FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I ran across a stash of old Drosera seeds tonight.
They are dated 1999.
That would put them at almost 21 years old,
Those seeds are old enough to vote, they're almost old enough to drink.
They've been sitting on a paper plate in a ziploc bag in a basement at room temperature.
I grabbed a few dozen seeds and tossed them into a test tube half filled with distilled water.

So, what's the consensus out there?
Will any germinate after sitting so long in less than optimum conditions?
And how many will germinate, what percentage?
And how long will it take if they do?

What species/hybrid were they?

The ones I put into the test tube were a Drosera capensis mix of all the different varieties I grew back then, narrow, wide, typical, alba, and crestate.
I think there was a pack or two of D. aliciae seeds in the ziploc stash as well.

Crestate capensis? Have a pic hanging around somewhere?

twitcher wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 2:26 am Crestate capensis? Have a pic hanging around somewhere?

No pics unfortunately.
It was a fairly popular variety back in the 1980s/1990s.
The plant would grow sideways instead of stemforming.
They would also grow double wide and Siamese-twin leaves.
The clone was not too stable.
You don't see it for sale any more, these days.
One guy in Greece sells capensis seeds that produce a crestate flower growth.
That's the only one I've seen lately.

Shadowtski wrote:So, what's the consensus out there?
Will any germinate after sitting so long in less than optimum conditions?
And how many will germinate, what percentage?
And how long will it take if they do?

I think yes, about 5% percentage of germination. Maybe less. They will pry take a long time, so patience is key!

Just my guess!

Any update on these seeds? Did any germinate?

I have some ancient seeds of about the same age I might try. By the way, are these the type of test tubes you use? Half milliliter sounds small, but so are the seeds.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50x-0-5ml-Lab- ... 2749.l2649

I usually use a 16mm x 100mm test tube.
This size holds 10ml.

Okay, great, that sounds like a more manageable size. Thanks!

Any germination? Or were they all beyond the point of being valid anymore? I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation here!

Artchic528 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 28, 2020 7:36 pm Any germination? Or were they all beyond the point of being valid anymore? I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation here!

I left them outside all Summer.
I suspect the sun cooked the seeds by virtue of the test tube acting like a magnifying glass.
I will grab a second sample of those old seeds and try again, indoors, and see if I get any germination.
I should have seen at least a few seeds sprout.