FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Forgive the ego in the title (SphagnumFromHell? Who's this dork? Am I expected to know him? )

Hello everyone. I have just finished collecting the last of my seeds from my pollinated Venus Flytrap flowers. This year, I've had 9 genetically different plants flower for me, and my intention was to get as many crosses as I could. These were the plants:

- 'King Henry' (KH)
- 'FTS Maroon Monster' (MM)
- 'SD Kronos' (SD)
- One seed grown typical (SG1)
- Two different seed grown typicals from the FlytrapStore (SG2) and SG3). SG2 is similar to 'Dentate' while SG3 is mostly red.
- A typical picked up from Walmart (WT)
- A typical picked up from Green Acres (GT)
- And my own cross between the aforementioned "Walmart typical" and 'FTS Maroon Monster' (WT x MM 1). I had two genetically different plants from this one cross, so I made sure which plant the flowers were coming from.

I kept track of which flowers on which plants have been crossed with who was by using small threads of fishing line colored with oil pastels. My original plan was to have a unique color for each cross, however after soon running out of all the possible combinations I switched to a new color code that only indicated the pollen donor plant. Since I could already tell who was the mother plant by looking at the plant tagged, I could simply infer the cross and save on unique pastel colors.

Here in this, uh, well used, color key, you can see which colors matched up with each pollen donor plant in the bottom portion. Although I switched to a different system, I kept the first color key intact just in case a label wasn't recolored. I only used up a new color when any actual pollen was used, so not all of the plants were color keyed. Once the flowers were pollinated, I harvested the seed pods as they ripened to be cleaned, labeled, bagged, and then lovingly stuffed into this tupperware container to be put in the fridge. I included the cross, date, and seed count. I had just ran out of space when I got all the seeds harvested.

On top of this, there were several flowers that successfully went to seed that either weren't pollinated by me, or the tags of which were unfortunately lost. I referred to these as "single mother" seeds. I knew the mother plant, but not the pollen donor. I also lumped a few pods together in the same bag, which means that some bags may have more than one cross. This is sort of an oversight on my part, but since these seeds will essentially sprout unlabeled typicals I think it's fine. The mother plant parentage will just give some reference when observing the seedlings features. After finishing this whole process up, here is the total:

Fully labeled crosses
((WT x MM1)x SG1): 1 seed ( )
((WT x MM1)x KH): 7 seeds
(MM x SG2): 6 seeds
(GT x MM): 4 seeds
(SD x KH): 3 seeds
(SG2 x MM): 4 seeds
(SG3 x SG1): 4 seeds
(KH x SG2): 6 seeds
(KH x SG1): 7 seeds
(WT x SG1): 3 seeds
(MM x KH): 15 seeds

((WT x MM1)x SD): 7 seeds
((WT x MM1)x SD): 14 seeds
Total: 21 seeds

(MM x SG1): 10 seeds
(MM x SG1): 2 seeds
Total: 12 seeds

(KH x MM): 1 seed (fertility issues?)
(KH x MM): 2 seeds
Total: 3 seeds
GRAND TOTAL: 96 labeled seeds

Single mother crosses
(KH x ?): 19 seeds
(SG2 x ?): 9 seeds

(WT x ?): 4 seeds
(WT x ?): 6 seeds
(WT x ?): 11 seeds
Total: 21 seeds


(MM x ?): 7 seeds
(MM x ?): 2 seeds
(MM x?): 4 seeds
(MM x ?): 11 seeds
(MM x ?): 10 seeds
(MM x ?): 21 seeds
Total: 55 seeds

((WT x MM1)x?): 3 seeds
((WT x MM1)x?): 6 seeds
((WT x MM1)x?): 10 seeds
Total: 19 seeds
GRAND TOTAL: 123 partially labeled seeds

THE GRAND GRAND TOTAL (fr this time like actually guys I'm not joking) : 219! With 14 different (identified) crosses!

Although I swear I counted 229 as I was harvesting, maybe I missed a seed packet? I'll recount later...

I'll keep this thread updated. I want to see how far I can document this until I either kill them all in a freak accident or end up with some cool crosses. Stay Tuned!

Did you bag the flowers to prevent accidental cross-pollination by insects and cut off the anthers to prevent self-pollination?

Cheers
Steve

No, I didn’t. I’ll have to remember that for next year. Now Im kind of concerned about the accuracy of the labels.

I hate to say it, but if there is any ambiguity about the lineage, don't circulate them or label them as anything other than OP (open-pollinated). They may well have the genetics you intended but unfortunately you cant be sure, and should they get introduced into the wider community and subsequently crossed with other plants, the whole system would be incorrect.

Cheers
Steve

Yeah, I did a bunch of crosses one year but my marking system faded in the sun. Everything became OP. If you didn't bag them, then the responsible thing is to label them OP.

Ok will do I suppose. I’ve already planted and labeled the tags of all the “fully labeled” plants but if I ever sell these plants or post pictures on the forum I’ll call them nothing but seed grown typicals.

That being said the first 96 seeds have been sown yesterday, the rest will likely be donated if the seed bank needs them.

I love reading posts about people's seed projects and other experimentation. Very cool.

And I appreciate when seeds are listed as Open Pollinated AND with some info about known and potential parents, as MikeB did here. To me, there's a difference between Typicals that are literally just standard medium-size VFTs and Typicals that are "mother is Pink Venus, and father could be Wally, Dracula, or King Henry!"

UPDATE 7/18/24

Seeds seem fine at the moment. No sprouts yet. I bought these stackable storage containers from Walmart to serve as trays for the hodgepodge of pots I gathered up. This helps me most efficiently utilize the little space I have on my windowsill. They remind me of little apartments.

I also threw a couple pieces of mosquito dunks in the trays because I really do not want to deal with fungus gnats. I might as well also show the picture I took right when sowing them.

I usually keep VFT seeds away from sunlight until the first 10% have germinated, so algae doesn't get a running head start.

Interesting. I remember at some point reading that flytrap seeds needed sunlight to germinate. Guess not. I think the heat from the sunlight definitely helps them germinate faster.

Most carnivorous plant seeds themselves don't need direct sunlight to germinate, as the seed coating pretty much blocks any benefit that direct sunlight would provide. The need to put the seeds in appropriate light is more to provide the means for the plant to immediately begin photosynthesis.
Compared to most all other seeds, carny plants have very little endosperm to fuel growth, typically just enough to put up a couple of cotyledons and put down a couple of root hairs. That fuel is spent within a couple of days after germination, and the plant is on its own to feed itself. Without appropriate light, the seedling would quickly die.

UPDATE 7/31/24

Hello everyone, it has been within just under three weeks I'm starting to get sprouts. Two exactly. One from the pot labeled (MM x KH) and another from ((WT x MM1)x SG1). There was only one seed in the half of the pot labeled with the latter, so I suppose I can say that this harvest had a 100% germination rate?

I was initially concerned because the last couple of years my seeds managed to sprout as quickly as 2 weeks, but this time still isn't unusual for Venus Flytraps by any means. I was concerned that the covered containers may have gotten a little too hot and cooked some of the seeds but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

(I'm aware these labels cannot be safely treated as accurate, I repeat I will not sell or label any adult plants from these seeds as nothing more than OP. I think keeping the labels will give a little more information on where any unique traits from the seedlings may have come from, but this will be nothing more than conjecture)

Are you still using the stacking plastic crates? Air circulation is your friend to avoid algae and other sludge. Keep the moss around the seeds very moist (a daily gentle spray bottle can help), but let fresh air easily move around.