How do I store seeds?

[abaddon]

Hello,



I'm hoping someone can help me. I am a novice at CP's and have ordered a whole bunch of seeds. I live in Romania so this is becoming a somewhat expensive endeavor as most of the things I need have been ordered from outside the country. I have a soil mix for CP's as well as live sphagnum moss that I am trying to propagate in about 7 containers (maybe I'm just keeping it alive, who knows?). Anyway, I am ready for my seeds.



I have done research as to how to plant them and am somewhat comfortable with that. Although any advice will be welcome.



The big question that I have not been able to find any definitive answers to online is how to I store the extra seeds?



I ordered:



Dionaea muscipula



Drosera capensis



Nepenthes chaniana



Pinguicula (mexican species)



Sarracenia (mix of species and hybrids)



Sarracenia purpurea purpurea



Urticularia subulata



Which one's, if any, should I put in the fridge? How do I store these guys?And...since anyone who is answering this obviously knows their carnivorous plants I would like to ask a few more questions, if I may.


I think I know which species need dormancy, although not off the top of my head. Could they survive here in the cold? Here it can get to -14C with snow and very little sun. Should I leave the flytraps and sarracenia outside in the winter with mulch on top? I have a greenhouse but it has floor heating, water, drainage, skylights...basically the works. It is attached to my living room.) It does, however, have a bad case of spidermites (if anyone can give me any advice on how to get rid of them for good I would appreciate it.
I am in eastern europe and it is hard, expensive, sometimes impossible, to get certain things here.). I think everything is fine and then my seedlings are covered in mite damage. My large plants seem fine and thriving. I notice the damage in the little guys.  And the borg have made it to my indoor plants, which are still thriving. This from ONE infected plant someone brought as a gift. One plant infecting over 60 plants!
. If you can answer any of my questions it will be very appreciated. This is an expensive endeavor for me and I do not want to fail. That would be money wasted and I would feel so guilty to have started this and failed.



As I said before any other advice will be greatly appreciated.



I am sorry for the long post. It was not intended to be so.



Thanks.

[shadowtski]

You can store extra seed in the refrigerator except the Nepenthes. Nepenthes seeds have a very short shelf life. Plant all of your Neps right away.

I stored my seed in paper envelopes in the butter compartment in the door. I had seed in there (mostly Drosera) for over 17 years, but it germinated when I planted it. (I dropped out of the hobby for many years.)

The Dionaea and Sarracenia seeds should be stratified for better germination percentage. The others are tropical or subtropical and don't require stratification.

My general advice would be to read up on dormancy requirements for the Flytraps, Pings, and Sarracenia. Otherwise, lots of light, pure water, RO or distilled, and peat or sphagnum growing media are all you need.

Good growing,
Mike

[abaddon]

Thanks so much Mike!
I emailed the seller and he confirmed that the seeds had been "dry stratified" so I am assuming I don't have to do it again. Or do I?
 
I have done extensive research on the dormancy for those who need it. But everyone is from the U.S.  Some say that they will survive unless there are extended periods of frost, some say they have theirs covered in snow and it's alright. It's very confusing. Maybe I'll just put them in the garage and let them sleep in there.

So to clarify, you put ALL of your seeds, except the Nepenthes in the fridge? Even the ones that don't need stratification? 

Thanks so much for your help,
Gabriela

[shadowtski]

Hi Gabriela,

Yes, I routinely store all my seeds in the refrigerator. (Except Nepenthes)

I'm not sure what your seller means by "Dry stratification." I'm guessing that he means keeping the seeds in cold storage until he sells them.

I suggest you stratify your seeds in the normal manner. Here's a reason why you should.

I had seeds stored (dry) in the fridge at 33 - 36 degrees F. (about 1 - 2 Deg C.) for a long period. I took them out and put them in test tubes of distilled water (in room temperature) to test -germinate them and nothing happened for over a month. I put the water and seed filled test tubes back in the refrigerator for 8 weeks to stratify them properly. I took them out and 5 species of temperate Drosera germinated in less than 2 weeks. I think that's a pretty good bit of circumstantial evidence that wet stratification is helpful.

Most temperate CP needs a dormancy resting period of a few months over winter. There are all kinds of ways to accomplish this. You have some Mexican Pinguicula I believe. Some of them require a summer dormancy where they produce succulent non-carnivorous leaves during this time. You have to respect a plant's dormancy requirements to keep it thriving long-term. This is where I made most of my mistakes.

By the way, I am not an expert in any aspect of CP cultivation. I saw your query and thought I'd drop you a quick answer.

Good growing,
Mike

[abaddon]

May 12, 2016 13:01:39 GMT shadowtski said:

Hi Gabriela,

Yes, I routinely store all my seeds in the refrigerator. (Except Nepenthes)

I'm not sure what your seller means by "Dry stratification." I'm guessing that he means keeping the seeds in cold storage until he sells them.

I suggest you stratify your seeds in the normal manner. Here's a reason why you should.

I had seeds stored (dry) in the fridge at 33 - 36 degrees F. (about 1 - 2 Deg C.) for a long period. I took them out and put them in test tubes of distilled water (in room temperature) to test -germinate them and nothing happened for over a month. I put the water and seed filled test tubes back in the refrigerator for 8 weeks to stratify them properly. I took them out and 5 species of temperate Drosera germinated in less than 2 weeks. I think that's a pretty good bit of circumstantial evidence that wet stratification is helpful.

Most temperate CP needs a dormancy resting period of a few months over winter. There are all kinds of ways to accomplish this. You have some Mexican Pinguicula I believe. Some of them require a summer dormancy where they produce succulent non-carnivorous leaves during this time. You have to respect a plant's dormancy requirements to keep it thriving long-term. This is where I made most of my mistakes.

By the way, I am not an expert in any aspect of CP cultivation. I saw your query and thought I'd drop you a quick answer.

Good growing,
Mike


Hi Mike,
 You can't believe how grateful I am that you took the time to write me back. You are the only person I have spoken to who has grown CP's. You are therefore, an expert for me. You obviously have a lot of experience growing them so I will take any advice you give me and follow it.


When I stratify the seeds should I do as you did and put them in a tube of water? I have a sprouter (like this: www.amazon.co.uk/A-Vogel-A-Vogel-BioSnacky-Germinator/dp/B001ILWLRU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1463080092&sr=8-9&keywords=sprouter). Could I use that or is there not enough water?

 You are the First person to mention the fact that certain CP's need dormancy in the summer. The seller has them listed as a Mexican mix so I am not sure what I am getting exactly. I will have to grow them and then post pictures to see if someone can help find out which one's they are. What does summer dormancy require? As I have said, I have not found any information about that. Do I have to treat them differently?

 This is all so confusing. I can pretty much grow anything except mango trees (the seed sprouts and then I plant it and it dies) but after reading about carnivorous plants I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I am not methodical with my growing. I have orchids in regular soil doing fine even though I have read that is a no no. Carnivorous plants seem to need so much care that it is scary. I've been researching non stop for months on these little plants.  Sorry to rant. I'm just so worried that I will kill them all, or they won't come up at all. It would be a waste of money, time, resources and I would probably end up crying as a result of my failure.
Thanks so much for your help.

[shadowtski]

Hi Gabriela,
Some people plant their seeds and put the whole pot in the fridge for 4 to 8 weeks. Some people sprinkle their seed onto a wet paper towel, put it in a zippered sandwich bag and refrigerate that for the 4 to 8 weeks. What I did was an experiment. I put the seeds in a test tube, added 10 ml distilled water, and put that in the refrigerator for 8 weeks. I think refrigerating your whole planted pot is the most common technique. Or if you think like a scientist, divide each packet of  seed into thirds, try each technique, and see what works best for you. Then share your results with the community here.

Or divide in fourths, try the 3 normal techniques and also try your sprout germinating gadget. Who know, it might work better than the others.

I am not very familiar with Pings. But look at the climate data for their natural habitat. Hot dry summers. Cooler moist winters. They grow thick leaves like a succulent to help them survive the dry season. Then in Fall and Winter, new carnivorous leaves start to grow and your Ping starts growing again. Your best bet is to Google "Mexican Pinguicula Summer Dormancy". I'm always Google-ing species I'm not familiar with. That's how I get the background knowledge. Then I make mistakes. That's how I learn.

Out of the species you listed in your first email, Drosera capensis is considered the ultimate beginner's plant. It is easy to germinate, grow, and propagate. It is weedlike and actually pretty difficult to kill. Even if your other CP succumb, you should still end up with at least one successful species.


Good growing,
Mike

[hcarlton]

I would be highly suspicious of the viability of some of those seeds; Nepenthes species seeds are extremely rare due to how hard it is to get two of the same species to flower, male and female, and a lot of sellers will sell "Nepenthes seeds" that either aren't Nepenthes, or are very old and no good. Mexican Pinguicula also tend to have very short shelf lives.
Beyond that: Nepenthes and Mexican Pinguicula should all be sown immediately (and most Mexican Pinguicula do not have a summer dormancy but a winter dry dormancy, do not let them dry out when it's the warm season! They will also let you know when they want to go dormant, so it shouldn't be forced on them but moisture levels can be gradually decreased in fall; the winter phase is triggered more by light levels than moisture), U. subulata can be stored but you'll never run out of it once it sprouts because it's a weed (same with D. capensis), Dionaea do NOT need stratification unless they've been treated with smoke to induce dormancy in the seeds! Sarracenia are the only plants you've listed that need a stratification of any kind, and it's fairly easy to put them in a paper towel, wet it, stick it in a plastic zip-lock bag, and stick it in the fridge for 4 weeks (6 for S. purpurea). Then when that's done you can sow them over the top of the pots of soil they will go in.