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My 25 seeds (more like 50+) of 10 Drosera varieties came in the mail today! I picked them up on a finger and brushed them off with a toothpick, I think there’s 9 or more in each pot, spread evenly. I hope... I will be trying the germination in a test tube method with my next seeds. My light stopped working, but I have a backup. Should I be lighting, or wait until germination? It’s in an east/south facing window. I took the plastic cover off for a picture.

The seeds don't need light to germinate.
But once they sprout, in 4 to 6 weeks usually, they'll need lotsa, lotsa, lotsa light.

Just my 2¢ worth.

Wait..... What!!!!!!!!!!! Mike, I’ve been spouting all me CP seeds under lights! Are you saying that was unnecessary? That would have saved some trouble! Aghhh!!!!

More exclamation points!!!!!!!!

NES_Frogman wrote:My 25 seeds (more like 50+) of 10 Drosera varieties came in the mail today! I picked them up on a finger and brushed them off with a toothpick, I think there’s 9 or more in each pot, spread evenly. I hope... I will be trying the germination in a test tube method with my next seeds. My light stopped working, but I have a backup. Should I be lighting, or wait until germination? It’s in an east/south facing window. I took the plastic cover off for a picture.

I keep mine on a 16 hrs photo period, covered. I mist them dally give or take.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Copper2 wrote:Wait..... What!!!!!!!!!!! Mike, I’ve been spouting all me CP seeds under lights! Are you saying that was unnecessary? That would have saved some trouble! Aghhh!!!!

More exclamation points!!!!!!!!

I germinate all my seeds under full light.
But light is not needed for their germination.

It is needed right away as soon as they sprout, so having your seeds under light will avoid any etiolation they might suffer if they germinated and don't get light quickly enough.

Sorry for your exclamation marks.

Copper2 wrote:Wait..... What!!!!!!!!!!! Mike, I’ve been spouting all me CP seeds under lights! Are you saying that was unnecessary? That would have saved some trouble! Aghhh!!!!

More exclamation points!!!!!!!!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Yeah it's not necessary but definitely prefered. I use lights on all of mine. I have a whole rack just for germination. I keep the lights close for the first month and then slowly raise the light as the seedlings get bigger.

Cacti seeds need light to germinate but most seedlings love having light just after germination.

Keep them under lights wont hurt but it will help.

There’s some green, but I’m not sure if its Drosera sp. or something that was in the LFSM. Any ID help would appreciated!

Depending on the species of may be anywhere between 4 weeks and 20 years to see germination. Okay. Maybe not 20 years but I have had some d. Burmanii humpty Doo seeds that are going on 7 months with only 2 little seedlings. I had another batch that germinated in less than a month. And some d aliciae that sporadically germinated between 2 and 6 months.

Just keep the medium damp and be patient.

Any little green specs will be exciting to see and you'll want them to grow fast.

I use peat for medium as the LFSM tends to sprout and makes me angry when I see it.

Some good news! I tried water germination on some of the D capensis red I got from the seed bank. I noticed some germination and put them in the pot a couple days ago, and I can see some! I used a field magnifying lens and my iPod, so sorry for the quality.

How fast can I expect them to grow? They have been under a light for a week. I’ve seen people using nutritional yeast to feed the seedlings once they get a few carnivorous leaves. Does anyone else do this?

Just keep them under plenty of light and they should start growing fairly quickly (mine grew an inch around 4 months after seeing the first carnivorous leaves). I only fed mine beta pellets that I crushed up and dispensed a small particle on each carnivorous leaf using a toothpick.

Thank you!

So, here’s another question. When can I take the plastic lid off? It’s s little beat up, but I’d say it keeps humidity in the 80-90 range. Our house can change with the weather, generally 50 during the day to 80 at night when windows are open. With them sitting in water, could I slowly start opening it now?

I noticed my first sprout from my amazon seed! Can’t wait to identify it!

NES_Frogman wrote:Thank you!

So, here’s another question. When can I take the plastic lid off? It’s s little beat up, but I’d say it keeps humidity in the 80-90 range. Our house can change with the weather, generally 50 during the day to 80 at night when windows are open. With them sitting in water, could I slowly start opening it now?

I noticed my first sprout from my amazon seed! Can’t wait to identify it!

I normally wait till I see the first two carnivorous leaves then I poke some holes on the lid (or cut the bag a bit if I have them bagged). I cut more and more once a week till around the third week when I just take off the lid or bag. That slowly acclimated them to a lower humidity level.

NES_Frogman wrote:Some good news! I tried water germination on some of the D capensis red I got from the seed bank. I noticed some germination and put them in the pot a couple days ago, and I can see some! I used a field magnifying lens and my iPod, so sorry for the quality.

How fast can I expect them to grow? They have been under a light for a week. I’ve seen people using nutritional yeast to feed the seedlings once they get a few carnivorous leaves. Does anyone else do this?

Hmm.. I have similar sprouts I am watching, recently moved from water germination to freshly cooked soil. The first leaf formations in your picture look like my Binata T-Forms. This will be a good comparison study for me..

Photo time! There’s crazy germination with the D. capensis ‘red’ I got from the seed bank. The dew spikes are purple more than red in real life, but I’m sure that’s just a tiny seedling thing. Only one seedling from the amazon pack so far. Maybe it’s s good opportunity to play guess that sundew!? The choices are:

stolonifera
binata
burkeana
burmanii
capensis pink & white flower
indica white, jacky jacky
spatulata
nidiformis

Thanks for playing!