Exo]

Start raising cows....they need something to eat when they get older.

 

[thelarge]

Thats great.Its nice to see them in t.c. too!What media did you use?Iam very jealous.

 

[Heli]

Dang that was quick. I need to keep an eye out for mine now

 

[Nepenthesis]

Nice! In a few years, you'll have tiny little plants that you can sell for a few hundred dollars each!

 

[DonH]

Thanks!

Thats great.Its nice to see them in t.c. too!What media did you use?Iam very jealous.

In one liter of distilled water, 1/3 strength Murashige and Skoog with vitamins, 2 ml PPM, 1 ml BAP, 25 grams sucrose, and a little more than 5 grams of agar. I soaked the seeds in a solution of MS+PPM for 3 hours before plating.

Dang that was quick. I need to keep an eye out for mine now

Yeah... I was surprised they germinated so quickly. I was expecting more like a month or two, if at all. How are yours doing?

Nice! In a few years, you'll have tiny little plants that you can sell for a few hundred dollars each!

Not even sure if they will make it that far. Lol I've read that they are difficult to grow out. We'll see...

I want to thank Jeremiah again for making this possible.

 

[corky]

congrats on your germination and good luck with the tc,keep us posted

 

[Heli]

They look really nice and plump and I have had no issues with fungus unlike the other seeds I have right now. I don't have germination yet because I am just giving them typical highland temps (73-80, 55-58) and cooler temps generally mean slower germination. I'm really happy to see that they are viable though. As for the comment towards Pine, I don't think you should have trouble with the seedlings, in 2007 there was a first release of seeds and the people who got seeds had really slow seedlings and most of them died off. Although, in 2011 there were more seeds released and those germinated quickly and the seedlings grew very fast. I'm thinking that the first batch of seeds were maybe older or less viable. Here are some interesting threads
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?128975-N-attenboroughii-seeds-start-sprouting
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...ii-seedlings&p=1090150&viewfull=1#post1090150
As you can see the seedlings gained a good amount of size in less than a year. Since the batch of seeds that we have now are fresh, hopefully we will have the same growth rates.

 

[BigBella]

Cool beans. i have to check my vials and soon . . .

 

[flasker]

I have no clue why Nepenthes seeds germinate in extro (no nutrient, only high humidity) faster than in vitro (complete nutrients) ?. It happens to me with other Nepenthes seeds (I sterilize seeds both in extro and intro). Do you have any idea, BigBella and Donh?

 

[Wire Man]

This is getting me excited for mine! Congrats on the sprouts!

 

[BigBella]

I have no clue why Nepenthes seeds germinate in extro (no nutrient, only high humidity) faster than in vitro (complete nutrients) ?. It happens to me with other Nepenthes seeds (I sterilize seeds both in extro and intro). Do you have any idea, BigBella and Donh?

I have had both experiences -- where the seed germinated in vitro weeks before those in compost; and quite the opposite, even with both kept in the same environment, in terms of temperature and light. One thought was that the seed required some modicum of darkness and that those in compost were not as bombarded by light as those in vials; but that doesn't explain the incidences of success too damn well, does it?

 

[DonH]

They look really nice and plump and I have had no issues with fungus unlike the other seeds I have right now. I don't have germination yet because I am just giving them typical highland temps (73-80, 55-58) and cooler temps generally mean slower germination. I'm really happy to see that they are viable though. As for the comment towards Pine, I don't think you should have trouble with the seedlings, in 2007 there was a first release of seeds and the people who got seeds had really slow seedlings and most of them died off. Although, in 2011 there were more seeds released and those germinated quickly and the seedlings grew very fast. I'm thinking that the first batch of seeds were maybe older or less viable. Here are some interesting threads
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?128975-N-attenboroughii-seeds-start-sprouting
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...ii-seedlings&p=1090150&viewfull=1#post1090150
As you can see the seedlings gained a good amount of size in less than a year. Since the batch of seeds that we have now are fresh, hopefully we will have the same growth rates.

Thanks for the links, Heli. A few more sprouted when I checked this morning. Wohooo!!!

I have no clue why Nepenthes seeds germinate in extro (no nutrient, only high humidity) faster than in vitro (complete nutrients) ?. It happens to me with other Nepenthes seeds (I sterilize seeds both in extro and intro). Do you have any idea, BigBella and Donh?

I have no idea... The seeds were plated 2 days after the other seeds were sown in 50% coco peat/50% sand. They were given the same light and temperature so the difference is humidity. I mist the seeds every other day to keep the substrate moist but not damp. The seeds in vitro look more plump due to the 3 hour soak in MS+PPM. The planted seeds were not sterilized but did receive a heavy misting of distilled water and trichoderma at 1/2 teaspoon per gallon right after being sown.

I have had both experiences -- where the seed germinated in vitro weeks before those in compost; and quite the opposite, even with both kept in the same environment, in terms of temperature and light. One thought was that the seed required some modicum of darkness and that those in compost were not as bombarded by light as those in vials; but that doesn't explain the incidences of success too damn well, does it?

I thought about placing them in the dark for a week but went with just putting them under growlights right after sowing them. Both vessels and propogation tray share the same photoperiod of 16 hours of light.

 

[n bicalcarata]

COOL you are so lucky

 

[Heli]

Interesting.... I put mine in darkness for around 6 days so I should be getting germination in hopefully 1-2 weeks.

 

[mikewilder]

Flasker I think no one has mentioned the most important difference--osmolarity. If you think about the water in planting medium, it is relatively pure, maybe maxing out at 200 ppm tds. In contrast, the tc medium might have 30 g sugar, 6 g agar, and lets say 1.5 g salts. That water contains 37,500 ppm tds. So for the purposes of osmosis, these environments are very different. My own opinion is that this is the most likely explanation for differential results between soil and tc.

I have no clue why Nepenthes seeds germinate in extro (no nutrient, only high humidity) faster than in vitro (complete nutrients) ?. It happens to me with other Nepenthes seeds (I sterilize seeds both in extro and intro). Do you have any idea, BigBella and Donh?

 

[DonH]

A few quick updates...

More sprouts on the way.

 

[BigBella]

Flasker I think no one has mentioned the most important difference--osmolarity. If you think about the water in planting medium, it is relatively pure, maybe maxing out at 200 ppm tds. In contrast, the tc medium might have 30 g sugar, 6 g agar, and lets say 1.5 g salts. That water contains 37,500 ppm tds. So for the purposes of osmosis, these environments are very different. My own opinion is that this is the most likely explanation for differential results between soil and tc.

Osmolarity certainly plays some role; but what of its supposed deleterious effects? I have experienced in vitro and conventional germination within ten days of some Nepenthes, Drosera, and Darlingtonia; yet have also waited for months for some of those same plants -- which points more towards seed freshness; its general viability; or other factors not being considered. Also, considering that I average some twenty vessels per liter of prepared, diluted media (generally 1:5 to 1:3 concentrations and sucrose at about 2 percent), I'd suggest that the solute concentration can't be significantly higher than some of the standard, saturated peat-sand composts that I use.

In addition, similar "either / or" results occurred with some 2011 photo-autotrophic cultures, where solute concentrations were kept far lower (sugars were not even included in the media); and where "normal" rates of gas exchange were obtained through vented lids . . .

 

[mylesG]

idk if this applies to nepenthes but many plant seeds use differential dormancy and staggered germination to protect a seed crop from failing due to changes in growing conditions. some seeds will germinate faster than others when exposed to the same ideal germination conditions. doesnt explain why you would have all the seed ina batch take much longer but could explain why some seeds in a group just take much longer to geminate in vitro.