Question
QUESTION: i bought two carnivous plant kits oone with sundew plant and one with pitcher plant, they come with a pot that have an extra cover to turn it into a greenhouse, in the instruction paper it says keep the seeds uncovered in the refrigerator for 8 weeks, should i really do that?

ANSWER: Hi Yousef,

That is correct.  Temperate carnivorous plant species need a period of cold, damp stratification before they will germinate.  Here in North America it's usually done by simply sowing seeds and leaving the pots outside for the winter, they they germinate in spring.  Unless you're up in the mountains, I'm guessing that Jordan isn't cold enough in winter to make that happen.

Did the kit happen to say what species of Sundew seed you have?  It will make a big difference on whether or not you need the cold period.

Here's a helpful resource:  http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=270

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: you said temperature depends on the type of the sundew plant, but it says on the kit that in the sundew pot it have all types of sundew plant, and on the pitcher plant kit it says it got all types of pitcher plant.

i got another greenhuse that have (mimosa pudica-venus fly trap-pitcher-sundew) and it says on the kit keep the greenhouse under direct sundlight :/
so the other kit will grow too right?

thank you

ANSWER: Hi Yousef,

Here's the company that your seed kits come from:  http://www.dunecraft.com/home.htm.  I looked up the growing directions on their website, and the sundew seeds they have in the mix are Drosera intermedia, Drosera filiformis, and Drosera rotundifolia.  All of these are temperate species meaning that they come from areas where the winters are cold.  All of these and your pitcher plants, all of which come from the genus Sarracenia, need an 8 week cold period for their seeds.  With just a couple very minor errors, their growing directions are accurate.  Your other seed kit has a combination of plants with very different care directions.  The Mimosa (Sensitive Plant) is a common weed, and will grow like other common garden plants.  (You may even have these wild in Jordan.)  What they are not telling you is how challenging it is to grow many carnivorous plants from seed.

I've grown carnivorous plants for over 35 years.  I still would place growing them from seed in the intermediate to challenging category on the experience you need to be successful.  Those sundews in the kit take 2-3 years to reach maturity from seed, and they need a cold winter dormancy of at least 2 months each winter.  If they don't get the dormancy, they die.  The pitcher plants are more durable, but they take about 5 years to reach maturity from seed, and grow very slowly when small.  Those seed kits are very cool looking and build excitement, but they are nothing but a trail of tears for young growers trying to start what would otherwise be a very rewarding hobby.

Here's what I recommend.  Follow the directions and start the process of stratifying your seeds.  The Mimosa and Venus Flytraps won't need it.  You should get germination on those.  I wouldn't get your hopes too high on the Venus Flytraps, however, since they only have about a 90 day viability on their seeds.  They would have needed to be fairly fresh.  Mimosa seeds often germinate better when they are older.

After that, start educating yourself on carnivorous plants.  Before spending more money on plants or seeds, find out about the plants.  The best book on the subject currently is "The Savage Garden" by Peter D'Amato.  Our DVD series on our website, http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Grow-Carnivorous-Plants-DVDs-s/1826.htm will give you very visual and practical directions helping you to avoid the problems so many new growers have.  Carnivorous plants are very diverse coming from many different continents and climates, so you have to know about what specific plants need to be successful.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com


مرحبا يوسف،

وهنا الشركة التي مجموعات نسلك تأتي من: http://www.dunecraft.com/home.htm. نظرت إلى أعلى الاتجاهات المتزايدة على موقعه على الانترنت، وبذور سنديو لديهم في المزيج هي Drosera إنترميديا، خيطي Drosera، وDrosera rotundifolia. كل هذه الأنواع المعتدلة مما يعني أنها تأتي من المناطق التي تكون فيها الشتاء الباردة. كل هذه وجرة النباتات الخاصة بك، وكلها تأتي من جنس بوقية، بحاجة إلى فترة الأسبوع لمدة 8 الباردة بذورها. مع بضع أخطاء بسيطة جدا، والاتجاهات المتنامية دقيقة. لديك عدة بذور أخرى لديها مزيج من النباتات مع الإرشادات الصحية مختلفة جدا. وميموزا (المنشآت الحساسة) هو الاعشاب الشائع، وسوف تنمو مثل غيرها من النباتات حديقة مشتركة. (قد يكون لديك حتى هذه البرية في الأردن.) ما انهم لا يقولون لك هو كيف تحديا هو أن تنمو العديد من النباتات آكلة اللحوم من البذور.

لقد نمت النباتات آكلة اللحوم لأكثر من 35 عاما. ما زلت شأنه أن يضع المتزايد عليها من البذور في المتوسط ​​إلى تحدي فئة على الخبرة التي تحتاج إليها لتكون ناجحة. تلك sundews في المجموعة تأخذ 2-3 سنوات لتصل إلى مرحلة النضج من البذور، وانهم في حاجة الى السكون الشتاء البارد من 2 أشهر على الأقل كل شتاء. إذا لم تحصل على السكون، وفاتهم. جرة النباتات هي أكثر دواما، لكنها يستغرق حوالي 5 سنوات لتصل إلى مرحلة النضج من البذور، وتنمو ببطء شديد عندما صغيرة. تلك مجموعة من بذور هي باردة جدا يبحث وبناء الإثارة، لكنها ليست سوى درب من الدموع للمزارعين الصغار في محاولة لبدء ما يمكن أن يكون الأمر خلاف ذلك هواية مجزية جدا.

وهنا ما أوصي. اتبع الإرشادات والبدء في عملية تقسيمها البذور الخاصة بك. سوف ميموزا والزهرة Flytraps لا حاجة إليها. يجب عليك الحصول على الإنبات على تلك. وأود أن لا احصل على الآمال مرتفعة جدا على فينوس Flytraps، ومع ذلك، نظرا لأنها لا تملك إلا حوالي 90 يوم على الجدوى بذورها. لكانوا بحاجة إلى أن تكون طازجة إلى حد ما. بذور الميموزا غالبا ما تنبت أفضل عندما يكونون في السن.

بعد ذلك، تبدأ تثقيف نفسك على النباتات آكلة اللحوم. قبل إنفاق المزيد من الأموال على النباتات أو البذور، ومعرفة النباتات. أفضل كتاب على هذا الموضوع هو حاليا "وحشية حديقة" بيتر داماتو. لدينا سلسلة DVD على موقعنا، فإن http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Grow-النبا
آكلة اللحوم-أقراص DVD-s/1826.htm تعطيك الاتجاهات البصرية جدا وعملية مما يساعدك على تجنب مشاكل حتى العديد من مزارعي الجديدة لديها. النباتات آكلة اللحوم هي متنوعة جدا القادمة من العديد من القارات ومناخات مختلفة، لذلك عليك أن تعرف ما تحتاج النباتات الخاصة لتكون ناجحة.

تزايد جيدة!

جيف دالاس
بوقية الشمالية الغربية
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I got a genus fly trap in my house for since January, and it was growing very well, as I hear you saying that carnivorous plants need the cold period for 2 months, and I think that's why my Venus fly trap suddenly stopped growing, traps don't close and everything is just kept as same as it size for this month, so should, I keep it in the fridge like the other plants?, and I got a kit called fascinating botanicals exotic jungle with a greenhouse, it got the Venus fly trap and pitcher plant a part  of the other plant too, and it says on instruction paper keep plants in the greenhouse for the whole year, so I should unfollow that right? And sorry for lots of questions I don't want my plants to die like last time. Thank you

Answer
Hi Yousef,

I'm a bit confused.  Do you currently have actual plants, or just the seed kits?  Let me know.  Also, where you live what is seasonal weather like?  How cold can it get in winter, and what are average high temperatures in summer?  If you could send me a photo of what you have, that would be helpful too.  We actually have a demonstration on our volume #1 DVD on how to rescue plants from those cubes.

I also just wanted to let you know that we try to reserve Allexperts for troubleshooting questions about plants.  We try not to use this format for growing questions since growing information is widely available from our resources and many others.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com