What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Venus flytrap seeds and other questions

I would like to know where I can purchase seeds for venus flytraps, and if it is legal to grow and sell them commercially ... I know they're endangered in the wild. I'm thinking about starting my own small greenhouse and don't really know much about them. Thanks
 
Well you have come to the right place. You will be able to learn all you need to know about VFT's here. Vft's are not very easy to grow from seeds. If I were you, I would get an established plant before trying seeds.
One of the best places to buy VFT's is at this site. http://www.petflytrap.com/
In the meantime read through the VFT section of this forum. All you'll need to know to grow them is there.
And yes it is legal to grow them as long as they were not illegally collected from the wild.

Welcome to the forums, but I must warn you Carnivorous plants are addictive, You won't be able to stop at just one.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome
smilie4.gif


I want to try starting some from seed just because I like a challenge like that. I know you can't actually plant them into the soil ... you have to lay them on the top of it and keep the environment warm and moist (humid). The soil has to be acidic, and you're not supposed to feed them anything but insects.

I was thinking that it might be possible to germinate them in a glass of water and then put them on the soil to grow after the root starts to show. I've done that with sweet williams flowers and tomato seeds. If the only way is to just keep them on the soil and in the right climate, that's ok, too. I also know that it can take half a year for them to actually germinate. That's kind of hard to believe, but I don't know much about carnivorous plants, either.

What kind of soil would be good to use ... just regular potting soil (no nutrients) with some perlite for aeration? or would it be better with the soil that basically looks like mud when wet, and is compact and has no aeration?

Thanks,
Carfreak69

oh, and I am going to study the forums and learn as much as I can about the plant when I get more time ... thanks for the suggestion
 
barry's site is good- http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html
if you want to find say... how to sow seeds, press ctrl+F and type "seeds" in, then click find until you find something relevant.
it's easier (at least for me) fo find stuff there.
 
thanks TheAlphaWolf ... good information.

I'm still going to ask around the forums here for most of my questions. I'm sure I'd get a more relevant answer to my questions, and I bet there's a lot of expert VFT growers on this site.
smile.gif
 
You should ask your questions in the vft section of the forums. You'll get better advice there.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (carfreak69 @ May 04 2005,6:14)]I was thinking that it might be possible to germinate them in a glass of water and then put them on the soil to grow after the root starts to show.
Carfreak69
I just did that with some seed I harvested from one of my VFTs back in February. My germination is 93% (13 out 0f 14 seeds sprouted) compared to 0% (0/15 seeds) for the ones I sowed on my CP soil mix. I still have to plant them in soil though. Just can't decide on what size of pot to put them in.
confused.gif


Edit: Forgot to mention they just started sprouting a week or so ago.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]You should ask your questions in the vft section of the forums. You'll get better advice there.

already done  
smile.gif
 I have a question posted there already.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ] just did that with some seed I harvested from one of my VFTs back in February.  My germination is 93% (13 out 0f 14 seeds sprouted) compared to 0% (0/15 seeds) for the ones I sowed on my CP soil mix.

how long did you have the seed soaking in the water before it sprouted a root? did you put it in the fridge or something for a while to immitate the winter season?
 
Hey carfreak69,welcome!
smile.gif
 You can also find seeds at a good price on E-Bay.That's what I did
smile.gif
 Just type in Carnivorous Plants in the search engine and a ton of stuff will show up.Then just bid or buy VFT seeds.They usually sell 15-20 seeds from $4 something US.Good luck and have fun!
cool.gif
 *Niki*(Trapper7)
 
  • #10
[b said:
Quote[/b] (carfreak69 @ May 04 2005,7:41)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ] just did that with some seed I harvested from one of my VFTs back in February. My germination is 93% (13 out 0f 14 seeds sprouted) compared to 0% (0/15 seeds) for the ones I sowed on my CP soil mix.

how long did you have the seed soaking in the water before it sprouted a root? did you put it in the fridge or something for a while to immitate the winter season?
Hmm. Shoulda looked at my seeds earlier. I harvested them in March not February. I put them in the water 3 days later on the 24th and they are still in the water. I'd guess it took them about 25 days to start sprouting.
I used a small (2oz) condiment container with a lid and put about a ¼" of RO water in it, tossed in the seeds, snapped the lid on it, placed it in the shade of another plant in a south facing window and pretty much forgot about it ' till the other night when I checked and saw three seeds had tiny red roots poking out of the seed coat. Tonight, all but one has sprouted and 3 are about to finish shedding the seed coat.
 
  • #11
Here's a pic of the seeds. Sorry about the size. I cropped a bunch off but didn't do anything else to reduce the pic size.
2005_0504_VFT%20seeds.JPG
 
  • #12
awwww! they're kinda cute!
 
  • #13
nice ... even cooler that you got them to sprout in just a couple months. Don't you want to put them on the soil right away after you notice that the taproot is emerging, though?
 
  • #14
Try ebay.

I'm going to move this to the VFT forum...
 
  • #15
[b said:
Quote[/b] (carfreak69 @ May 05 2005,1:03)]nice ... even cooler that you got them to sprout in just a couple months. Don't you want to put them on the soil right away after you notice that the taproot is emerging, though?
As long as the tap root isn't allowed to dry out it will be fine. The only problem I have had with sprouting seeds this way is that if I wait too long to plant them, I end up with etoliated, spindly plants. It seems to take them forever to become nice stout plants once that happens.
 
  • #17
Haven't heard of them before, but that means nothing. I do know that CP seed of various types comes up for trade year round on the forum and most of it's very fresh seed.
 
  • #18
Would you also be able to root cuttings by putting them in water?
 
  • #19
I have only tried a few leaf pullings/cuttings in water. I wasn't too impressed with my results on this limited try. I had tiny plants sprout, but they didn't put on any size or grow roots in the 3 months I tried to get them going. Algae finally one the battle for them. I usually have much better luck with sticking the ends in moist peat and forgetting about them except to water them as needed.
 
Back
Top