Germinating Sundew Seeds

[David]

Lets discuss how to germinate Sundew seeds.

I have only tried germinating the seeds indoors as I live in an apartment. This is what I do...

I treat my sundew seeds like how I treat my nep seeds. Place them on top of wet chopped up sphagnum moss and midst them with a water spray. I mix a few drops of plant hormone in water before spraying on the seeds. I guess it still works if you do not have plant hormone. Do not cover the seeds with sphagnum moss. Just place them on top of the media.

I then place them in a very humid environment. For me it would be my covered terrarium. I give them 16 hours of artificial light a day. Humidity is above 80%.

You could use seed trays that you can buy from nurseries and garden centres in Shopping complexes. They trays have a clear plastic cover with some holes on them. This helps to keep the air inside humid.

I also place my pots of seeds on a tray of water so that the sphagnum moss is always very wet. Try to mimic the environment where they came from, and usually where the parent plant is thriving, the seeds will grow. Every once in a while I spray water on the medium and replenish the water in the trays.

I have not tried germinating seeds in a shadehouse or outside in the garden. Hope other members who have done it please share your experience.

I am still trying to figure out what better ways to improve my process. Would be great to learn from the rest of you.

[David]

You could also grow the seeds on sphagnum peat moss as most sundews are grown in sphagnum peat anyway. if you are using chopped up sphagnum moss on the top, make sure you chop the sphagnum moss really fine or there will be gaps in the soil and the tiny seeds will fall in. When that happens they might not be able to grow out of that hole in time to receive the light that need to grow. The seeds only provide them with limited food to sprout. If they are stuck in the gaps in the moss, they might die.

Once my seeds germinate I usually transplant them to their "home" so to speak, which is a mixture of one part sphagnum peat and one part perlite.

On top of the potting media I place a thin layer of chopped up sphagnum moss. Don't like the black colour of peat mixed with white perlite. Eventhough these materials are sterile, they look a little dirty. so the chopped up sphagnum moss covers that.

Always have a tray of water at the bottom of your sundew pots. They need their soil to be very wet unlike nepenthes that can take drying out for short periods of time. Neps roots will rot if you always soak them in a tray of water. Anyway it is more important for your sundew babies when they are so tiny, not to let the soil dry out.

Also if you are placing the seeds under artificial lights, make sure it is only a few inches from the pots.

It is good to spray the pots with water using a mister once every 1-2 days. It give fresh air to the media top and sprays away algae spores. I have a few pots that I did not spray water on and they are place too far from the lighting. A thick layer of algae has grown on the media and I think this blocks the seeds. No germination on those pots.

One more thing. Sundew seeds seems to germinate slower for me compared to nepenthes seeds. Sometimes my nepenthes seeds will sprout within 3 weeks. All my sundew seeds take at least 3 months to germinate. Only my D. capensis (red) seeds germinate in 1 month ++.

[cactustts]

I used only Sphagnum moss to germinate sundews. Soak chopped sphagnum moss , lay them on a tray (without holes), pour some water until the moss is soaked in water, try to make the surface flat. Sundew seeds are really tiny like powder, just sprinkle the seeds on top of the moss as evenly as you can, or else you will end up plants grow together and you'll have difficulties in tranplanting them later.
Place them at a bright place. Be patient, after seeds germinated, you may move them under sun, I did that for my sundew and they seem to like it. But be very careful, the media could dry out very fast which I experienced before in one very hot day, luckily still managed to save a few plants. Remember to also get something to cover on top to prevent rain. Rain water will flush away everthing. But this is only my way, I think the best place to germinate seeds still in terarium where everything under control.
I found seeds being soaked in water germinate faster. Let's see how true is this.

[David]

Oh, forgot to say... use distilled or RO water if possible when watering the potting medium for the seeds.

I did not carry out an experiment and have a controlled group of plants to see the effects of tap water and distilled/RO on germination rate. This is because the seeds that I have are so precious to me. So don't want to waste them. This information is second hand from others growers.

So far for my seeds I've been using RO water that I buy from a water dispenser unit near my house. Occasionally, I forgot to buy. So I use tap water.

[isaacgoh]

I'm using water from my fish tanks. I change water weekly, so there's always plenty to have for watering my plants.

[artificialive]

admin said:

Lets discuss how to germinate Sundew seeds.

I treat my sundew seeds like how I treat my nep seeds. Place them on top of wet chopped up sphagnum moss and midst them with a water spray. I mix a few drops of plant hormone in water before spraying on the seeds. I guess it still works if you do not have plant hormone. Do not cover the seeds with sphagnum moss. Just place them on top of the media.

Do u mean plant hormone to be rooting hormone?

[cactustts]

isaacgoh said:

I'm using water from my fish tanks. I change water weekly, so there's always plenty to have for watering my plants.

Hey Issac, you fertilised your planted tank, don't you? I don't think it is suitable to use fish tank water as it contained minerals that harmful to CPs.

[David]

[/quote]Do u mean plant hormone to be rooting hormone?[/quote]

Yes, vitamin B1 I think. but this is the liquid form. This is also good to reduce plant stress when I repot them. It is not fertiliser and will nto burn the roots.

[isaacgoh]

cactustts said:

isaacgoh said:

I'm using water from my fish tanks. I change water weekly, so there's always plenty to have for watering my plants.

Hey Issac, you fertilised your planted tank, don't you? I don't think it is suitable to use fish tank water as it contained minerals that harmful to CPs.

Minimal fertilisation nowadays(because keeping shrimps) so I guess they'll be ok.

Rgds,
Isaac

[David]

isaacgoh said:

cactustts said:

Minimal fertilisation nowadays(because keeping shrimps) so I guess they'll be ok.

Hmm, but still I don't know if the amonia and shrimp waste would affect them. Sundews are very sensitive to minirals and salts in their water.

[cactustts]

Not only the shrimp waste, the shrimp food will further add some mineral into the water.

[isaacgoh]

Ok, got it guys. Will use aged filtered water instead.

[bifurcatum]

My seeds has germinated yesterday!
the plantlets very tiny very small, but some of them have red tentacles and dews!

[artificialive]

bifurcatum said:

My seeds has germinated yesterday!
the plantlets very tiny very small, but some of them have red tentacles and dews!

Wahh bifurcatum.. congrats!! ur a dad now.. haha!
eh, btw mine havent germinated yet.. sheesh.. i always have no luck in germinating seeds.. algae/ moss had conquered the germinating pot..

[David]

Please start a new thread on the germination of your sundew seeds. Let this area be just for discussion on how to germinate sundew seeds, ok.

[bifurcatum]

I use only lousy s. moss. Soak chopped sphagnum moss, put in a 'tao hue' container(with hole). Just sprinkle the seeds on top of the moss. Place them outdoor under direct sun light, 4-6hour per day. Water them using water tray method(RO water).

Can u see them?

[Robert]

congratulation bifur., I also notice mine have 3-4 young plantlets(mid-lower of photo). I will shift them when they are bigger.



Any other has germination?

[David]

No germination for me yet.

[korean]

me too