FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey Jens and Jun or anyone else that has done tissue culture with Dionaea seeds,
Do you remember how long it took before you started seeing germination with your seeds? I've been reading some articles and one of them claims that they got germination in 10-15 days. I've had some seeds in tissue culture for 20 days now and I don't see any germination.

Similarly, the first time I tried TCing Dionaea seeds, they didn't germinate for a very long time.

Hi Matt

i have started some seeds. It took 4-5 weeks for me on 1/3MS for germination.
So take it easy, most seeds in TC need longer as usual....

Regards
Jens

Thanks for the reply Jens. I'm just getting a little impatient. I wish that things happened more quickly!

Hi Matt,

Same with Jens, I think germination is longer in TC than in normal potting mix. I think it also depends on how fresh the seeds are.

hb

You had a great germination rate for your Dionaea seeds hackerberry. Do you remember how long it took before you started seeing germination?

Matt, have you tried heat, keeping your cultures a little on the warm side? That may improve the speed of germination; might be worth a try. Heat certainly has an effect on seeds germinated outside of TC on peat mix. I typically see some seeds germinating in 13-16 days.

Rather than trying to give them more heat from light, which could seem a little risky regarding the amount of heat buildup inside the jars, which could be excessive, I was thinking perhaps an electric seedling heating mat, kind of a hot-pad for plants, that might be able to boost the temperature in a more controlled, less dangerous way.

Hello,

I had most of the seeds germinate in 6 weeks after I replaced my germination chamber lighting with T5. I guess heat and light is a huge factor.

hb

Hey Jun,

Do you know how much heat and light you were giving your seeds before germination? Mine stay around 70°F to 72°F (20°C to 21°C) and I am getting a light meter soon to measure the amount of light they're getting. I did have them very close to bright T5 lights (about 4 inches or 10cm away), but I moved them about twice that distance away now.

Matt,

Around 75F and my bottles are 4 inches away from the light when I saw germination from the seeds.

hb

ahoy matt!
got the seeds you send to me.Thanks again!!!
those nep. seeds are quite weird!!
But thanks again!!!

Anrich wrote:ahoy matt!
got the seeds you send to me.Thanks again!!!
those nep. seeds are quite weird!!
But thanks again!!!

Glad to hear you got them Anrich! Best of luck with getting them to germinate.

Matt-- I thought of something else regarding time-to-germination of Dionaea seeds in tissue culture. Because the seeds are (presumably) sitting on top of agar, they may not get as moist as quickly as they would with frequent watering. Perhaps a few drops of sterile water, placed on top of the agar solution where the seeds are, might speed up the germination time?

Just a random thought--

Matt

you need to make TC with Darlingtonia or some Pinguicula, their seeds took just 2 weeks for germination
I have the same problem like you, cant wait all the time to see results, i sometimes check all my jars 2 times a day just to see any small signs for growing...


Jens

Maybe I will get some Darlingtonia seed soon. For some reason, Pings just don't appeal to me, but I wouldn't mind giving them a shot sometime soon.

In any case, I have good news today. I see some signs of germination in one of my Dionaea seed jars that I put into cultures on the 11th of February! I think I was keeping them too cool. I just bought a heating pad a couple of days ago and put it under the cultures. It keeps them a cozy 25°C (77°F) and just 2 days after raising the temperature, I see germination! I'm very excited.

Steve_D wrote:Matt, have you tried heat, keeping your cultures a little on the warm side? That may improve the speed of germination; might be worth a try. Heat certainly has an effect on seeds germinated outside of TC on peat mix. I typically see some seeds germinating in 13-16 days.

Rather than trying to give them more heat from light, which could seem a little risky regarding the amount of heat buildup inside the jars, which could be excessive, I was thinking perhaps an electric seedling heating mat, kind of a hot-pad for plants, that might be able to boost the temperature in a more controlled, less dangerous way.

I'm not sure how I missed this post when you made it Steve, but heat was indeed the thing that the seeds needed. I downloaded a scholarly article the other day on germinating and propagating Dionaea in vitro and read it over. They kept their germination chamber at 25±1°C (77°F to 80°F) and had germination in 10 days or so. After reading that I decided I need to up the temperature in my terrarium.

The house we live in is over 100 years old and VERY drafty. We try not to waste too much electricity on heating it, so we keep the thermostat around 62°F during the day and at night we turn it off. It was getting down into the mid 50s°F at night and at best in the low 70s°F during the day in the terrarium. The lights being during the day helped it stay a little warmer, but the low 70s°F is at its warmest. Usually it was in the low to mid 60s°F, which is just too cool.

So, I looked at some seedling heating mats at the store the other day, but they were pretty expensive. Then I realized that they are pretty similar to heating pads that people use on their bodies and we had one of those lying around, so I put it in the terrarium. I can keep the temperature in the mid to upper 70s°F with it pretty easily. It's only been in there for 2 full days now and I already see some seeds germinating! How exciting!