I've killed mine by sprouting them in the spring and putting them outside. so my best advice to you is keep them inside, under lights for the rest of the growing season, hardening them off, and putting them through a proper dormancy. They DO survive a dormancy just fine.

Hello petiolaris,

Thanks for the advice. I am certainly keeping these tiny guys indoors for a while. I sprouted them without a humidity cover, so they are already hardened the moment they germinate technically. I also do intend to place them in dormancy, just like they get in the wild, so it should not pose a problem.

thanks again.

Your seedlings look great!! It does not hurt to transplant them at this time or any time. Keep them under lights for the first year or two. You can skip dormancy next winter to get them larger faster. (Skipping dormancy will kill adult plants, but it is fine for young seedlings). Let them go dormant normally fall of 08 and they will be good size by then. The seedlings seem to grow in spurts. Sometimes repotting jumpstarts them if they are going through a resting phase. I never had trouble repotting them at any time during the first two years. Keep up the good work, it is fun watching them develop...each one different.

Hello woodnative,

Thanks for the positive reinforcement. I have heard that skipping a dormancy is ok for seedlings Sarracenias but I might go ahead and give them a dormancy period anyway this coming winter with my VFT. I just like to do things the way the plants have it in nature.

I just heard so many different ideas about replanting the seedings that I was usure if replanting them too early would mess them up. I suppose the main reason for such information is that the seedlings are so tiny that it is easy to damage them during this time.

Thanks for the advice.

Great photos! I also have 200 s. leucophyllia seeds stratifying in my refrig as we speak. I will be planting them in early June.

Regarding growing under lights vs outside, if I start the seeds in pots, inside an old 50 gallon glass terrarium, what type of lights should I use? Is flourescent adequate, or do I need a broader spectrum?

Any suggestion on lights and strength from you seasoned veterans would be much appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Alys

Here is a link that might be useful: My Pond

I'm no expert on lighting, but I've read of hobbysits using Halide lights. I would think that anything sold at a pet shop for growing aquarium plants would be good quality and geared toward plants. Back in the day, we used Grolux bulbs for plants, but I'm sure things have progressed since then. Currently, I have a simple 30W fluorescent light over my closet plants (mainly sundews & bladderworts) and while I don't think it's great and wonderful, the plants do grow and many have flowered - and that's with one, cheap shoplite.

Hello alyss,

Well my Sarracenias germinated are growing well under four 40 watt flourescent shoplight tubes of the cool white variety and are about 4-5 inches from the lights. As you can see, they are developing coloration. In the long run, they would be better outside when they have grown a couple of years. Flourescents are good for young plants though. They have all that light and smaller leaf surface so it is sufficient from what I can see. It is when they get bigger that they might loose their color and need more intense light. Flourescents are broader spectrum than incandescent and closer to normal sunlight than most other lights.

Thanks for the photo compliment... it is all the camera (12X optical zoom), not the amature behind it.

Thanks for the info!

Since I have 200 plus seeds, I will experiment...

In June I will try germinating / growing half of them in a terarium under lights in a window that receives morning sun.

I will try germinating the other half outside, and providing they grow, bring them inside under lights for their first winter when it starts to cool off. (I live in a very mild beach climate where it rarely gets below 45 F in winter, or above 80 in Summer...My adult sarracenia hardly showed signs of dormancy this past winter, but apparently did fine and are now starting to grow like crazy.)

The lower light levels will induce light dormancy in winter but the lower temperatures, around 45 degrees for most North American species, will be sufficient to get them a bit deeper into dormancy for a while. Sounds like a good climate.