Seed Germination idea

[waldobrits]

Hi all

Ok this is something i picked up while working with my bonsai's.
If i have seeds that are hard to germinate and needs a cold stratification, we skip this by using a small file to open up the seed a bit by filing away the hard outer layer until you can see the white inner... (lol sorry cant remember what its called now)...while doing this you must be very care full not to go to far, after that i dip the seeds in a fungicide and then i pant them in course sand what will keep it moist but not to wet. The seed start growing in a few days after that...

Well i got a few S.Minor seeds a while ago and did the normal cold stratification for 4 weeks, after about 4 weeks after planting nothing germinated...
I tool 3 of the seeds and did the filing thing ( it was a bit hard because of the size of the seed...ending up using the wifes tweezer)
A week later the seeds that i filed a bit started to germinate!!!
and well the others... nothing.

Next i will try it on some seeds with out any cold stratification as i do with my bonsai seeds and will set you all know how they did.....
(Btw a good free standing electronics magnifying glass helped a lot)

Have any of you tried this... ?
Or what to you think of the idea ?

[Aidan]

"Scarification" is the word on the tip of your tongue.

Whatever works for you, but it's way too much of a fiddle for me!

The fact that seed germinated only after scarification would suggest that your cold stratification technique was insufficient. I stratify seed naturally (we have the weather for it here) and usually sow late December or early January for germination the following spring. In other words, much longer than four weeks and I'd recommend a good six to eight weeks when stratifying artificially.

[John Brittnacher]

Aaron Ellison, now at Harvard Forest, did experiments on seed stratification of Sarracenia. He found 2 to 6 weeks to be optimal depending on the species: 2 weeks for S. psittacina and S. alata, 6 weeks for S. purpura, and 4 weeks for the rest.

harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/personnel/web/aellison/publications/2001/ellison_2001.pdf

Generally experiments such as Ellison's are done with seeds in wet paper towels stored at 4C or 40F. It is hard to find paper towels that don't mold so I use wet finely chopped sphagnum moss. I think you will find that Sarracenia and other CP seeds need to be stratified wetter than normal seeds. They also need to be wetter to germinate. I have never had damp-off problems with bog/fen derived CPs. Here is my page about Sarracenia:

www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/Sarracenia.htm

[rco911]

... what about gently rubbing with a fine sandpaper? I've heard of this mentioned with other seeds for other plants (such as that bonsai idea...) maybe sandwiching some seeds between two peices of sandpaper?

It may be a bit easier VS going thru each individual sarracenia seed... which I can imagine be a bit tedious.

All of my seeds are currently in cold strat, but another friend of mine is sending some more seeds my way. I may try that on a few to see how it turns out.

Waldobrits, keep us posted on the results!

[Brian Barnes]

I've always found it suitable to stratify my Sarracenia seed for 5 to 6 wks. in the fridge. Germination seems to be better if you give them more than four. I try to mimic the conditions they grow in, in the wild as much as i can... Scarification does sound interesting though...