first time growing cephalotus from seed

[corky]

the seeds seem to be starting to ripen on my cephalotus,i was hoping to get some advice on sowing,and i think i might get a few different answers,i read some people stratify while other sow fresh,also media and humidity,well any advice will be appreciated as i do want to get the best out of my first ceph flower,i have been playing bee's with a paint brush,a couple of flower buds have gone yellowish and when i looked had the fluffy seeds inside but most of the buds are still not ripe

[SoLongFairWell]

A while ago, I recall Stephen say that it could take a 15 years for his Cephalotus seats to reach maturity after sowing.

Peter D'Amato, in The Savage Garden, says this:

The seed are not viable for long, so if you refrigerate them, do so for no more than two to four months; it’s best to sow immediately. Sow on their recommended soil [one part peat to two parts sand] or on milled sphagnum. It is best to stratify the seed, keeping them damp and chilly, for two to three months. With increased light and warmer temperatures, the seed will start germinating after several weeks. Some seed may take a few months to germinate. Slow growing, the rosettes will increase by about 1 inch (2.5 cm) a year.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Richard Bunn

[linuxman]

From my somewhat limited experience I found it makes no difference if you stratify or not. You could try both to be on the safe side.

[gardenofeden]

I've changed my mind on Ceph seed sowing. I used to keep dry in packets in the fridge over winter but have been getting pants germination sowing in spring, whereas I get lots of self sown seeds sprouting all over other plant pots around my Cephs. So...I will be sowing as soon as ripe and leaving in the greenhouse over winter from now on, frost free.

[ada]

I'm glad you said that Stephen.I never got a single seed to germinate i had saved or bought.

Those seed that blew round the greenhouse survived the frosts and germinated where they landed.

ada

[corky]

thanks for your reply's,as for the media i would of thought sphagnum would over grow and become a major problem so peat and sand sounds a better option

[SoLongFairWell]

Or dead sphagnum , like Supersphag. or Supersphag and perlite.

[snapperhead51]

From my personal expericence , from growing ceph here in AU , a good winter strat is needed to help the germination process, even in the wild where seed germination is extremly low they only germinate in spring time.

After ripening they fall the to ground in our end of summer late Febuary , then spend all winter being blown , washed , and floated around in the rian of winter , to settel some where they may germinate in spring .

We found several ways to do Strat succesfully , dry fridge strat in a sealed container, or sow in your ceph mix and put in the G/H grow area through winter, or after strat for min 90 days sow on shpag or ceph mix under lights .,

Different climate will have differnt germination rates and success, , just be aware not all your seed will be viable , even with hand pollination its not 100%.

every country will have differnt grow climate to contend with, many climates are well siuted to growing cephs, they like mild sunny climate similar to it natural one.with cool / cold winters .

To check if your seed cover / husk hids an actual seed , is to soak the seed in clean Rain or Ro water for several hours , till the outer case is soaked and completly wet, ,extract the case from the water and look through a strong light witha magnifine glass or your young good eyes !. unlike mine !! to see the acual seed in side , it will show as a darkish spot inside at the end where it was attached to the flower pod, . you can let it dry and strat the seed or take it out the case and strat or do the whole soaking the outer case/husk after stratification .

Edited August 7, 2013 by snapperhead51

[corky]

thanks John,very informative

[SoLongFairWell]

Thanks John. Nice insight to how it's done down under.

[snapperhead51]

thanks , but must say , just cause it works for me here , its a good chance that it will for many others , but evey where is different and will have differnt results , just cause it works for one person dose not mean it a given !! and works evey where esle , but its worth a try I feel , I have used others perp work here and its worked well in other cp's .

I really enjoy growing cephs , growing from seed can be quite rewarding, have sown many many many hunders of my own ceph seed , germination raters have been from fantastic to quite average , and put that to climate conditions at the time , cooler the spring better the germintion rate hotter lower germination rate . and possibaly other factors as well .

Seed germination, cuttings , T/C from seed or ex-plants , all great fun to do and watch grow , growing Cephs in the lab is very rewardding and can be very quick indeed .

all though cuttings /pullings is a quicker way to expand your collection and T/C even lots faster, , seed will and can give you that natural variation some seek in plants , most are very suttel to not noticable , but if you do enough some times you get some thing that stands out , like rapid growth , , larger pitcher, colour or pitcher tecture . like a box of chocolats you never know what your going to get !!

Even the ceph leaf cuttings floating in water , that I am trying with some T/C techniques ,using PGS for rooting , in the water , may help with quicker rooting with this way , see what happens , it works with neps and other cuttings .

Edited August 8, 2013 by snapperhead51

[corky]

well i am starting to see germination in early October last year the seeds were sown on a mix of sand and peat and left on a chilly windowsill for a couple of months,then i covered the top of the container they were sown in with clingfilm to keep humidity high ,i then placed one of the two containers under flo lights and left one on the window sill.First to show any germination was the container under lights. not the best pic i know ,but these little guys are tiny and even if it was in focus it still looks like a little snot:D not much of a thread at the moment but with a bit of luck i hope it will be an ongoing saga,any advice as always is welcome

[snapperhead51]

there you go Corky , nice job, , ceph seed can last a long time in the sown container, despite what was said that there live time in short, I find viable seed, will last up to 2 years + and still germinate,even in the fridge in dry strat, ,even in the T/c jars ,and at least 2 seasons in normal sowing areas.you just got to make sure your seed has a seed in it to start with , and the pollination was known to be good . pollination is the most important part !.

[corky]

just a little update,the first pitchers are appearing  

Edited March 29, 2014 by corky

[0rmus]

How long did it take from planting the seeds to seeing first signs of life?  I planted a few seeds late Autumn last year and haven't seen anything yet

Edited April 27, 2014 by 0rmus

[corky]

the seeds were sown mid October and i noticed germination at the start of February ,but i sowed two separate containers and the only container to germinate was the container i put under my flo lights ,the other container was left on the windowsill and still no sign of germination.I should really place the windowsill container under the flo lights as the  other container showed germination quite quickly after been placed under the lights.Maybe you need better light mine are about 8 " from the lights so light is pretty intense

Edited April 27, 2014 by corky

[mattynatureboy44]

I sow mine when its fresh straight away in late summer/autumn and it seems to germinate the next year from around now to late spring early summer. I have some germinating in the greenhouse and conservatory that was sowed last year, but some are still just staring to germinate and sprout now.

Below are some I scattered last year I only noticed them a couple of days ago.

IMG_20140426_232656181 by Da Insect-eater, on Flickr

[corky]

interesting Matt you use the same method Stephen described earlier in this post,i didn't stratify in the fridge ,i left them on a cool windowsill for a few months ,Ormus are yours under lights?in a greenhouse ?

[wozzen]

Nice to see you back Matt!!

I sowed 3 lots of seeds last autumn all 3 have started to germinate the last few weeks one is doing extremely well I'll upload some photos the next few days

[corky]

Well a year after germination,my plants have had some bad times. The sand and peat mix turned into concrete and I also accidentally let them dry out, but hey it's a learning curve and out of about 20 seedlings I have kept 8 alive , so after their setbacks they are not so impressive but you can't only post your successes and I am still pleased and I hope to do better next time

Edited February 13, 2015 by corky

[Little-Bacchus]

Great to see some make it... Can't wait until I have the skill and setup to grow them from seed!

[corky]

no skill or fancy set up here , you should have a go, I only ever seem to learn from mistakes;-)

[Harro]

Hi,
I harvested the seed mid August and sowed it without stratification in Sphagnum. The first little plants I saw 16.12.14. The Sphagnum grew faster than the plants so I pottet them in peat/Perlite/sand and cocos fibre.
On the second pic you can see how the plants look now.
On 7.8.14 John (Snapperhead51) send me some seeds. The letter arrived in Germany after 1 1/2 month from AUS.
I sowed it the same day but nothing can been seen so far. So I´m waiting.......
Harro

Edited February 13, 2015 by Harro

[corky]

Nice Haro, I am having a bit of trouble with my newest seedlings , they are sown in peat and perlite and the moss is becoming a problem so I spent ages carefully plucking it out with tweezers, I now have some pure silica sand used in pool filters and I hope if I use it as a top dressing it will stop the moss from growing.

Edited February 14, 2015 by corky

[pmatil]

I may have to try this cephalotus seed growing because I just got an adult cephalotus and noticed it is growing 2 flower stalks. Never had a cephalotus flower for me so let's hope it finishes the flowering. I remember hearing that cephalotus can be pollinated with itself? Any tricks/tips on that?