Planting seed without medium?

[villa99]

Hi.
I think I've read of people germinating seeds without using any of the standard medium. I've read that they use damp paper towels in a petri dish or something like that. I was wondering if anybody could give me some instructions on doing that, since I'll be running out of space soon if I keep planting my seeds in those large germination trays. It would also be good to save on some peat, sphagnum, etc. by using it only on those seeds that did germinate.

P.S. I posted it in the sundew forum because in my (very limited) experience, they are the easiest to grow from seed; but feel free to discuss any CP in this thread.

 

[larry]

I dump my Drosera seeds in a glass of water. Wait 1-2 weeks and they sprout. When I'm ready to plant them up, I use a dropper and drop the baby plants onto the medium.

 

[villa99]

Thanx larry. Do you know if it can be used with other CPs? Which Droseras have you grown this way?

 

[Not a Number]

I remember in grade school we sprouted corn and lima beans on paper towels in bottles to see how the roots and shoots developed. And you can buy mung bean or alfalfa sprouts at the market that were obviously sprouted soil-less. My father would germinate avocado seeds by just sticking toothpicks into them and suspending them in a bowl or glass of water - which was rather succesful judging from the avocado trees in the yard.

Probably most seeds will sprout without soil given enough moisture and the proper temperature range.

There's only one way to find out. Just be sure to keep some seeds in reserve unless they are of a species that won't cold store.

 

[phissionkorps]

Hmm...i wonder if anyone has tried this with nep seeds..it would certainly solve the problem of having to keep constant high humidity, and I'm sure spp. such as miribilis and raff would be used to a consistently wet environment