FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Well, for the past week i've been pestering my mum to take me to B&Q so i can get some sphag to sow more Drosera seeds, but then i had an insane idea Why not try cotton wool? I thought, so i did use cotton wool, i've sown some Binata, Binata "marstons dragon" Spatulata and Capensis "alba" If it works, i'll have another 500 seedlings to deal with, if i doesn't, i'll have 500 less seeds to sow Wish me luck!

What do you reckon will happen? Has anyone else ever tried cotton wool? Please comment

I guess they will germinate if given water, capensis and spatulata are weeds and a friend of mine germinated them even on socks (for some worrying reason, she had the idea that the sundews will germinate well on them; but apart from that she also tried pure sand, garden soil, pure water etc. - and the seeds germinated everywhere), so they will germinate almost on anything. As for cotton wool it is even used as a germination "soil" for some small plants such as utrics, for the seedlings not to be overgrown by mosses until they grow up a bit.

Peter

Wow! My idea may not have been so insane, And i have definetly got to try germinating on socks

Thanks!

I think it's a good idea. The only question I will ask is why you like to germinate on LSM? Just curious. I like to germinate on peat and silica, or peat and perlite, well now it'll be peat and silica. Pics?

Well first of all, i don't use live sphag, I use dead stuff, and i like it because it's water absorbent and i like the look of it and it seems to be pretty mold resistant

I'll get some pics up soon

squirtoman wrote: i don't use live sphag, I use dead stuff

Oh okay... I guess I made the impression that since you didn't say LFS you meant LSM.

squirtoman wrote:I'll get some pics up soon

Can't wait! D:

Ok Daniel Here's your picture of my, strange and makeshift "set up"

Interesting! Not what I expected at all! Nice thou

xD Is that good or bad?

It's good, the setup looks nice !

moof wrote:I guess they will germinate if given water, capensis and spatulata are weeds and a friend of mine germinated them even on socks (for some worrying reason, she had the idea that the sundews will germinate well on them; but apart from that she also tried pure sand, garden soil, pure water etc. - and the seeds germinated everywhere), so they will germinate almost on anything. As for cotton wool it is even used as a germination "soil" for some small plants such as utrics, for the seedlings not to be overgrown by mosses until they grow up a bit.

Peter

Weeds ?, "gasp", :p.......... i love my Capensis and Spatulata troughs.

xD He is right tho, they do spread loads!

That's really nice!!!, i won't try that, but if i ever run out of peat, i will use it!( the cotton method, and the sock method)

Cotton wool sounds like a good idea.

For germinating, all seeds need are humidity and heat. Since sime people even germinate seeds in pure water, there is a vast array of possible methods to be used. That's of course in order that you use a fairly inert media that won't leach minerals on the seeds/seedlings. I remember that as a kid my mother used cotton wool to germinate everything. Now, even if it germinates doesn't mean that its gonna suit the seeds to grow them. Most likely cotton wool is not acidic how CPs love them. The seeds would have to be transplanted id say once they sprout. Since we often prefer to have the seeds sowed, sprout and grow in the same container to avoid unnecessary steps, that's why most will use directly the proper soil. I would have to say that however several including myself will use long fiber sphagnum for seeds. Its main properties are that it holds water very well (high humidity) and mainly it has anti-microbial capacities which helps to avoid fungus/rotting. It also is sort of airy which helps to maintain initially a healthy root system. Peat moss or other mixes will help too since it holds water well. There are lots of possibilities here