FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I am in the process of attempting to grow D. regia from seed and want some input from people who have attempted this before.

I started the seeds slightly over a month ago (harvested last August and sowed January 3rd) and they have yet to germinate. I sowed some 5 year old Drosophyllum lusitanicum seeds the same day which germinated last Wednesday which makes me wonder if my conditions aren't ideal for regia. Temp is about 80°F during lights on and 65% humidity.

I plan to start fertilizing shortly after germination with maxsea (assuming they ever germinate) to hopefully avoid the dreaded die off it seems everyone experiences with young regia.

I know I am still well within normal germination timeframe, but that little monster in the back of my mind is telling me I'm doing something wrong. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Patrick

I've had the best luck with germinating D. regia seeds in distilled-water-filled test tubes, 10 - 14 days usually.
When you see the Radicle pop out, dump your test tube into a small bowl.
Slurp up the seed with an eye dropper and deposit in on the media of your choice.

Shadowtski wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 2:47 am I've had the best luck with germinating D. regia seeds in distilled-water-filled test tubes, 10 - 14 days usually.
When you see the Radicle pop out, dump your test tube into a small bowl.
Slurp up the seed with an eye dropper and deposit in on the media of your choice.

Thanks for the idea Mike. If this endeavor turns out to be a failure maybe I will try that next time.

Patrick

I've tried growing them from seed and have had no luck trying to get them from seedlings to adults. Around the 2 month mark they seem to get burnt from my grow lights (MarsHydro) that's about 16 inches above them. The ones that I've propagated from root cuttings survived where the max temperature would be 85 degrees F. For good measure, I've raised the grow lights to 20 inches.

From seeds, they germinate readily for me 1 - 3 weeks on NZ LFSM with a cup over them in order to raise the humidity. Of course, remove the cup sooner than usual in order to prevent damping off.

If you aren't already, you might try raising the daytime temp up to about 80 degrees, or maybe a bit more, as I find that helps with germination.

My temp is rising to 80 during the day. I wonder if they don't like germinating on sphagnum and perlite like I use for everything else?

Patrick

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

C

DesertPat wrote:I wonder if they don't like germinating on sphagnum and perlite like I use for everything else?

Patrick

Maybe so, the couple times I grew these from seed I started them on pure vermiculite.

UPDATE

I observed germination today, so there is yet hope for this adventure of mine. It has been 43 days since sowing which seems kinda long, but hey I'm not gonna complain... pic to follow plus various others because I got inspired while I had the camera out. Turning this into a picture dump.
D. regia germination today
This D. spatulata Tamlin is currently producing its 5th flower stalk (or spike, or inflorescense idk)
since I got it from Coco early last December. It just wont stop.
Two of the D. x carbarup I got as gemmae from ChefDean around Christmas have decided they want to flower. Seems like an odd time of year for them, but this is my first time with pygmy Drosera so maybe this is normal?
25% of the 5 year old Drosophyllum lusitanicum seed I bought have germinated so far, this one is by far doing the best.
The one VFT I didn't put into dormancy this year because I bought it half way through the apropriate timeframe, plus I need to have one actively growing at all times of the year

Patrick

Congrats on getting it to germinate! Be mindful of the temperatures, feeding, and watering now. I did an experiment with some of my seedlings and found out that they'll die if it gets above 80 degrees F. They do really well if you can keep the day temperatures in the mid 60's and 75 degrees F being the max.

Good luck!

Coco wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 3:08 am Congrats on getting it to germinate! Be mindful of the temperatures, feeding, and watering now. I did an experiment with some of my seedlings and found out that they'll die if it gets above 80 degrees F. They do really well if you can keep the day temperatures in the mid 60's and 75 degrees F being the max.

Good luck!

I'm not entirely sure what I'll do just yet...I will be fertilizing with maxsea, probably foliar aplication at 1/4 strength for now unless anyone else has another recommendation. As for setup, my grow area reaches about 80°F during day and 65°F at night currently with humidity peaking at about 70%. I'm hoping that the maxsea will help them through the first few weeks where they apparently tend to die off the most.

I suppose I will try to keep this thread updated about the regia, regarding it's status and what I do to keep it thriving.

Patrick

How did the plant turn out?...still growing?

DesertPat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 5:43 am I'm not entirely sure what I'll do just yet...I will be fertilizing with maxsea, probably foliar aplication at 1/4 strength for now unless anyone else has another recommendation. As for setup, my grow area reaches about 80°F during day and 65°F at night currently with humidity peaking at about 70%. I'm hoping that the maxsea will help them through the first few weeks where they apparently tend to die off the most.

I suppose I will try to keep this thread updated about the regia, regarding it's status and what I do to keep it thriving.

Patrick