FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I started about 70 seeds back on January 3, 2012, about 25 days ago. Here's what I have so far



Notice The Seed Shell At Seedling's Base

Plant about to take off its cap


The some of the "Elders" of the 50 or so plants I'm raising from seed

Much appreciation to everyone who took a look at the baby-photos

Haa!!

Very nice seedlings, i hope they grow well for you!

Congratulations!!!

Sweet! They look great!

Congrats!

The seedlings look great, Stratofortress!

One of the great things about a coir mix is that it aggressively resists compaction and incorporates air into the soil. But this same characteristic also sometimes makes it a bit of a challenge for very tiny plants to become established and anchored in the coir medium as it falls (from weight when wet) and heaves (because of its springiness) as it dries. I've found that in my own experience, I sometimes have to gently push tiny plants back into the medium every several weeks or so. As a result of that, I now usually sow Venus Flytrap seeds on a traditional sphagnum-peat based mix and reserve the coir medium (or a mix of coir and sphagnum peat) for more mature plants.


Anyway, the seedlings look very healthy and vigorous!

success!

Very cool

May they grow up big and strong!

[quote="Steve_D"]The seedlings look great, Stratofortress!

One of the great things about a coir mix is that it aggressively resists compaction and incorporates air into the soil. But this same characteristic also sometimes makes it a bit of a challenge for very tiny plants to become established and anchored in the coir medium as it falls (from weight when wet) and heaves (because of its springiness) as it dries. I've found that in my own experience, I sometimes have to gently push tiny plants back into the medium every several weeks or so. As a result of that, I now usually sow Venus Flytrap seeds on a traditional sphagnum-peat based mix and reserve the coir medium (or a mix of coir and sphagnum peat) for more mature plants.

I never considered that. Thank you. I lightly mist the seedlings, trying not to uproot their base; but perhaps the reason the plants are growing so slowly is due to the springiness of the coir:idea:

Until I change the media, should I try to use something like a toothpick to push the seedlings down?

Stratofortress wrote:Until I change the media, should I try to use something like a toothpick to push the seedlings down?

I usually just mist the seedlings when it seems necessary to make sure they don't dehydrate before they become rooted, and I wait until they have at least a few trapped leaves before gently snuggling them back down into the fluffy coir medium. More mature plants that are fairly well rooted have no problem at all with the springy coir, and the roots of plants I transplant from coir medium are almost always better developed than the same clone grown in a slowly compacting sphagnum peat moss mix. If the coir medium for the Flytrap seedlings seems problematic based on your observations, it's easy to transplant even the tiniest Venus Flytrap seedlings using a moist toothpick to transfer the seedlings to a new medium.

The one carnivorous plant I've tried in coir medium that seems not to like it much and prefers sphagnum peat moss based mixes is Sarracenia. Venus Flytraps, Drosera capensis (and other Drosera I've tried), Cephalotus (which seems to really like a coir mix) all grow well in a coir mix. I plan to try Heliamphora next, in a more aerated coir mix of 2 parts the regular coir mix I use (coir and silica sand) to 1 part added perlite.

Those Flytrap seedlings are off to a great start.

Nice! They're so cute at that age! LOL!

Hello!
I planted some seeds a month ago. By the look of the seeds it seems like a venus flytrap, but i'm not sure is a flytrap after germination.
Can you help me, please? That's my first time planting a venus flytrap.
Thank you!

Definitely not a flytrap, but I don't know what it is.

It looks like some kind of cactus seedlings. Even though it is not a vft it still might be an interesting plant.

hollyhock wrote:It looks like some kind of cactus seedlings

I thought the same thing when I saw the first photo.