Nepenthes rafflesiana from seed

[NickHubbell]

On 12/6/2003 I received a packet of Nepenthes rafflesiana from the ICPS seedbank. These were then sown on chopped sphagnum moss in sealed clear plastic shoeboxes. About a week ago, a small section of the media dried out, which I caught the same day and remedied with a nice watering. To my surprise, that same section today (1-19-04) has given me 7 sprouts. The remaining seeds that did not dry out have not begun to sprout. Only those that were in the dried portion of the media have sprouted. Has anyone else experienced this with thier Nepenthes rafflesiana or any other Nepenthes seeds?

Germination time for this seed: 44+ days



Thanks,

Nick

 

[JanW]

Never heard of something like that. Interesting! My seeds of different high/lowland species germinated after kept wet all the time.

Jan

 

[NickHubbell]

I am going to take guess and say that there was enough humidity in the surrounding air to keep the seed viable. Its most likely a coincidence that the seeds in the same area sprouted first.

 

[goldtrap2690]

It's probably some sort of stratification as in the wild there are rainy seasons and dry seasons .

 

[Darcie]

Yah, if the seeds swelled and then shrank a bit suddenly I would expect some of the outer covering to crack and let the sprout push out easier.

 

[goldtrap2690]

I recieved some seeds a couple days ago from the icps seed bank and i'm gonna test this theory too , if we both have the same results we just may have some new way of succesfully germinating the seeds of Nepenthes , or Nepenthes rafflesiana that is