Nepenthes seed turned black after soaking

[Feng]

On October 1st, I planted some N. adrianii seeds. Before planting, I soaked these seeds with 100ppm GA3 solution. I want the seeds to absorb water completely, my plan is to fish out these seeds when they sink to the bottom. But these seeds never been like this, on the third day, they turned dark brown, and the bubble in the center became very dark. I stopped soaking and planted immediately, but the seeds became more and more dark after planting, it looks the same as rot, and it hasn't sprouted until now.

I think GA3 or the alcohol used to dissolve GA3 killed the seeds, so when I got the N. merrilliana seeds on November 26, I only used water to soak them. But just after I soaked for about 24 hours, the seeds turned from golden yellow to dark brown, which reminded me of my last failed experience. I immediately picked up these seeds and planted them.

Are these seeds dead? Can the Nepenthes seeds not be soaked? In gardening, seeds are often soaked to promote germination, so I did this on Nepenthes seeds.

 

Nepenthes seeds start to soak.

 

Nepenthes soaked for 24h.

 

Nepenthes planted after 24h soaked.

[.Pico.]

Why are you using GA3? I don't see any reason why it should improve germination of Nepenthes seeds. Also, why are you assuming they should sink after such treatment?

If you bought those seeds from some random sellers/resellers online then it's probably old poached trash from some lowland species which will never germinate. 

If it's fresh material from someone who produced the seeds then just wait, germination can require way more than one month.

It's impossibile to say if ethanol was an issue as you haven't provided information on the solution you prepared. I would avoid using it anyway.

[Feng]

31 minutes ago, .Pico. said:

Why are you using GA3? I don't see any reason why it should improve germination of Nepenthes seeds. Also, why are you assuming they should sink after such treatment?

If you bought those seeds from some random sellers/resellers online then it's probably old poached trash from some lowland species which will never germinate. 

If it's fresh material from someone who produced the seeds then just wait, germination can require way more than one month.

It's impossibile to say if ethanol was an issue as you haven't provided information on the solution you prepared. I would avoid using it anyway.

Yes, it may seem like a stupid decision to use GA3 now. I just wanted to speed up the germination, but I didn't expect it to kill the seeds.

As for why I think the seeds will sink, there is actually no evidence. It is just based on experience. For example, after soaking most vegetable seeds, if the seeds have fully absorbed water, they will sink to the bottom.

The seller of the seeds is a local carnivorous plant lover. According to him, the seeds are freshly collected, and I would also like to trust him.

Now I did another seeding after that, this time in this topic. With the previous experience, so in the second seeding, I didn’t use GA3 or anything, I just soaked the seeds with clear water, but the seeds still truned to dark.

Now my question is, since these seeds are soaked truned to dark, does that means that the seeds are dead? is the seeds cannot be soaked in water?

Edited November 29, 2021 by Feng
add infomation

[.Pico.]

That treatment definitely does not kill seeds (unless you mix in a huge amount of ethanol).

The color change is probably just caused by hydration and it does not indicate that the seeds are dead. Just wait more time.

Be very careful with Nepenthes seeds, most of the seeds sold online are poached. 

[Feng]

1 minute ago, .Pico. said:

这种处理绝对不会杀死种子（除非你混合了大量的乙醇）。

颜色变化可能只是由水合作用引起的，并不表示种子已经死亡。再等一段时间就好了。

猪笼草种子要特别小心，网上卖的大部分种子都是水煮的。 

Thank you for your reply, I will continue to wait, if they finally germinate, I will update here.

[Feng]

3 minutes ago, .Pico. said:

That treatment definitely does not kill seeds (unless you mix in a huge amount of ethanol).

The color change is probably just caused by hydration and it does not indicate that the seeds are dead. Just wait more time.

Be very careful with Nepenthes seeds, most of the seeds sold online are poached. 

Thank you for your reply, I will continue to wait, if they finally germinate, I will update here.