FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss Drosera, Byblis, and Drosophyllum plant care here

Moderator: Matt

User avatar
By Andrew42x89
Location: 
Posts:  135
Joined:  Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:18 pm
#430127
I just received my first seed order from the bank - mixed sundew. Thank you ChefDean and evenwind! The blend contains seeds from eight spats, three capis, ultra x spat, a natalensis, a tropical intermedia, and Cape "Large Form".

I will be using a 1:1 peat/perlite mix with a top layer of chopped LFSM. I had initially planned on planting them separately in small domed seed starting trays like the one pictured below. The cells are 1.5” squared with a depth of 2”.
Image

I like the idea of being able to move a single plant from a cell without disturbing the rest. Thinking about it more, though, I’m wondering if these may be too small to allow for proper growth before they are hardy enough to transplant.

Another option I have is to sow them together in one or two 6” diameter pots with a depth of 6.5” for which I also have humidity domes as pictured below.
Image

I’m leaning towards the large pot(s) being the better option, but would prefer the trays if they would work. I’ll probably try both unless it would be highly advised against using the small trays.

Additionally, I was wondering what advice you all may have regarding temperature. Daytime ambient on the grow shelf outside of my tent is currently around 70°F and nighttime is likely just a few degrees lower, though I haven’t checked.. probably a good data point to gather tonight. Inside of the tent, the daytime temp is 73°F with nighttime dropping to around 68°F. With my veggie seedlings, I’ve always used a heating mat to encourage quicker growth. The mats purport to raise the rooting area between 10-20°F above ambient, so potentially upwards of 90°F if grown outside the tent as planned. Would that be too warm for these drosera to grow from seed? And if so, would the 68-73° conditions inside the tent if I forewent using a mat be too cool? In the domed trays or pots, it is safe to assume it’s a few degrees warmer when the lights are on from trapped heat.

Any and all feedback and insights are greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Andrew
User avatar
By Intheswamp
Location: 
Posts:  3275
Joined:  Wed May 04, 2022 2:28 pm
#430129
Ok, so these are all mixed together, right? If so, I would plant them all in the larger pots. As for temperatures, mid-70's would be my guess and either side of that. 90F would probably be ok, but *is* kind of warm...it might promote algae/mold growth, too. I think I have the same type of heating mat but I run it through a Inkbird thermostat. I would opt for the 68-73F in-tent location without the heating mat. One thing you could do to lower the temperature of the heating mat is to place a piece of corrugated cardboard between the mat and the pots....you'd have to experiment around a bit with that.

Be patient...some seeds may take a month to sprout. Plants grow kind of slow, too. ;)
User avatar
By evenwind
Location: 
Posts:  2153
Joined:  Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:16 pm
#430130
I don't think pot size is going to affect them too much. Their parents probably started out in a 2" square pot and may have still been in one when they flowered and the seeds were collected. And, again, the parent temps varied between low 60s (midwinter nights) and maybe low 80s (summer days), depending on how close a particular pot was to the lights. I have people-friendly, household humidity. Even in summer it doesn't get uncomfortable. So maybe 35-70%. Be sure the surface sphagnum is chopped finely, the more numerous and larger the holes, the more seeds are likely to be lost. The pack you have is set up for beginners. Unless you really screw up, something is going to grow. Try different things - there's many more seeds waiting in the bank. Just be patient.
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#430133
I always sow half of the seeds in a pack Aya a time in case I really screw something up. That is except for my pack of satracenia oreophila whose pot I dropped mediately after sowing.
Intheswamp, evenwind liked this
User avatar
By Andrew42x89
Location: 
Posts:  135
Joined:  Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:18 pm
#430134
That’s a good thought, Panman. I certainly will, Intheswamp. I made my plan for the planting media and bought one of those pull cord manual food processors for the sphagnum after reading of one of evenwind’s posts. Knowing the conditions the parents were in, I feel much more comfortable continuing on with the trays.
User avatar
By Andrew42x89
Location: 
Posts:  135
Joined:  Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:18 pm
#430137
Intheswamp wrote:I've got to ask, are you planning on planting a single seed per cell?
That’s the plan here! I generally sow a few seeds per cell and thin them down to one seedling per cell, culling the weak or lanky ones once they’ve grown a set or two of true leaves, but that’s when I have plenty of identical seed stock.
Last edited by Andrew42x89 on Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
By evenwind
Location: 
Posts:  2153
Joined:  Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:16 pm
#430139
My guess is that they'll be a good number of infertile seeds. I usually drop 20 or so in a 2" pot and I'm happy with half a dozen seedlings. As they grow, they typically cull themselves. You may not yet realize just how tiny and delicate the newly hatched seedlings are.
Panman liked this
User avatar
By Intheswamp
Location: 
Posts:  3275
Joined:  Wed May 04, 2022 2:28 pm
#430140
Uh, I would plant probably several seeds per cell. I don't know how many seeds you got in the multi-pack...30?....50?....I would plant a least a half-dozen per cell, probably more. But that's just me. The seeds are tiny and the resulting seedlings are equally tiny and take a while to grow Here's a cup of d.filiformis.filiformis New Jersey that I planted...the cup is a touch under 3-1/2" in diameter. I water stratified these so I used a pipette to suck them up out of the water with and disperse them on the LFSM so they're kinda clumping in areas. But, you can see how large (small?) they are to relate them to the size of your cells. These were planted on January 10th.
Attachments:
IMG_8144 (Custom).JPG
IMG_8144 (Custom).JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 2038 times
User avatar
By evenwind
Location: 
Posts:  2153
Joined:  Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:16 pm
#430142
And here's a 2" pot of Capillaris that was sown 12/12/22.
P2063888.JPG
P2063888.JPG (230.65 KiB) Viewed 2031 times
User avatar
By Intheswamp
Location: 
Posts:  3275
Joined:  Wed May 04, 2022 2:28 pm
#430143
...and a close approximation of a 1.5"x1.5" area showing the population as it can be. Figuring in dud-seeds, as evenwind mentioned, your number of successful seedlings can be few. I consider the germination of these seeds to be *excellent*! I called myself being conservative with them. :roll: These were fresh seeds. With older seeds the germination rate can drop. Just a little more info you can play with. ;)
Attachments:
IMG_8144crop.jpg
IMG_8144crop.jpg (741.82 KiB) Viewed 2026 times
User avatar
By Andrew42x89
Location: 
Posts:  135
Joined:  Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:18 pm
#430146
Good to know, appreciate the pictures! I haven’t opened the seeds yet, waiting until I have everything set tomorrow. There should be roughly 30-50 seeds in the packet though? I’ll probably just split them evenly-ish between 11 cells.
The Sphagnum Yacht

We all love cotton...blue jeans, t-shirts, underwe[…]

1 year old cape!

My cape is being evil. It died back when I did I r[…]

I counted 21 in this one. Both are flavas that I g[…]

A few weeks back most of my VFTs suddenly put out […]

Counting to infinity.

2476

SASE mailed thank you

Looking for a Cephalotus

A guy in a plant club I'm in said he had some Nepe[…]

AI Generated Nepenthes

Hey look, it's those oddly neon bonsai seeds for s[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!