- Sat Oct 05, 2019 2:36 am
#344659
I take a sheet of paper folded in half both ways, then reopened. Place the paper underneath the flower stalk and gently bend the stalk over the paper, then tap gently. Ripe seeds will fall from the stalk onto the paper. This is one way of collecting seeds without stopping the stalk from growing and producing more seeds.
Seriously, if I need seeds, I let the stalk get fairly large, then gently cut the tip of the stalk off so that it does not grow any more flowers. Then wait a few weeks for the remaining flowers to mature their seeds and cut the whole seed stalk off onto the paper. The seeds, though tiny, should be obvious as they will spill from the flowers when mature. They are easily seen against white paper. You can tap the cut stalk gently on the paper to collect more seeds. With Humpty Doo, collecting this way does not produce a lot of debris and yields clean seed. Of course you can get more seed by gently crushing the mature seed pods and then cleaning the debris out, but that can be work.
The crease in the paper helpsto move the seed in an orderly manner, which is helpful when managing seed this small.
If you do not need the seed, cut the flower stalks off when just starting. Otherwise you can have plants starting everywhere as the seed self sows when the flower stalks are jostled.
BTW, thanks for the kind words! Glad its doing well for you.
Moss Happens
Wanted:
. Pinguicula
. Drosera
. Utricularia