Germination Data & Gibb. Acid Test

[shawnintland]

Germination Data;

In seedling trays as of April 8, ‘08

The following species were planted on moist chopped sphagnum moss in silk-screen ventilated plastic boxes (Tupperware) and misted 1-2 times daily as needed. All boxes were kept in shaded location with about 1 hour direct morning sun (8-9am). No fungal or algae problems developed other than the occasional seed getting a little white mold at the embro and these were removed immediately. In total there are about 1,500-1,800 seeds.

N. coccinea x amp spotted (from Xir) 16 days germination - EXCELLENT GERMINATION,
N. king tiger x mirabilis - "Kuraburi", (from Yui) 18 days germination, good so far
N. kuchingensis x miranda, (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. kuchingensis grn x viking (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. mirabilis x miranda (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. red dragon x amp green (from Yui) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 45 days ago
N. thorelii x raff. "Jahore spotted" (from Amstel) 16 days germination, good so far
N. thorelii x kuchingnensis (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. tiger x raff. alata, (from Xir?) Poor germination, planted 67 days ago
N. viking x (amp x Mirabilis), (from Amstel) First germ. today, planted 12 days ago
N. viking, (from Xir) 18 days germination very good, so far
N. viking x (spathulata x raff), (from Xir) 22 days germination, ok so far
N. viking x (big wings x squat), (from Yui) NO GERMINATION, YET! Only planted 5 days ago

I also did tests using Gibber. acid at 0.01% soaking solution for 18-24 hours using the following species;

N. coccinea x amp spotted (from Xir) 13 days germination - EXCELLENT GERMINATION
N. king tiger x mirabilis - "Kuraburi", (from Yui) 16 days germination good so far
N. mirabilis x miranda (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. kuchingensis x miranda, (from TP Boy) NO GERMINATION, YET! Planted 21 days ago
N. viking, (from Xir) 13 days germination very good, so far

In all 3 cases (where seed has germinated already) the time to germination was reduced by 2-5 days but the germination rate was about equal.

Thanks to all of you seed donors/sellers!
Shawn
;D

[phissionkorps]

Using GA3 on nep seeds is more or less useless. Since they grow so slow for the first year or so anyway, an extra few days won't really help. I think it would be interesting to try on some very old seed and seed if there is germination using GA3 once the seed is 8 months old or something like that. I've always wanted to try using GA4+7 but never got around to it.

I actually saw an experiment someone did online with graphs and everything. Sometimes, the use of GA3 actually hurt germination. I keep GA3 on hand in case I have rapid senescence on anything, but I think I've used it once in a year and a half.

[shawnintland]

Yes phissionkorps, I tend to agree after this experiment. On another forum there had been a bit of debate going on so I decided to do some tests, since I was planting anyway and had the space and Gibb. I think that one factor in my results was that, as far as I know, all the seed was quite fresh. Someone commented that my regime had very regular attention and that under the circumstances, that might have been the difference between my results and theirs in their control group.

[phissionkorps]

Interesting. Maybe you should keep some seed and try it again in a few months. I've got some mirabilis seed sitting my desk drawer I forgot about, which is already at least as old as November. Maybe I'll let it age a bit more and give it a go. I just sowed some about 3 weeks ago, and it is definitely still viable.

[shawnintland]

Hee, hee, hee...that's about the only way I would ever have "old" nep seed around is if I forgot about it!

[agustinfranco]

Hi all:

Are Nepenthes seed coats permeable to GA3?. How do we know that the germination of the seeds were actually delayed by GA3 and not by the Solvent where GA3 was in?

Gus

[phissionkorps]

Because the solvent is usually water when private growers are doing experiments on their own. If alcohol was used, I really doubt that would hinder germination. I've hosed seedlings down in 5mg/L 6-BAP solution which was dissolved in 90% isopropyl alcohol and dog shampoo to no ill effect.

[strath76]

That's an interesting mix to be spraying on your plants. Was there a particular reason behind the mix other than to see what would happen?

[phissionkorps]

I sprayed seedlings with 2-3 sets of true leaves with it once daily, 3x a week. Sex determination is definitive at a very early age. Cytokinin overdose = female (or intersex) plants. There are many papers written on gender switching with cytokinins/auxins on Cannabis sativa. That solution rendered 80-100% of seedlings female or intersex.

6-BAP isn't soluble in water. You have to use either NaOH (which I think would kill my plants, and I don't have access to), or be awesome and work some frontier chemistry like I did. The tearless dog shampoo helps it to dissolve in the alcohol solvent, which is then diluted with water to obtain 5mg/L. Oh you also have to heat and stir the solution while you're trying to get the 6-BAP to dissolve. I poured everything in a coke can with the top cut off, which I then put on an electric stove and stirred with a coat hanger. Frontier chemistry = awesome.