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CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:18 am
by Shadowtski
This February, I have been germinating a large number of seeds in Water Filled Test Tubes.
I'm using warmer than usual temperatures (80 - 85 F) and results have been superior.

Transferring newly sprouted seedlings to pots entailed.....
1A) dumping out the test tube onto the surface of the medium, or...
2A) dumping the test tube into a Petri Dish and using an eye dropper to schlurp up the seedlings and deposit them where desired in their new pot, and then...
1B/2B Bagging or doming or putting the new pots into a terrarium to minimize environmental change shock, going from water medium to peatmoss/perlite medium.
1C/2C Removing bag, dome, or terrarium after a month.

Today, I tried a different technique to pot up the plantlets out of the test tubes and into regular media-filled pots.

I filled a non-draining 6 inch pot with a 4:1 Peatmoss:Perlite mix.
The mix was almost saturated with ( Distilled ) water.
I added a little more water until there was about 1/8 inch standing water on top of the pot.
I slowly dribbled the test tube over the pot in a spiral motion, dumping out the plantlets, hundreds of tiny Drosera burmannii "Green" babies.
After they were all in, I very gently shook the pot to distribute the seedlings evenly.
I put the pot under lights.
The seedlings are in a shallow puddle and as the water evaporates, they'll slowly be exposed to the surface world and dry air, no sudden shocks.
I'm hoping for a massive colony of Burmannii "Green"s in a community pot.

I don't know if this will work better, but if it does, it's much less work.
And if it doesn't work, oh well, that's why they call it an experiment.
6" undrained pot, D. burmannii Green
6" undrained pot, D. burmannii Green
Drosera Burmannii Green Pot.jpg (2.84 MiB) Viewed 739 times

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:29 am
by Intheswamp
That kinda sounds like how it could happen in nature. I know I've seen small patches of "grass" growing out of silt left on soil as water levels drop in boggy areas...definitely seed germination. The only issue I could see might be if the water is very deep the surface tension(?) of the water pushing the seeds to the perimeter...if that makes any sense. This will an interesting experiment to watch!!! :D

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:39 am
by ChefDean
Shadowtski wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:18 amI filled a non-draining 6 inch pot with a 4:1 Peatmoss:Perlite mix.
The mix was almost saturated with ( Distilled ) water.
I added a little more water until there was about 1/8 inch standing water on top of the pot.
I slowly dribbled the test tube over the pot in a spiral motion, dumping out the plantlets, hundreds of tiny Drosera burmannii "Green" babies.
After they were all in, I very gently shook the pot to distribute the seedlings evenly.
I put the pot under lights.
The seedlings are in a shallow puddle and as the water evaporates, they'll slowly be exposed to the surface world and dry air, no sudden shocks.
I'm hoping for a massive colony of Burmannii "Green"s in a community pot.
Mmmmm, burmannii soup. Is that served with tortilla chips, crusty bread, or a flight of cheeses?

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:00 am
by Hedonista
ChefDean wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:39 am
Shadowtski wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:18 amI filled a non-draining 6 inch pot with a 4:1 Peatmoss:Perlite mix.
The mix was almost saturated with ( Distilled ) water.
I added a little more water until there was about 1/8 inch standing water on top of the pot.
I slowly dribbled the test tube over the pot in a spiral motion, dumping out the plantlets, hundreds of tiny Drosera burmannii "Green" babies.
After they were all in, I very gently shook the pot to distribute the seedlings evenly.
I put the pot under lights.
The seedlings are in a shallow puddle and as the water evaporates, they'll slowly be exposed to the surface world and dry air, no sudden shocks.
I'm hoping for a massive colony of Burmannii "Green"s in a community pot.
Mmmmm, burmannii soup. Is that served with tortilla chips, crusty bread, or a flight of cheeses?
I vote for the crusty bread and the flight of cheeses! :D

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:39 am
by Shadowtski
ChefDean wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:39 am Mmmmm, burmannii soup. Is that served with tortilla chips, crusty bread, or a flight of cheeses?
The only proper accompaniment for Burmannii soup is cricket cookies slathered with mashed fruit fly paste. :)

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 2:38 pm
by andynorth
You all are beginning to scare me.

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 7:30 pm
by DragonsEye
Shadowtski wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:18 am This February, I have been germinating a large number of seeds in Water Filled Test Tubes.
I'm using warmer than usual temperatures (80 - 85 F) and results have been superior.
I’m surprised you’re using water that warm. Guess I would’ve thought that that would’ve been warmer than what the seeds would necessarily want. Do you get a lot of issues with algae growth with water that warm?

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:15 pm
by Shadowtski
Most of the seeds germinated in about 2 weeks.
There is a small amount of some clear slimy something growing and gluing the seeds together.
I shake the tubes every day to break it up.
The seeds that haven't germinated yet will probably get a water change this week.

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2024 2:44 pm
by Shadowtski
Happy Pi Day, everyone!
It's been almost two weeks since I dumped my Green Burmannii germinated seeds into a puddle of water on top of a 6 inch pot.
The puddle has receded.
It appears that at least a few of the seedlings survived my experiment.

Drosera burmannii "Green" 12 days later
Drosera burmannii "Green" 12 days later
D_Burmannii_Green_Update_20240314_085829.jpg (4.1 MiB) Viewed 383 times

Re: CP Water Germination Experiment: Potting Up

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2024 6:26 pm
by Intheswamp
It looks like you’ve got several started there! They are probably tough little snots, having gone through the “Great Flood of ‘24”!!! :)