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seed tips or tricks?

Ant

Your one and only pest!
Hi, I just got some purpurea seeds (from Brownfield Maine) at NECPS show and some random seed from Pyro. (thanks!) I was wondering if any one had any advice on getting a high germination rate? I have the seeds in paper towel wet with ran water in a large plastic bag. i think I should take them out on November 1st (5 weeks) but what do you think? Also witch substrate is best for seedlings in your experience? I am planning to ask my parents if I can plant 2 bog bowls in the back yard. Any of tips would help greatly!
 
pure milled sphag is good i heard.
 
Milled sphagnum to germinate them, but you can plant into a standard peat/perlite or peat/sand mix and be fine. Milled sphagnum can sprout into live moss and crowd your seedlings, and it settles over time. You might consider growing your seedlings indoors; apparently it's possible to skip the first two years' dormancies with newly sprouted Sarracenia seedlings and they'll grow much faster in response. (Something I plan on investigating this season.) Sarracenia are pretty easy from seed - if you plan to grow them outside you might just stratify them outdoors to make your life easier. My first year with CPs I started S. rubra and Darlingtonia from seed and they've both been really easy.
~Joe
 
Before stratifying Sarracenia seeds I soak them overnight in a bit of water and just a touch of dish soap. The idea is that the soap helps moisture penetrate the waxy coat of the seeds. By a touch of dish soap I mean literally that - touch your finger tip to the film that usually collects on the spout of you dish soap bottle and then dip it into the water. Whether or not it makes a difference I don't know, I never tried a comparison.

Google "Sarracenia Ellison" or "Sarracenia Gremination" "Sarracenia Stratification" and there are plenty of studies, mostly by Aaron Ellison

http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/personnel/web/aellison/publications/2001/ellison_2001.pdf
 
I'd remove the wet paper towel from the bag though. with all that stagnant air your just risking mold growth and that'd be bad...

sarr' germination is really quite easy... its just nerve racking is all...

I did 5 weeks strat with barely damp paper towels and then sowed directly onto a peat/perlite mix i've got about... 50 seedlings with one pitcher now already... about 75% germination rate... but I'm seeing some new guys popping up now so that may rise in the next week or so..
 
What you're doing sounds good to me. I wrap my paper towels in foil - I don't know if plastic bags are a mould risk or not. Probably not.

I'm determined to find out what's the best substrate for seedlings next spring once and for all, so I'll be sowing a big batch of seeds onto various mixes.
 
um, since it is in the fridge I don't think mold will be a huge problem. One thing i am nervous about is I don't have any perlite. does home depot still have some out?
 
using pumice or sand is also fine.
pumice is almost exactly like perlite, except it doesnt.... float. and its heavier, so people dont use it because it'll be heavier to ship.
 
Hey Warren, that soap thing sounds interesting, I gotta try that on the next batch!
I've stratified seeds in those little jewelry ziplock type bags that are available at craft stores. Inside I would throw in some chopped LFS and some horticultural sand (thanks for that tip Lois!) After putting the seeds in, I would add a little water and then stick in the fridge for 4-6 weeks. I would also gently massage the bag and move the seeds around every week or so. The sand, kind of like the soap in NAN post above -- theoretically wears the waxy coating off the seeds. So far its working. I've shipped seeds this way before - (shipped DRY, cold stratification ready!) The chopped LFS kind of acts as a cushion as well. When the seeds arrive on the other end, the recipient adds water, and more sand if they wish. So far, germination rates seem good.

After cold stratification, I just throw the mix down on some media.

Speaking of breaking wax down -- doesn't alcohol break wax compounds down? Not sure, but I've heard someone mention that. Just wondering....
 
  • #10
Rob, I just read through a couple of Ellison's studies. They scarified seed in 1M sulfuric acid (unstratified) vs unscarified and unstratified Sarracenia seed and got zero germination. Their conclusion was scarification was unnecessary. I suppose the soap treatment doesn't hurt. It may even help sterilize the seeds. They used a brief soak in 10% bleach solution followed by 3 rinses in sterile distilled water to sterilize.

http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/88/3/429
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3845/is_199801/ai_n8802973/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
 
  • #11
Thanks for the info Warren! Good stuff!! Oh, by the way, the seeds from you are doing well :) Thanks again for those! One cper I know mentioned that if you get the seeds in young enough, before the pod turns brown, they can germinate. The closest I came to that was taking a young S. rubra pod that I didn't think had anything in it and when I cracked it open there were a few seeds! The pod was still green. So, being that I didn't pollinate the plant and I didn't care much for this one, and also just being somewhat lazy -- I just tossed the seeds with no stratification in the same pot as the s. rubra. (I know, messy of me) a couple months later, the seeds did germinate! There are a few small pitchers now.
 
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