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Stubborn Byblis seeds

Cindy

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I sowed about coming to a hundred seeds in November and December last year. So far, only 5 germinated.

First batch was treated with Pingman's Byblis Germination Method, PMBGM. Second batch was only with hot water and soaked for 48hours.

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I was fed up with the germination rate and decided to check on the seeds. The ones I sowed on peat, I left alone. Can't distinguish them from the peat. But I picked up a seed that I sowed on LFS and 'pinched' the seed coat off. I saw a very small grain of seed pop out. Whitish, purplish...seems fine so I plonked it back onto the LFS.

Guess what?! That fellow germinated within a week! I knew it is the 'naked' seed 'cos I marked where I placed it.

So, off came a few more seed coats. Quite an eye-ache since the seeds are so small.

Out of the five, 2 germinated within two weeks!

I read somewhere that we can line a small plastic container with fine sand, place the seeds inside and shake the seeds vigorously. In that way, part of the seed coat is 'shaved' off. A better method than rubbing them between two sheets of sand paper where it is kind of difficult to control the amount of strength we are using.

What do you all think? Would like everyone's opinion 'cos my first byblis is flowering and once I get seeds, I'll try 'sanding' them!  
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  Desperate me, desperate measures.
 
I have had4 batches of seeds sent to me, by various people, with varying results. I received 23 seed from Wicked Thistle my first time out and did absolutely nothing special to them. I treated as any Drosera seed - moistened media inside a pipette container. Within 10 days and a few days apart - all 23 seeds germinated. I later watched the seedlng die, one by one. Beginner's luck?

A second batch, yielded 4 plants and a third batch got two. The most recent batch, done by the warm water, 10% bleach soaking, 48 hours thing - absolutey nothing. What can I conclude? Not a thing! Maybe some batches were just either not terribly viable or not at all?
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Have you tried letting the seeds sit in a dry place for at least a month? I found out the hard way that germination is best if you store the seeds in a dry place for a month or more, then soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours, and then plant them.
dewy
 
I used bleach and warm water, but I only let them soak for a total of a couple hours. The purple pigment leached out with the first warm bath. Though, I did keep them in very high humidity.

A bit of bottom warmth seemed to help germination speeds (though not necessarily rates.)

I learned an interesting little trick for when you have to work with small seed: Take an old salt shaker (clean) and put the seeds and put them inside, along with a little bit of sugar. That way you can see where you've spread seed and what areas are more bare. Thought I'd bring it up because a) it can be useful, and b) because it happened to my Byblis that I've got a few cloesely next to each other.
 
Ive heard of some one simply having a small Fire on their pot... some paper and some leaves and some twigs...

Cheers
 
Est, you gave me an idea. Instead of sugar, we can use fine sand for sowing CP seeds from a pepper shaker!  
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Dewy, when you store the seeds in a dry place, you mean to just chuck the package of seeds on a shelf and forget about them?  
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 Room temperature or in the fridge? My room temperature is always in the high 80s.  Or can I just sow them on dry peat/sand mix, only to water a month later?

I did think that Byblis seeds need to be stored for a while before sowing but I have also read that the fresher the seed the better. That's confusing. Which is correct?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Cindy @ Mar. 18 2006,5:16)]Est, you gave me an idea. Instead of sugar, we can use fine sand for sowing CP seeds from a pepper shaker!  
smile.gif


Dewy, when you store the seeds in a dry place, you mean to just chuck the package of seeds on a shelf and forget about them?  
smile_m_32.gif
 Room temperature or in the fridge? My room temperature is always in the high 80s.  Or can I just sow them on dry peat/sand mix, only to water a month later?

I did think that Byblis seeds need to be stored for a while before sowing but I have also read that the fresher the seed the better. That's confusing. Which is correct?
Just put them in a paper packet and store them at room temperature. I sowed 50 fresh seeds a few months back, half of them using P-man's method and the other half soaked in only warm water for 24 hours, and none have germinated. I have received B.liniflora seed from growers in the past, and I have found out that storing them room temp. for a month or more works best.
dewy
 
Ya know, one can do all the right things and the seed may not be viable from the outset.
 
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