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tokaiensis germination

About 2, 3 weeks ago I started some seeds of D. tokaiensis. They were quite fresh (less than a week after the fruit dried). I spread some on an open pot of 1:1 peat/sand, a covered pot of 1:1 peat/sand, and moist (dead) long-fibered sphag, also covered. All are about 8" from 6 4' t8's and so far, nada. Zilch. Is this typical, or did something go wrong. They couldn't ALL be sterile, could they?

This is my first time with 'dews from seed, so is this a setback, or am I just impatient?
 
I would probably say you're impatient. (Not as an insult, of course.) Some seeds just take a long time to grow, and some of them need special natural effects (i.e. fire or cold) in order to germinate. Something helpful to do is to dump the seeds in water and plant only the ones that sink.
 
FWIW, they started germinating this past weekend. D. capensis seeds that I purchased recently (who knows how old) germinated inunder two weeks.
 
FWIW, they started germinating this past weekend. D. capensis seeds that I purchased recently (who knows how old) germinated inunder two weeks.

Most Drosera seeds take a month or more. That is not unusual. The fact that your D. capensis seeds germinated is also not really unusual- they tend to be pretty easy to germinate (2 two weeks is pretty good actually). I noticed that you mentioned that you covered the the D. tokaiensis seeds. Typically, people do not cover drosera seeds- they surface sow them and then spray lightly to make contact with the soil. Some seeds need light to germinate, my understanding is that most (if not all) drosera seeds are like that (needing light). I have never tried burying them though.

Another thing,
Germinating Drosera seeds can be hard depending on the species. You are currently working with two of the easiest- especially D. capensis. Moral of the story- if at first you don't succeed, wait it out a little longer- then try again if need be.
I would suggest trying D. spatulata next- usually pretty easy to get going. D. dielsiana is another good one and they look beautiful. Some people here have reported trouble with D. nidiformis, personally I have never had a problem getting it to go. D. regia is really easy to get to germinate but harder to get out of the seedling stage- best to hold off for now.

Welcome to the world of Drosera from seed. Its fun :)
Best of luck, if problems arise- your tech support is here ;)
 
Sorry about the confusion - the seeds were covered as in the cup was covered with a sheet of plastic wrap.

Thanks for the replies, folks
 
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