B. Liniflora plantlets..

[artificialive]

Hi,
i sowed byblis liniflora seeds on 8th of October, place it at a shady spot and when back to my hometown for hari raya holidays. and when i came back to melaka.. i've got a pleasant surprise..! ;D





sorry the pics are quite blur. cannot get the camera to really focus on the plantlets.
Question here:
i germinate them in a tau foo fa tupperware with closed lids. So whats the next step? when and how i can start hardening them? thanks!

[ameliepoulain]

art did you do anything to the seeds before sowing them?

i'm thinking of trying again with them byblis, wondering if sowing in peat moss gives better result compared to chopped up sphagnum moss.

[artificialive]

Nope, i didnt treat the seeds with anything. And FYI, these seeds are not freshly sown. heheh.
bought from David on the day of pesta floria at putrajaya (26th August if not mistaken). Only got time to sow them on 8th October - abt a month.. Does this increase the probability of the seeds to germinate? ;D

[David]

Naj, did you store the seeds in the refrigerator or just in your room at room temperature? I sowed my byblis seeds in peat moss too, but results aren't that good. Kinda cool that so many germinate without bleach treatment.

[artificialive]

David,
i just store it in my room at room temperature. Did not treat with anything - no refrigerator, no bleach, etc. Just sprinkled the seeds on the medium. Guess the medium must be very wet to for them to germinate.

[cindy]

Wet peat, especially if the peat is old, helps in the germination process. The colouration can be leeched using just hot water (~70-80C). The microbes in the old peat helps to break down the seed coat.

I am not sure if they like such wet media as permanent media though because in the wild, they grow in nearly pure silica sand.

[tarence]

Naj, i see that 1 or 2 of them are lying down sideways with their roots almost 90 % exposed, gently push those into the medium, if not might dry up.
A word of caution tho: some of my seedlings died coz their roots were disturbed when i pushed them into medium. So you weigh the risks first.
I suggest reducing moisture levels tho, it looks too wet. Mine sprout in LFS quite happily as well. Peat works too, of course. But the adult ones are grown in LFS & peat moss, haven`t tried with pure silica sand like Cindy mentioned, i`m curious to try tho.

[David]

Hmm, maybe I should pot my future byblis in pure sand. Perhaps 3 parts sand mixed with 1 part peat moss. Maybe I should do that since I soak the post in water together with my sundews.

[tarence]

like Nike`s tagline : Just do it ! heheh....i`ll try as well since i got so much sand from you. *smile*

[artificialive]

Cindy: I see.. but the peat i use is new. Thanks for the tips tho. will try to germinate much harder-to-germinate seeds using old peat in the future

Tarence: Yah, some of the plantlets grow sideways. I was a bit cautious on touching them. So i think i'll let them grow like that for a couple of days and monitor their growth. Perhaps they havent settled yet after germination period. Will push some of the plantlets into the medium for some experimenting

David: what sand are u planning to use as the medium ingredient? is it the coarse sand u use for the drosera pot toppings or very fine sand?

[cindy]

Old peat is good for Nep seeds germination as well as sundew seeds. But it needs some watching as algae problems surface much faster too. LOL

I remove Byblis seedlings as soon as they germinate or when they are at most a 'Y' shape. Beyond that, I find that the roots would have grown too long for me to pull the plants without breaking the roots. I sow them on LFS (not shredded) and their roots cling on quite tightly. With peat, it is easier to remove them together with a bit of media.

I have used fine sand with a little bit of peat. The peat is to give the media a bit of organic matter as well as to keep the media moist without having to water too often. But Byblis grows in all sorts of CP mix for me. They do appear in Nep pots sometimes because the seeds drop in after the capsule splits open.

[ameliepoulain]

instead of pushing the plantlet into the media and risk damaging it, I'd suggest taking a tiny pinch of dry peat and sprinkling on the root area to cover it from drying out. that way you won't disturd the new roots and the plantlet would naturally move upward toward sunlight.

[David]

That's a good idea Athene.

Cindy, with regards to algae growth on the peat moss, do you think it will work if I bake the peat moss for a while. Will that kill of any algae in the peat? Will that change the composition or peat into something else?

[cindy]

Bake? As in under the sun or oven? Some people microwave their peat before seed germination.

[David]

Oven?

[cindy]

Baking it at about 100degC for a few minutes is equivalent to pouring hot boiling water into peat. I am not sure about baking but I used hot boiling water before and I find that perhaps the peat decompose faster, I actually get algae earlier!