- Sun Sep 24, 2023 3:20 pm
#440206
Hey, I'm Rob & I have a plant growing problem! I just can't stop acquiring them! LOL!
I started germinating seeds in January 2023 & am just now finding this forum! I'm not sure how I overlooked it!
I've grown CP's before starting back 30 years ago & there wasn't as much publicly available info back then. The Internet was not in everybody's homes yet, so we actually had to read books, talk to plant vendors, or read ICPS news letters. Back then, listening to experts talk about growing CP's made it sound difficult & discouraging to me. I didn't have a setup to be successful either, so attempt #1 lasted maybe a year.
10 years later, I bought my 1st house. Now I can finally have a 75 gallon fish tank! Well that turned into finding & joining the local fish club which led to breeding & raising mostly South American freshwater fish, so the number of fish tanks started increasing.
I have a RO/DI unit to make pure, soft water to create breeding conditions for Tetras, Apistos, Rams, Corydoras, etc. I acquired a heavily experience 75 gallon tank w/ wooden stand for $25, so I cleaned it out really well & turned it into a terrarium filled up w/ potted CP's & using RO water. This 2nd attempt lasted for about 2 years before my Tetra breeding went out of control & I needed this tank to hold about 1000 Neon Tetras. I had purchased a bunch of seeds, but never got around to sowing them, so they went to waste.
20 years later (now), I purchased about a dozen plants from the same nursery in the 1st 2 attempts 1 year ago then I placed a December order which some S. Flava seeds were thrown in for free. I have never grown CP's from seed before, but have always wanted to. I cold stratified them for 8 weeks then put the pot in an existing terrarium setup & they started sprouting after 3 weeks! This was so exciting I ordered up some Drosera, Sarracenia, & VFT seeds to try out. D. capensis 'albino form' was my next batch of seeds to sprout.
After this recent success, the hunt was on to acquire any & all seeds possible! I ordered seeds from just about every place I could in the US & Europe. I started out heavily purchasing Sarracenia seeds, because that's about all I knew at the time, but after doing some post-purchasing homework, realized that Sarracenia & VFT's can be started indoors, but need to eventually be kept outdoors to thrive w/o space constraints & get proper lighting. So I started focusing on smaller sized plants that would be easier to keep indoors.
Next, I moved on to acquiring mostly Drosera seeds. I probably have 4 or 5 dozen different Drosera species germinating & 1/2 as many Sarracenia species/hybrids germinated. Some of the most awesome Drosera I saw online were from Urantia Carnivores & I did place an order w/ them right as they were going out of business. The seeds were treated w/ GA3 & sown on 6/26, but no sprouts 3 months later. I have not given up on the seeds, but D. Petiolaris complex seeds are what I am most interested in acquiring right now, especially D. falconeri, so here is my wish list:
D. broomensis 'Cape Levique'
D. broomensis 'Coulomb Point'
D. derbyensis 'Winjana'
D. derbyensis 'Derby'
D. ordensis 'Lake Argyle'
D. falconeri (any locations)
D. kenneallyi (any locations)
D. lanata (any locations)
I do have D. paradox & another hybrid seedlings from another source, but desire non-hybrid strains if possible. I really, really, really, would like to get some D. falconeri & kenneally seeds, but not sure if this is still possible. I'm willing to purchase from a collector!
The majority of my pots have germinated, mostly easy stuff, so I'm off to a good start. I have more difficult seeds that have been cold stratified, hot stratified, scarified, and/or smoke treated depending on the species requirements. I have Roridula gorgonias & D. pauciflora seedlings which the seeds were smoked treated & put outside in the heat of the late summer. I have some tuberous seeds sown as well. I did more homework upfront on my later rounds of seed purchases, so I'm not afraid to try anything in order to be successful!
A year ago, I started out w/ a 30 gallon fish tank converted to a terrarium where I kept purchased plants. After I started acquiring more seeds, I purchased 2 new 75 gallon aquariums at 1/2 off sale, built a 2x4 stand for them, & they now house some of my germination trays. LED strip lights above. I also have an indoor grow tent w/ wireframe shelves & LED lights which I'm trying to figure out if it is going to work out of not. All of this is in my basement. I do have one tray w/ dome outside for seeds that need to experience seasonal temperature changes.
Growing plants from seed is far more exciting to me than purchasing a plant & then killing it. I'm hoping that learning how to raise CP's from seed will make me more successful w/ the adult plants & that failure would be at a lower cost & level of disappointment. I also want to experience the full circle of life from seed to flower back to seed again. I've always been fascinated by these plants & finally if feels like I'm doing it better than before, but still have much to learn.
I look forward to sharing some pics, learning from others, & eventually donating seeds!
Rob
I started germinating seeds in January 2023 & am just now finding this forum! I'm not sure how I overlooked it!
I've grown CP's before starting back 30 years ago & there wasn't as much publicly available info back then. The Internet was not in everybody's homes yet, so we actually had to read books, talk to plant vendors, or read ICPS news letters. Back then, listening to experts talk about growing CP's made it sound difficult & discouraging to me. I didn't have a setup to be successful either, so attempt #1 lasted maybe a year.
10 years later, I bought my 1st house. Now I can finally have a 75 gallon fish tank! Well that turned into finding & joining the local fish club which led to breeding & raising mostly South American freshwater fish, so the number of fish tanks started increasing.
I have a RO/DI unit to make pure, soft water to create breeding conditions for Tetras, Apistos, Rams, Corydoras, etc. I acquired a heavily experience 75 gallon tank w/ wooden stand for $25, so I cleaned it out really well & turned it into a terrarium filled up w/ potted CP's & using RO water. This 2nd attempt lasted for about 2 years before my Tetra breeding went out of control & I needed this tank to hold about 1000 Neon Tetras. I had purchased a bunch of seeds, but never got around to sowing them, so they went to waste.
20 years later (now), I purchased about a dozen plants from the same nursery in the 1st 2 attempts 1 year ago then I placed a December order which some S. Flava seeds were thrown in for free. I have never grown CP's from seed before, but have always wanted to. I cold stratified them for 8 weeks then put the pot in an existing terrarium setup & they started sprouting after 3 weeks! This was so exciting I ordered up some Drosera, Sarracenia, & VFT seeds to try out. D. capensis 'albino form' was my next batch of seeds to sprout.
After this recent success, the hunt was on to acquire any & all seeds possible! I ordered seeds from just about every place I could in the US & Europe. I started out heavily purchasing Sarracenia seeds, because that's about all I knew at the time, but after doing some post-purchasing homework, realized that Sarracenia & VFT's can be started indoors, but need to eventually be kept outdoors to thrive w/o space constraints & get proper lighting. So I started focusing on smaller sized plants that would be easier to keep indoors.
Next, I moved on to acquiring mostly Drosera seeds. I probably have 4 or 5 dozen different Drosera species germinating & 1/2 as many Sarracenia species/hybrids germinated. Some of the most awesome Drosera I saw online were from Urantia Carnivores & I did place an order w/ them right as they were going out of business. The seeds were treated w/ GA3 & sown on 6/26, but no sprouts 3 months later. I have not given up on the seeds, but D. Petiolaris complex seeds are what I am most interested in acquiring right now, especially D. falconeri, so here is my wish list:
D. broomensis 'Cape Levique'
D. broomensis 'Coulomb Point'
D. derbyensis 'Winjana'
D. derbyensis 'Derby'
D. ordensis 'Lake Argyle'
D. falconeri (any locations)
D. kenneallyi (any locations)
D. lanata (any locations)
I do have D. paradox & another hybrid seedlings from another source, but desire non-hybrid strains if possible. I really, really, really, would like to get some D. falconeri & kenneally seeds, but not sure if this is still possible. I'm willing to purchase from a collector!
The majority of my pots have germinated, mostly easy stuff, so I'm off to a good start. I have more difficult seeds that have been cold stratified, hot stratified, scarified, and/or smoke treated depending on the species requirements. I have Roridula gorgonias & D. pauciflora seedlings which the seeds were smoked treated & put outside in the heat of the late summer. I have some tuberous seeds sown as well. I did more homework upfront on my later rounds of seed purchases, so I'm not afraid to try anything in order to be successful!
A year ago, I started out w/ a 30 gallon fish tank converted to a terrarium where I kept purchased plants. After I started acquiring more seeds, I purchased 2 new 75 gallon aquariums at 1/2 off sale, built a 2x4 stand for them, & they now house some of my germination trays. LED strip lights above. I also have an indoor grow tent w/ wireframe shelves & LED lights which I'm trying to figure out if it is going to work out of not. All of this is in my basement. I do have one tray w/ dome outside for seeds that need to experience seasonal temperature changes.
Growing plants from seed is far more exciting to me than purchasing a plant & then killing it. I'm hoping that learning how to raise CP's from seed will make me more successful w/ the adult plants & that failure would be at a lower cost & level of disappointment. I also want to experience the full circle of life from seed to flower back to seed again. I've always been fascinated by these plants & finally if feels like I'm doing it better than before, but still have much to learn.
I look forward to sharing some pics, learning from others, & eventually donating seeds!
Rob
- By cpgrower126
- By Garden_Nymph