FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

WORMSS wrote:thankie Steve

how deep are your little pot thingies?

The seedling tray is about 3 inches deep. The plastic insert (to protect the styrofoam tray from sand, etc.) is about 2.5 inches deep, so that's how deep the soil (growing medium) is. The tray is a Speedling 200-cell transplant tray, which you can see and read about here:

http://groworganic.com/item_GP003_Speed ... Mode=HiRes



Each individual cell is shaped like an elongated inverted pyramid, with a drain hole at the bottom that is just big enough to push a pencil eraser through (to dislodge the plants later, for transplanting).

Thank you
I Wasn't able to find anything as advanced as that at my local shops, but I atleast knew the depth I should go for now.. Best I got was a 40 seedling tray one with a water tray that fits it perfectly underneath..

I got a dome with it too, Was planning on cutting a bit away so I can get my light on the inside of it for warmth...
Goodidea? Badidea?

WORMSS wrote:I got a dome with it too, Was planning on cutting a bit away so I can get my light on the inside of it for warmth...
Goodidea? Badidea?

By dome, I'm guessing you mean a clear rigid plastic elevated covering. There are pros and cons to that--

PRO
The dome will help to keep the humidity higher, which means that you can go for a longer time between waterings of the seedlings, which keeps the surface of the medium from being too wet (being too wet encourages infections and algae growth). The dome must have some ventilation holes however.

CON
You won't be able to place your seedling tray in direct sunlight because the air inside, under the dome, will heat up way too fast and become like an oven, possibly killing your plants.

What I tend to do is this. When Venus Flytraps have just germinated, and up to about 3-4 weeks growth after germination, I keep them in a situation where they do have a ventilated covering that elevates the humidity, which keeps the tiny root tip from drying out and helps them to become well established in the growing medium with a root perhaps 3/4 centimeter (or about 1/4 inch) long. During this time I keep them in bright shade (indirect light) and make sure they are not getting too hot. Then after a few weeks I grow them without a covering for the rest of their lives (I transplant them from a covered container to an uncovered growing situation). With your setup, you could simply leave the covering on for a few weeks after germination, then take it off and leave it off.

All 250+ seeds I'm growing this year were germinated at the same time in the small translucent plastic container with the ventilated covering shown in the photo below. I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the growing medium (almost entirely composed of 50% sphagnum peat moss and 50% silica sand), then I ground a little bit of dry sphagnum moss between my fingers and allowed the dust to settle around the seeds without covering them. This helps to keep them moist until germination and helps to anchor them while their tiny root begins to dig into the soil (it gives the seed something to push against, instead of the root pushing the seed across the soil and not being able to penetrate the soil surface). Then I simply keep the germination medium moist with once a day watering (but not sitting in a tray of water), and lift the lid and fan the air once or twice per day for a fresh air change. The seeds begin to germinate in about 13-15 days and continue to germinate for several weeks, with some really late ones germinating up to six weeks later.

Steve_D
might have to put my plans on hold, as I can't find any of the seeds on the soil anymore.. I think im just gonna have to wait and cross my fingers that the little buggers get through all the crap...

if it gets to the point where they are all gone.. they I atleast have all of the above for my next attempt..

Quick question Steve:
Where do you get your silica sand? I think I'd like to use some at some point, but I have no idea where to purchase it.

Matt wrote:Quick question Steve:
Where do you get your silica sand? I think I'd like to use some at some point, but I have no idea where to purchase it.

I think you can get silica sand from various places in various forms, some cheaper than others. Here where I live, the most available source was 100 pound bags of "blasting sand," which is sand used in sandblasting equipment such as is used to strip paint (like in auto body work) or clean tools (in enclosed sandblasting stations that remove rust and grease from mechanics' tools) or in sandblasting signs and glass to make decorative patterns.

Silica sand is generally mined from large deposits in the earth of almost pure ground quartz. I have no idea how those deposits came to be in the first place, but there are quite a few of them in the U.S. (I think a major one may be in Colorado I'll check) and the silica sand (which is virtually pure silicon dioxide (quartz) in naturally ground, granular form) is dug up, bagged and sold for all kinds of purposes (pool filter sand, so I've heard, sand for reptile tanks, etc.).

The main thing to remember in finding silica sand is that true silica sand is composed of grains that are translucent (would be transparent except for the scratches on the surface of the grains from so much natural grinding and smoothing). If you find some sand, you can examine it with a high-powered hand magnifier to see if the grains are translucent, or if a large number of them are opaque. If the latter, avoid it because it is probably river or beach sand which contains all kinds of non-silica grains of other types of rock. This non-pure-silica sand is definitely harmful to Venus Flytraps. I have killed many of them by using this river or beach sand, and I scrupulously don't use it anymore.


My particular silica sand is Oglebay #2 size blasting sand.

Steve

Great information as usual Steve. Thanks!

Wow! that is very awesome!!! Can you guys tell me where to buy (from internet) a pot tray that can hold many pots and can do community watering (watering altogether)?

Thanks

Kenny Soewondo wrote:Wow! that is very awesome!!! Can you guys tell me where to buy (from internet) a pot tray that can hold many pots and can do community watering (watering altogether)?

Thanks

Hi Kenny -- I use heavy-duty commercial dough trays. They work great:

http://www.doughmate.com/

Good luck and best wishes,
Steve

Steve_D wrote:

WORMSS wrote:thankie Steve

how deep are your little pot thingies?

The seedling tray is about 3 inches deep. The plastic insert (to protect the styrofoam tray from sand, etc.) is about 2.5 inches deep, so that's how deep the soil (growing medium) is. The tray is a Speedling 200-cell transplant tray, which you can see and read about here:

http://groworganic.com/item_GP003_Speed ... Mode=HiRes



Each individual cell is shaped like an elongated inverted pyramid, with a drain hole at the bottom that is just big enough to push a pencil eraser through (to dislodge the plants later, for transplanting).

it looks like a massive ice cube tray! just put a small drain hole in each cube (hint hint for anyone interested)

Nice! A very lucky catch (to first post).

Oh, look at it! The VFT must have been very hungry. Germinating must have exhausted it!

Thank you Steve_D, this is a really good explanation about how to germinate seeds, and there are a lot of useful methods to use!!!!

Thank you!!

Bye!

I deem this picture name....
BABY NOM!