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Post by roraima on Mar 30, 2015 18:44:51 GMT -5
I've always used chopped live Sphagnum moss as a media/soil to germinate Nepenthes seeds. I've had decent success but it definitely tends to overgrow germinated seedlings and I've always felt my germination rates could be higher.
I'm thinking of trying rinsed coco peat when I next have seed.
What media/soil do you use and why?
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Post by shoggoths on Mar 30, 2015 19:57:38 GMT -5
I tried both, coco and LFS and had better success with LFS.
It's hard to tell if there's still too much salt in the coco. That said, I did have success too on vermiculite so I think the quality of the seeds have a big part on the success rate.
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Post by roraima on Mar 30, 2015 21:17:49 GMT -5
Thanks Shoggs!
You used 100% vermiculite?
When did you transfer the seedlings to organic media?
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Post by bonfield on Mar 30, 2015 21:36:26 GMT -5
I use a mix of coir and peat at the moment. The coir is for ease of re-hydration and the peat keeps the PH down while also providing moss spores to out-compete algae. Whether you use sphagnum or peat or coir, some type of organism will colonize the surface in time. I prefer the slow growth of the mosses in the peat over algae or live sphagnum. You will also need to frequently spray down the surface with water(RO/distilled is best, but tap will do in some regions) to discourage mould/fungus from attacking the seeds. This should be done at least every 2-3 days, continuing past germination. When algae occurs, break it up with a close spraying of water on a fine mist setting and drain off the green waste water before it absorbs into the medium. I forgot to mention that the coir/peat mix was only the top-dressing to a general CP soil mix with high drainage. Good thing I got the edit in before the 30-minute cut-off.
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Post by amanitovirosa on Mar 30, 2015 22:47:38 GMT -5
...Roraima, I found this in my files. It is only a small portion of a fairly extensive Nepenthes seed germination article. Apologies to the author, I didn't note who it was. I have not tried this and don't know if it will be helpful to you. I can send you the entire thing if you'd like.
"2)The next thing I do is prepare the media for the seeds. I use perlite and long fibered sphagnum moss crumbs. I use LFS for my CPs and I save all the crumbs in the bales of it that are left over. You could also use finely chopped up LFS. The finely chopped LFS is not quite as good but it is usable. I then take these crumbs and fill a glass baking tray with them and pour in R/O water to hydrate it. Really you could use anything that can go in your microwave, won't melt and won't leach minerals and is shallow. I then put this LFS crumb pie so to speak into the microwave and cook it till it steams a little and is hot enough to burn my fingers at touch. I then take this out and put it into my freezer, with baking mits of course. You could skip this cool down and just let it sit till it is room temperature if you like but I usually am trying to cool it down faster so I use the freezer and leave it there till it is close to room temperature.
The purpose of doing this is to kill all the algae, live LSM, and grass or weed seeds that are in the moss. This is also a very important step. It may seem like overkill like my soaking the seeds but I can assure it makes a huge difference."
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Post by Avery on Mar 30, 2015 23:13:27 GMT -5
That's interesting ^ - I've had success with pure LFS, and in the past have mostly used a mix of chopped LFS and perlite. I tended to stay away from peat as I found that it more readily produced algae, however, depending on air circulation and ventilation this might not be a problem.
My last few batches of seeds have been sown on a mixture of perlite, silica sand, chopped LFS and a bit of peat. I wanted to use a less organic mix to make repotting easier once the time comes- and to discourage Sphagnum from smothering out the slower/more sensitive seedlings. I figured I'd add peat to help with water retention, due to the larger ratio of inorganic material used.
Anyways, first time trying this method out ^, but have had success in the past with LFS/perlite, it's all an experiment really- there's usually not one way that will work for everyone.
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Post by shoggoths on Mar 31, 2015 7:40:49 GMT -5
Thanks Shoggs! You used 100% vermiculite? When did you transfer the seedlings to organic media? In fact, I let those seedlings died Bad on me ... I didn't have enough place for repotting them and already have a lot growing on LFS. But I'm pretty sure I would have been able to transplant them after the second or third pitcher got out. It's easy to get plants out of vermiculite without breaking the roots. I'm actually growing some nepth in a 100% mineral mix, the same I use for my pings and they don't die in it. I've read somewhere that someone have great success that way but can't find the article again. Also, a friend of mine sent me picture of nepenthes growing in sand in Africa so ...
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Post by lloyd on Mar 31, 2015 12:41:17 GMT -5
I saw a nep growing well in sumidero clay balls. I think some nep. habitats are fairly high in some minerals.
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Post by roraima on Mar 31, 2015 13:14:44 GMT -5
Thanks for all the great input guys! I was hoping to get some diverse approaches/perspectives and you didn't disappoint.
Thanks to dvg's generous vetchii giveaway I have more seeds to experiment with than usual, so I hope to try most if not all of these different media options mentioned to see what media works best.
Thanks again.
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Post by richardmarshall on Jul 22, 2015 18:35:25 GMT -5
I know you guys are probably going to hate this. But I used peat pucks from canadian tired. They work pretty good.
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