FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I love water germination.
I use this technique for many of my Drosera seeds.
Toss your seeds in a test tube, add a few mL water, and you're all set.
Germination seems much quicker this way.

But I was wondering.....

Could germination be speeded up for tropical Drosera seeds by keeping them warmer?

I used Drosera finlaysoniana seeds from 2016 from my plants.
I put some seeds in each of two extra small test tubes.
I added distilled water to each tube.
One tube I put in my living room in a 72 - 74 degree environment.
The other tube was attached to a length of thread and worn around my neck, next to my body, inside my t-shirt. (I'd take it off at night, when I went to bed.)

After 6 days, I thought I saw signs of germination from the test tube I was wearing.
After 7 days, there are a number of definitely germinating seeds.

There is no sign of germination from the other test test tube, the one at room temperature.
The last time I germinated D. finlaysoniana in a test tube, ( CP Water Germination Experiment Phase 1 ) it took 11 days to germinate the seeds, which were at room temperature.

So preliminary results do support the benefits of warmer temperatures for Water Germination.

I am currently testing Drosera hartmeyerorum seeds the same way.
Anybody else that wants to try this, there are small centrifuge vials and tiny decorative vials available at Amazon and other places.
I will post updates from time to time.

Good growing,
Mike

How do you tell when the seeds have germinated? Do you look to see if there are any tiny white roots or do you look for leaves?

Interesting, Mike. When I harvest my seeds I will try putting them either with a heat pad or float them in my fish tank (watertight, 80 degrees). Do you think earlier germination leads to faster maturing plants?

This is very interesting. I didn't know you could germination them with just water. I'll definitely try that.

How long do you wait before you take them out and plant them after germination occurs?

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sanguinearocks101 wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 4:22 pm How do you tell when the seeds have germinated? Do you look to see if there are any tiny white roots or do you look for leaves?

I have a 10 power triplett magnifier.
I look at the seed and see a white shoot popping out of the point end of the seed, the radicle.
If I let it go for a couple days after germination, cotyledon leaves are visible.

Benny wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 4:36 pm Interesting, Mike. When I harvest my seeds I will try putting them either with a heat pad or float them in my fish tank (watertight, 80 degrees). Do you think earlier germination leads to faster maturing plants?

No, unless you continue to grow your plant in the same warmer conditions, like a floating pot bobbing around on top of your fish tank.

Lyra wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2020 4:42 pm This is very interesting. I didn't know you could germination them with just water. I'll definitely try that.

How long do you wait before you take them out and plant them after germination occurs?

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It depends.
Usually I wait until a dozen or so have germinated.
Then I dump out the test tube into a petri dish.
I use an eyedropper to slurp up each individual sprouted seed.
Then I can deposit it exactly where I want the plant to be in my pot of media.

If it's a lazy sort of day, I just dump the test tube out into a pot full of media.

EDIT
5/27/2020
The seeds have all sprouted and are ready for potting up.
The vial of D. hartmeyerorum seeds I wore around my neck had a slight accident.
The string came loose so I put in my pocket where the vial got smashed.

I also had a dozen test tubes full of germinated seeds from my continuing Water Germination project.
I mixed up some media and topped it off with 1/8 inch of pool filter sand as topdressing in each pot.
That White pool filter sand really makes the sprouted seeds stand out, very easily visible.

Species that germinated and got planted included:

Drosera burmannii "Green Giant"
Drosera burmannii "Humpty Doo"
Drosera capensis "Giant" "R Seine Zimbabwe"
Drosera capensis "Giant" "Steve Marley"
Drosera capensis "Gifberg Pass RSA"
Drosera capensis "Rubra"
Drosera capensis "Vogelgat Nature Preserve RSA"
Drosera finlaysoniana (Room temperature sample)
Drosera hartmeyerorum (Room temperature sample)
Drosera indica and Drosera burmannii "Binh Chau Forest" Vietnam
Drosera serpens
Drosera spatulata var gympiensis