Hello dnieter,

I have heard reports that Sarracenia seeds take 2 weeks to 6 months or even a year to sprout. The seed coat is thick and layered in a waxy protective coating that has to degrade during cold wet periods of at least 2-3 months. I think that temperature variations also help with this process of degradation as I had over 100 Sarracenia hybrid seeds sprout with about 70+ germination within a few weeks, most within the first 2-4 weeks after warming them up. I just used an ice chest and varied the temperature between 40-50 degrees day/night by opening the chest by day. I replaced ice bottles around the pots every 12 hours and kept the seeds damp by misting. I also used some fungicide, but in the ice chest, I did not notice fungus growth like I did in the fridge. This is due to airing it out, misting the seeds, and allowing light in for 12 hours to kill off fungus daily. I stratified mine for 8 weeks in the ice chest and most of my seedlings are still growing after the usual die off from non-viability.

They were taken out about half-way through February, started sprouting in March, and this is today, about 6 months later.

{{gwi:561868}}

What worked for me was put each seed type in plastic bags of water and float the bags in a bucket of water, in my cold attic, by a south window. That was it - no fungicide and no maintenance. They need not only cold but wet for true stratification. When it came time to sow them I had them poured out into glorified plastic pots and covered them, right by the window. Within ~10 days they began to germinate.

I have a ton of sarracenia seedlings that sprouted rather quickly, but my latest attempts see to be a little sluggish. One is a normal S.minor-my first attempt at this species. Perhaps there is something slower about them? Of course the S."rosea" is also taking its sweet ol' time.

Seedlings are usaully very slow growing.
For example:It may take a few weeks for a baby VFT to produce 1 leaf after it's seed leaves.
Adrian