Expert: Christopher Littrell - 11/4/2008

Question
Hello,
I want to sow sarracenia seeds in the fridge, but do they need any light in the fridge? and how long should i leave them in there? and is it better to put them in a plastic bag filled with sphagnum or should i put them in pots in plastic bags?
Thanks

Answer
Hello Adam,

It sounds like you are describing stratification, however; that is not the method used to grow Sarracenias, only to get the seeds ready for spring, so they will not need light at that time. Stratification is keeping seeds in a cold, moist environment for a couple months so that their tough seed coats break down and growth inhibiting hormones are depleted. Many North American plants drop such tough seeds so that they will have a complete season after winter to grow. They simply will not grow well until such weather has weakened their seed coats for them.

Best bet would be to use one or more 4 inch pots and to sprinkle the seeds on the surface of the moss lightly to give the tiny seedlings room to grow. You can use bags over the pots to cut down on evaporation, however; they will not need additional humidity when you are ready to grow them unless you live in an extremely arid region. The refrigerator can be used, however; mold will be an ever present problem due to no ultraviolet light and no air flow.

The way I stratified my Sarracenias was in 4 inch uncovered pots in an ice chest with frozen bottles of water around the pots. The temperature got down to 40 degrees at night with the chest closed and about 50 degrees by day with it open in a window. The reason I opened it in a window was not for the seeds to get light, but to increase airflow and to allow the surface of the moss to get some ultraviolet light to kill fungus. You will need to keep the moss and seeds moist and cold at all times for up to 8 weeks at least. Once that time has passed you can begin to warm them up and give them a good south window or about 12000 lumens of florescent cool white light about 4 inches from the pots. You should see tiny sprouts in about 2 weeks after warming them up, however; they can sprout up to half a year or longer after initial stratification. If you get 50-70 percent to sprout you are doing well. Mind that you will need to do a bit of extra work opening and closing the chest and replacing the water bottles every 12 hours, but that method reduces the chances of mold and bird attacks (if you were to stratify them outside in winter) on your seeds to almost nil.

It will take the seedlings up to 4-5 years to grow to adult size. You can forego one dormancy in the first year and just keep the seedlings warm under 12000 lumens of florescent light for 16 hours a day all year to give them some additional growing time. I have a Sarracenia hybrid seedling derived from S. purpurea that is almost two years old that has grown big enough to place in a 5 inch pot alone... it is about 5 inches across now (I set it up to grow year round for the first year). I am preparing it for dormancy this year.

Just follow the schedule for stratification and your seeds will be fine.

Christopher