FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Okay! I may have left my seeds a bit too long in the fridge... life got in the way and even though I did not forget, I had no time! Although, in hindsight, it took me less than 30 minutes to sow the seeds... so I could have done it sooner. Well wish me luck anyways! I still got more seeds, so I will strat. those soon and keep at it. What temps should I aim for? These are all Sarr seeds, and are currently sitting at 71 F. I just sowed the yesterday but I'm wondering if I need a heatmat as well?

71°F / 22°C is a good springtime temperature for Sarracenia seeds. It should encourage them to sprout.

I have not really tried at that low of a temp. I keep my grow tent between 82 to 86 degrees F, depending on which shelf I use. I normally put my sarrs seeds on the shelf that averages about 84 degrees F. I keep the lights on for 22 hours a day. It normally takes about 10 to 14 days to start noticing life. My sundews go on the warmer shelves and they take any where from 3 weeks to a few months, depending on which ones they are. I am by far no expert at this, I am just sharing what I have done and thus far has worked. Good luck.

Hi, you don’t need a heat mat to start seeds. Just make sure they’re in high humidity and light I’ve had sarracenia, drosera and flytrap seeds germinate in 65 degree highs. It may just take more time to see results

I'll have to post a picture later.. but are they supposed to be coming out already? I started seeing some seedlings coming out since Saturday.. or is it just grass or something haha it feels too soon/ good to be true!

It looks like I have mold growing. Is this a bad thing? I am assuming its from lack of air flow, I took some measures just now to see if it helps but should I do anything else? I've attached a picture of the seedling and another picture of the mold but they might be a little hard to see. I will have to take better pictures once I go back home after work.

Any takers? Just looking for some feedback/opinions

I don't see any sarrs sprouts in the pictures. I'm not sure what that broad leaf plant is. The other green morsels may be some sphagnum trying to come to life or either some type of algae starting to cover something. You can see the sarracenia seeds laying there. What you want to see is what looks like a tiny green "trunk" coming out of one end of the seed and at the end of the trunk you'll see a mass of small white "filaments"...those filaments (to the best of my knowledge) are roots pegging down into the grow mix. The entire "trunk" and "filament" probably isn't but 1/16" to 1/8" inch long to start with...but whatever, they'll be coming out of the seeds.

Maybe you can tell something from this image...

As for the mold, dip it out with a q-tip. Maybe use a little alcohol when you do it to kill remnants.

I knew it was too good to be true! There is one or two that are coming out from a seed but they are pretty small to see without a magnifying glass. So this leaf is a hitchhiker ugh.. Cool I'll go ahead and the q-tip thing, thank you!

Well... there is still mold and its spreading. I'm currently spraying them with H202 but they just come back after a day or two. Is this a lost cause or do I keep at it? Not sure if the green stuff is sphagnum or algae now..

Have you had any seeds to germinate?

As for the mold... Do you have these under a dome or bag? Any air movement for them? If domed or bagged you may want to allow for more ventilation to possibly help reduce the mold. As long as the surface stays wet (high water level in water tray, maybe) the immediate environment right above the surface will be pretty humid even with ventilation. I've taken clear plastic cups from fast food places and cut the tops off so that they're 2-3 inches tall...I then sit the cut-off top into my grow cups. This gives good air exchange for the pot/cup but also holds in a lot of humidity. In your case (looks like square pots) you could open the bag more, turn the dome or cover cockeyed a bit, prop the dome/cover up with something, etc.,...basically anything to get a larger air exchange/flow going.

Post an image of what it looks like now. And, maybe hold off on the H2O2 for now.

I will get a picture of the set-up later when I am off work but these are under a dome. The dome does have vents but it looks like air flow is pretty bad, I'll try to prop the dome up and see if that helps. I got gnats too now haha There are a few seedlings starting to come out of their seeds, so something is working lol

Fungus gnats...bad for seedlings. Do you have any mature sundews nearby...they *love* fungus gnats, especially (IMHO) filiformis!

Yeah, get more airflow going. Imagine the native environment of the plants and where they drop there seeds. Definitely wet there but think of all the open air above them...and somehow the seeds manage to germinate and make more plants. I've germinated seeds both completely covered, semi-covered, and completely uncovered. For sundews it seems the semi and completely uncovered methods worked out best for me.

One other thing out of curiosity...did you wash/rinse your sphagnum and perlite before sowing the seeds?