FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I set up different test trays of Sarracenia seeds last November and left them outside. From what I have read, it's a good way to winter stratify the Sarracenia seeds and they will come up after the risk of freezing.
Well they just germinated a little while ago and I had a surprise freeze last night.
How can the weather say low of 42F and it's 28F?
I am not sure but seems freezing would hurt the young growth on any plant.?

It seems some of the seedlings that are further along are nice and green but maybe I lost some of the seedlings with just a root.? They have just germinated over the last few days.
So should I try to protect them from freezing at this point? And then put them out when no more risk of freezing? My gut instinct is to bring them inside. I just don't want to.

I would protect them from freezing if the seeds have sprouted. I start all seeds indoors under lights to give them optimal growth at first with no risk of them dying off.

I didn't factor needing to protect them into the picture. Open mouth; insert foot.
I had germinating in mind and that's all.
I was just thinking yesterday that I need to do something to keep them from drying up. Some of the soil is only a few inches thick in the trays.
Ok I will make sure they don't freeze for now. Thank you

I am babysitting some Sarracenia seedlings. I am starting to see the first pitcher come out. If I didn't know these were Sarracenia, I would think they were weeds. doesn't look like much.
Here is a Purpura var. Purpura from a forum member. It's about a year old from seed. I didn't know if it was alive but just started new growth.

If you have started the seeds indoors then don’t let them freeze, but I have seedlings that self set all over the bogs I the UK, so they do get frozen both as seeds and seedlings, which is good for me as I know these seedlings are frost resistant and will be OK without protection in winter. Of course I don’t know how many others I loose as I don’t see them till they grow.

Cheers
Steve

Steve Booth
I set the seeds outside in November and the weather has "stratified" them and while I tried to keep them from freezing, they have froze twice more.but they all look pretty good. I may have lost some but who knows. I have plenty germinated.

What's amazing to me is I planted the seeds on top of the soil. Every time it rained the seeds are floated all around in the tray. They clump together and gravitate toward the drain holes. Eventually they germinate and you see a little root. They still swim all around when it rains, for days and days. But eventually the root grabs hold of some soil and digs in. Then the leaves grow up and suddenly you have a baby Sarracenia.
Sounds silly but it is a process to watch. They did it without my help.

The floating is their spreading (dispersal) mechanism, they get washed away in the high water and come to rest elsewhere away from the mother plant. Its that waxy substance on the seeds that allows them to float and that gets removed during stratificatin. They then need light to germinate, cover them with anything and the germination rate drops right off.
You are absolutely correct they do this themselves all the time in the wild, just reproduce what happens in nature and voila a healthy happy plant.
Good luck with the seedlings.

Cheers
Steve