FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Back on May 18th I planted some pots of cape, spat, and intermedia seeds. These sprouted and are at my granddaughter's house and I haven't seen them in person. They are growing indoors on a bright windowsill. She says that they are tiny and haven't grown very much. At two months old, how large should they be? Thanks!

I actually started some excluding intermedia around that same time. Idk if I’m doing something wrong but they’re all about the size of very small pebbles.

seedlings grow slow inside but steady. If you cant wait feed fish food made into paste with a toothpick. careful not to over do it.

Or you can try the maxsea/syringe technique.

Thanks for the replies, ya'll!

I haven't seen them, but I'm thinking these are probably less than 1/4" diameter after two months. Feeding would really help but at that size would be tedious work! I'll offer that to my granddaughter as a suggestion. I've got some freeze-dried bloodworms I could grind up and carry her.

Camden M, what would be the diameter or leaf-span of your seedlings?

optique, thanks for the remark about them growing slower inside...that can explain some of the slow growth. I think feeding/fertilizing would help, too.

evenwind, Maxsea sounds good. I keep procrastinating getting a syringe. It's about time to give my flytraps and a few sundews a boost and I said I'd get a syringe before attempting this again with a q-tip! I need to go by the pharmacy in a day or so and I'll see what they have to offer. I've looked on Amazon and they have some large bore syringes...is there a certain gauge needle that works the best?

I got my stuff on Amazon. I use "Easy Glide" syringes and 32 gauge blunt needles. Look for "Luer Lock" for interchangeability. I put one drop on one pad per plantlet.

http://www.amazon.com/EASY-GLIDE-Syring ... ref=sr_1_8
http://www.amazon.com/20-Pack-Dispensin ... ref=sr_1_4

I'm glad I asked. I was looking at a 14-gauge needle which probably would have been like turning a water hose on them!!! Thanks for the links.

I planted some intermedia at the same time as you did and was wondering the same thing. I'll post some pictures of mine later.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:23 pm Thanks for the replies, ya'll!

I haven't seen them, but I'm thinking these are probably less than 1/4" diameter after two months.

Camden M, what would be the diameter or leaf-span of your seedlings?

Average size is… 1/5 (and a little) of an inch so not to far off.

Here’s a picture of my intermedia compared to a penny. The largest ones are about 1/4 inch across. These were planted around beginning of May. Is this a normal size? I have only used Maxsea once.

evenwind wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:33 pm I got my stuff on Amazon. I use "Easy Glide" syringes and 32 gauge blunt needles. Look for "Luer Lock" for interchangeability. I put one drop on one pad per plantlet.

http://www.amazon.com/EASY-GLIDE-Syring ... ref=sr_1_8
http://www.amazon.com/20-Pack-Dispensin ... ref=sr_1_4

Will the 32-gauge needle be large enough for feeding larger flytraps and sundews or would a larger bore work better for the larger plants? I'm thinking of getting the "oiler bottles" rather than syringes. The pack of bottles that I'm looking at come with 18-gauge needles. I think if I ordered a pack of the 32-gauge needles along with this pack of bottles I might possibly be covered for small plantlets and larger plants as well.

Do the needles clog or get stopped up easily?

One last question... If the needles "look" like a luer lock will they most probably be luer lock? One of the packs of oilers shows what appears to be luer locks but they don't mention it...here's a link to it: 5 Pcs Oil Applicator (1 OZ), Medical Grade LDPE Needle Oiler, Precision Gun Oil Bottle with Extra Long 1.5 Inch Stainless Needle Tip

I remember someone here found squeeze bottles that actually advertised luer lock on Amazon, maybe a year ago. So they're definitely out there. Whether these are the ones, I just don't know. I've never had a problem with the fine needles clogging but I do make sure to run distilled water thru them after I'm done fertilizing. It's minorly tricky - I take the needle off, suck up water in the syringe, put the needle back on and push the water thru it. You're not going to be able to suck up enough cleansing water thru the needle, unless you've got a few hours to kill.

I saw a thread about the oiler bottles...that's what got me to looking! I went ahead and order a pack of the bottles and some 32-gauge needles. Thanks for the info on the needles and on rinsing them.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 5:23 pm I saw a thread about the oiler bottles...that's what got me to looking! I went ahead and order a pack of the bottles and some 32-gauge needles. Thanks for the info on the needles and on rinsing them.

I did the same thing, I got bottles and needles. They work well for me.

TrapsAndDews wrote:

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 5:23 pm I saw a thread about the oiler bottles...that's what got me to looking! I went ahead and order a pack of the bottles and some 32-gauge needles. Thanks for the info on the needles and on rinsing them.

I did the same thing, I got bottles and needles. They work well for me.

What gauge needles are you using?