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Growing from seed


Mujician

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I bought some seeds for VFTs, and some sarras and tried planting them earlier this year. I had no luck.

I used compressed peat pots and filled them with pure moss peat. The VFTs I sprinkled a little peat on top, and the sarra seeds were just left on top. This was then left in my cold frame and kept watered from late spring.

Could you guys please give me some hints!!

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Vft and sarra seeds are easy to germinate when fresh.I just use a normal sarra mix,a good tip is to put the compost in the pots and water it for a month or so before you sow your seed.

I always sow sarra seed at christmas/new year when i'm off work,then mother nature can do the rest for you,but never cover the seeds.

They will then germinate naturally when the weather is right.

If you've still got them,you might get some germination next spring.

ada

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  • 3 months later...

I sowed a variety of seeds in Feb in an unheated greenhouse. This is my first time trying to grow from seed. They were sprinkled over the top of damp compost. From what I can gather on here, once the temperature starts to rise, they should start to grow? I'm a bit worried though that a greenish tint is starting to appear over some of the compost, like some sort of mould. Any tips or advice as to what I should do? Leave them as they are? Bring them into the house? Anything I can do to stop this green discoloration?

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I usually cold store my VFT seeds after collecting them in the autumn and sow them around mid March.

Today I started to repot the 2nd tray of seeds I sowed at this time last year, there's about 700 in this tray, the seedlings are upto 10mm across in size. I dread the job but if left the moss will smother them.

seedlings2012-2.jpg

seedlings2012-3.jpg

Anyone got any tips for getting them to grow faster :rolleyes:

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  • 1 month later...

I sowed a variety of seeds in Feb in an unheated greenhouse. This is my first time trying to grow from seed. They were sprinkled over the top of damp compost. From what I can gather on here, once the temperature starts to rise, they should start to grow? I'm a bit worried though that a greenish tint is starting to appear over some of the compost, like some sort of mould. Any tips or advice as to what I should do? Leave them as they are? Bring them into the house? Anything I can do to stop this green discoloration?

Maybe people here can advise me, as I've seen no signs of life from any of the seeds that I sowed back in Feb. I can't remember the exact mix I used, think it was 50% moorland gold and 50% perlite/sharp sand. they've were kept damp and i think they were in enough sun. a few weeks ago i moved them out of the greenhouse and left them outside uncovered. this was because there were signs of one or two tiny shoots (but they may have been weeds?!?) but they kind of got frazzled and scorched in the greenhouse (those few days of sun that we had!) so i thought they might be safer outside.

am i being impatient? should i just wait longer? should i move them back in the greenhouse where it is warmer? i've got drosera, dionaea and sarracenia seeds, and no sign of life among any of them. i can still see a lot of the seeds on the surface of the soil, others i can't really distinguish anymore.

thanks for any thoughts!

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My sarra seeds have not germinated either yet. But I expect them to do so in the next few weeks. They should be OK in the greenhouse provided they have sufficient water, sunlight and ventilation. The trouble with having the pots outside is rainwater can easily wash away your seeds, more so with tiny drosera seeds. If you can give them some protection they may be alright.

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Mine have started to germinate,some have more or less all germinated but others have a few and a couple of pots still have nothing.

Mine were sown at the begining of january though,so you still could get a decent germination if the rain hasn't washed them out.

ada

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Most of mine (all stratified for a month at least) went into electric propagators in March and all show germination to a greater or lesser extent, but the ones that weren't put in a heated propogator are just begining to grow. Did you stratify them (it helps with some to break the waterproof coating) and you say you are keeping them damp, i would be tempted to stand them in a cm or so of water, so there is no possibility of drying out which will kill little roots. They dont need light till they actually germinate but heat is benificial, then once the green shoots show, they need lots of light.

Sometimes, depending on how fresh your seeds were, you dont get germination till next year. So in short don't give up on them, i'd be tempted to put them back in the greenhoue and it nothing grows in another three or four weeks, put them on one side (inside or out) keep wet and wait till next year.

Cheers and best of luck

Steve

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Could you guys please give me some hints!!

It seems that all the advice here is on the 'how' of seed planting. To have a reasonable shot at success, you need viable seeds. If you're purchasing seeds in a commercial packet or from fleabay (or any other non-verified source), your chances of germination (with the best of techniques) is less than 10% - and probably closer to zero.

Lightly covered Sarracenia seeds will still germinate ime. I'll often plant in the fall (just after harvest) & leave the pot/tray outside for the winter. Many seeds get covered from the natural precipitation action. In general, healthy seeds want to grow, the crap they sell in commercial packets is dead.

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It seems that all the advice here is on the 'how' of seed planting. To have a reasonable shot at success, you need viable seeds. If you're purchasing seeds in a commercial packet or from fleabay (or any other non-verified source), your chances of germination (with the best of techniques) is less than 10% - and probably closer to zero.

What do you mean by non varified source?

I and some other serious growers i know have sold seed on a well known auction site,are you suggesting our seed is crap?

The seed i sell, and others will say the same is very fresh and viable,i know i grow it myself

Where are these "varified sources you talk about?

ada

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