FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I received the seeds from Desert Pat today (from the riddle giveaway) and immediately sowed them in a 6 inch pot (which has a water reservoir feature in the bottom two inches, so 4 inches of grow room) which sits in a nice deep dish/drip pan. I used 100% Sphagnum peat moss that I completely rinsed and saturated to grow them in. I've read that they are supposed to sit on top of the medium, so I that's how I sowed them. I then put the pot in the sunniest window sill in the house, under a lamp with a nice bright CFL bulb and gave it a final spritz with a spray bottle to ensure that the seeds were nice and saturated. In fact, they're right next to my flyrap seedlings. I'd show you all a picture, but there really isn't much to see beyond a seemingly empty pot of peat moss.

Since this is my very first time growing any kind of Drosera, let alone this particular variety, I'm unfamiliar with it's germination time. I've read that it could take anywhere from as little as a week to as long as a month or two (or even a year or two if it's a tuberous kind) depending on the variety and how long ago the seeds were harvested. I'm going to assume it's about 2 weeks for my seeds. Desert Pat harvested the seed earlier this month, so they're pretty fresh.

I always figure on 4 - 6 weeks.
If they pop early, it's a bonus.

But the fresher the seeds, the higher the germination rate and the faster they pop. Four to six weeks is a good estimate, but I wouldn't be surprised if you observed germination sooner. Some varieties take forever regardless of how fresh the seeds are (D. burmannii comes to mind).

Also, newly sprouted drosera are barely visible to the naked eye. They're easy to miss unless you look very closely or have a magnifying glass.

I can't see any discernable growth yet. Still plenty optimistic though.

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Still no germination? I have a certain vested interest in these seeds, I'm pulling for ya!

Patrick

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DesertPat wrote:Still no germination? I have a certain vested interest in these seeds, I'm pulling for ya!

Patrick

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Nope, nothing to be seen whatsoever. As far as anyone can tell, I'm watering and caring for a pot of peat.

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What are temps like? Consistently warm temps can certainly aid in germination but still depends on a lot of factors such as seed freshness and random luck

I see green in my pot! At first I thought it was wishful thinking, but it's definitely there! I just can't tell if it's moss or the sundews..



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Artchic528 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 25, 2020 1:24 pm I see green in my pot! At first I thought it was wishful thinking, but it's definitely there! I just can't tell if it's moss or the sundews..



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Congratulations on your Green!

One of my most useful CP tools is a 10x Triplet magnifier.
It cost me about $20 but I use it almost day.
You can see if that Green is Drosera or just moss.
I got mine at American Science and Surplus but Amazon and many other places sell them also.

Look what I saw in the pot a few days ago! There are a hand full of these little guys throughout! Success!


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Update?

Patrick

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They are growing strong. Still keep them on my window sill. The biggest is about 1 cm in circumfrance now. I counted 12 seedlings recently.

UPDATE: I may have underestimated the power of giving the seedlings those bits of bloodworm. They have more than doubled in size. The biggest one is about the size of a half dollar piece, so about a little over an inch and a quarter. In fact, I feel that a couple seedlings growing close together may be crowding each other at this point and one is growing along the very edge of the pot. Makes me feel like now is a good time to replant them in a more spaced out way. However, I fear that the tiniest seedlings might be harmed so I don't know exactly what to do.