FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Did I say 200 acres? I meant 200 square centimeters...what *was* I thinking!!!???

Anyhow, I've got some D. Binata (upright) seed coming along with some mixed capes. Throw into that a mix of typical capes, capillaris, spats, and some d. intermedia (courtesy of Bruce, Dean, seed bank) and it's a nicely jumbled up mix. The last time I planted sundews I carefully strew the seeds across the tops of peat perlite mixes in small 2-1/2" square pots and bagged half of them. The bagged ones did much better than the unbagged ones. Unfortunately, there was a range war resulting in a shortage of space to keep the planted seeds and seedlings in the house and they were subsequently evacuated a to remote outpost in the south seas of Alabama...namely, to my granddaughter's house.<g> The reports that I'm getting from my southern ally is that the tiny seedlings are growing but doing so ever so very slowly.

So, this time the seeds will be planted, germinated, and grown entirely outdoors. I figure, well, that's where they grew in the wild, so... Plus, whatever I grow has to be able to deal with the climate in south Alabama...hot and humid, mostly, with droughts and freezes, and an occasional snow, even...and inch or so of the white stuff shuts this place down! The weather is kind of all over the place at times. The most dependable thing, though, is that it will be HOT in the summer.

I'm debating on how to germinate the seeds:

• Standard 50:50 peat and perlite mix with a little sand thrown in, possibly a top layer of just peat...or maybe a top layer of Better-Gro sphagnum moss.

• Better-Gro sphagnum moss with maybe sand or perlite or both.

• Live sphagnum moss possibly with ??? added.

• Water germination...I've really interested in this.

You can see that I'm all over the place with this. I think I've been reading too much and have sensory overload. Any thoughts on what are the best couple of ways of starting these seeds would be appreciated.

If I do anything other than water germination I figure the seedlings will remain in the growing mix that sprout in until they're several inches long (I guess?).

Whether I start the seeds "in situ" or start them in water or small pots I've got several rectangular "windowsill" planters that I ultimately plan to grow them in, at least for a while...by a "while" I think the limiting factor would be the depth of these planters...they may become too shallow. They are roughly 5 inches wide by 17 or 18 inches long and 4-1/2 inches deep.

Once again, I'm all over the place here. First thing is to get the seed germinated. Water germination? Germinate them where they're going to be growing for a while? Germinate them on sphagnum moss and transplant the plantlets?

I'm overthinking this, ain't I?

I wouldn't use lfsm. It is crazy expensive nowadays. Water germination would be the most space efficient until the seeds germinate. You want to move the germinated seeds to their media right away.

So I would do either water germination to save space or peat/perlite. The only reason I've never done it in water is because whenever I transfer cuttings to media from water, they never do well and I don't want the same to happen with seeds. But I still plan to try it sometime to save space. I've always done peat/perlite with a thin layer of peat on the top.

Sphagnum moss is a better option if you have the budget and sowing seeds on top of the pots are better because the seedlings have a better time adjusting. However, like @Sundews69 stated, if you have limited budget and space I'd use his method.

I've got some small square pots, 2.75" sqaure and 3" deep that I'm thinking of using to start the seedlings, whether I water germinate or germinate in situ. What about using a peat/perlite mix for the lower substrate and Better-Gro sphagnum moss for the top layer instead of the fine, sifted peat moss. Either germinate on it or transplant water-germinated sprouts onto it? Yeah, we don't want to get too involved with the LF$M at this point in my apprenticeship.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 11:57 pm I've got some small square pots, 2.75" sqaure and 3" deep that I'm thinking of using to start the seedlings, whether I water germinate or germinate in situ. What about using a peat/perlite mix for the lower substrate and Better-Gro sphagnum moss for the top layer instead of the fine, sifted peat moss. Either germinate on it or transplant water-germinated sprouts onto it? Yeah, we don't want to get too involved with the LF$M at this point in my apprenticeship.

I think that would work

I wonder, how moist do you keep the sphagnum moss layer? Nice and juicy?

Also, when it comes time to transplant the seedlings will the sphagnum moss be an issue with the seedlings being attaching/intertwined with it?

It's a little more elbow grease, but if you chop up the Sphagnum for a top dressing, say, up to an inch, then you can simply remove a small plug of media along with the seedling. Perhaps, gently with some tweezers. No muss about any rootlets being intertwined, then just push that plug into the new media.

That sounds sensible, cutting the sphagnum moss up in small pieces...I'll have to do my 12-ounce lift exercises before I attempt such a task, though...gotta limber up, ya know...don't want any injuries! I'm still tossing the idea of water-germination around in my hollow head, but even germinating the seeds on top of the sphagnum moss would be a big change from a layer sifted peat...will the sphagnum moss stay more moist than the peat? If it does stay more moist then the sphagnum moss would be the next thing to water germination (well, kinda the next thing ).

I use a mini grinder. Works great and you determine how fine.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BTX ... =UTF8&th=1

I'm going to have to figure something else out, maybe. My wife has started making smoothies with the blender so I *might* have to abandon the big blender. USB connections seem to work great for charging and running things like phones and BT speakers but for something with a motor...I think I'd rather go with an AC unit. @evenwind had one he used that was manual and said to work pretty good, I might revisit that...or either take the time to hit some flea markets or yard sales and see if I can find a used blender or something. Or...just be sure to wash the smoothie blender *real good* after I work up a bunch of fine seedbed material.

I'm not clearing the forest or anything That little USB device works great. I use it when needed and when not it stays plugged in. Grant it you can only do a little at a time but like I said, I am not clearing a forest.

I hear ya. I've only used the blender once and made about a half a pint baggie of finely chopped LFSM...it goes a long way when used for a seed bed!

And, btw, I just finished off one of her banana/berry/almond-milk/??? smoothies....dang they're good!!!!!!
Seems like a slight aftertaste of something earthy, kinda...boggy.

Yea, I did a little preemptive thinking there. Had I used our everyday blender I would be sleeping out in the dog house and the dog does not even use it!! Same goes for dishes, etc. I did the wise thing and bought my own.

Meh, dog houses ain't that bad...there's worse things.