FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My junior Scarlatine and Wacky Traps flytraps received from Savethetrees4life (thank you!) have sent up flower stalks when I wasn't looking...

Anyone have evidence/experience to confirm that it'll be interesting to pollinate these?

Or should I just hack off the flower stalk and try for stem propagation.

I mean, of course it would be interesting. It's VFTs. But collectively have we learned that seeds from interesting cultivars usually create unremarkable green typicals unless you embark on a multi-generation breeding program?

I have kept my smaller VFTs in milder dormancy this winter (14 hours light, barely damp, temps 55–68F), and almost all are sending up flower stems. It's a mix of typicals with different neat features, including sawteeth with highly arched traps; reds; large traps; magenta teeth; etc. I'm cross/self pollinating some of these or making stalk cuttings.

Note: I understand that only vegetative propagation will create babies of a named cultivar. I'm not super focused on named cultivars, just plants that look interesting.

Somehow I missed this valuable 2012 post from @Veronis in my earlier forum search. Excerpt:

In any set of seeds, however, some may be unique or show some interesting or unique trait. For example, a common mutation is short, saw-like cilia that look like shark teeth instead of the usual "eyelashes". If the seeds' parents have interesting traits, a seed will often (but not always) grow up to share some of the parent's interesting or unique traits, but there are no guarantees. Even if a seedling looks interesting or uninteresting, be aware that traits can change as seedlings mature.

There's always a chance that there might be an interesting baby or two. However, there's a greater possibility that they'll have characteristics of the parents, but nothing to write home about.
You'll never know if you don't try.