Some of my Heliamphoras.
Some of them are from seeds i produce myself, the others are from Germany, France, CZE and Canadian private growers.
A seed grown heli, in normal conditions, take from 3 to 5 years to make his first flower. From my experience, hybrids push flowers faster than species.
The ones i got already matures, or big juveniles, can push a flower after around 1 or 2 years of culture.
I found that pollination is very easy, a lot more than i expected to. If you have only a couple seeds in your pods, try to pollinate the same flower several times a day, for 2-3 days. This will mimic the natural pollination on tepuys. When the stigma tip is brownish, the job is done, but keep adding pollen. This should bring a bigger seeds batch.
Germination can be picky. The best way i found is sowing the seeds in ultra lowland conditions. (day/nigh 35/25C), full of direct sun, 100%RH)
Right after the sproutings, i bring them back in my highland setup, with the adult plants.
My growing conditions are:
RH90%+
Temperatures Winter (day/night) 23/8-12C - Summer 23/15-17C
Roots temperatures always under 17C
A VERY slow airflow.
Lighting T5 tubes 6400K (12 total) 48inches with nano reflectors, very close to the plants.
Soil mix: 50/25/25 peat/perlite/oak chunks
Distilled water, 2 times a week, top watering. No standing water.
I feed my little guys once a week, from april to november.
I wrote many articles on how to feed carnivorous plants. The best way IMHO, for heliamphoras, is dust feeding with DBWs. Bacterias can break down the prey faster, because its only dust.
For example, on ICPS:
http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/Feeding/FeedingDBWSBS.php
Or on FTC:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/feed-a-venus-fly-trap
Here my pictures :-)
Heliamphora minor var pilosa (Cerro la luna, Auyan, different clones)
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone A (I got this one very little(3-4 medium pitchers, this is only 10 months later)
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone C
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Giant
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone B
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone A
Heliamphora minor var pilosa
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone A
Heliamphora minor var pilosa Clone A
Heliamphora minor "Burgundy-black" (Cold nights(around 10C) bring amazing coloration!)
Heliamphora minor "Burgundy-black"
Heliamphora minor "Burgundy-black"
Heliamphora minor "Burgundy-black"
Heliamphora minor "Big Orange"
Heliamphora minor "Big Orange"
Heliamphora hispida
Heliamphora ceracea
Heliamphora ceracea, another clone very young.
Heliamphora minor "Selection 1"
Heliamphora minor "Selection 1"
Heliamphora minor "Selection 1"
Heliamphora pulchella Amuri
Heliamphora pulchella Akopan
Heliamphora pulchella Akopan
Heliamphora pulchella Akopan