Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 10/9/2010

Question
I won some Cephalotus Eden Black seeds overseas in the UK. The icps seedbank recommends stratifying them for 8 weeks. Also it says that they did an experiment, some seeds with and some seeds without stratification. In the end the seeds with stratification had 9 seeds that germinated. The ones that didnt have stratification had 8 germinated seeds. Not really conclusive. I have germinated seeds before but with limited success, and I dont know what to do when I get them. What do you think I should do? I appreciate your always thoughtful answers. :)

Answer
You're absolutely right.  There is no definitive set of instructions for these seeds.  It's similar for flytrap and Darlingtonia seeds.  Some growers say they should be stratified.  Others say you can germinate them without statification and still have a good germination rate.  

We've done both, and we've had similar germination rate with stratified and unstratified Cephalotus seeds.  However, at least in our climate and growing conditions, the unstratified seeds took 6 months to germinate.  The stratified seeds germinated within 1 month after 2 months of stratification.  Based on this, I now stratify my Cephalotus seeds.  Besides the quicker germination, I simply don't want to be in a position where the seeds don't germinate and I'm wishing I had stratified them.  (We nearly threw out the unstratified seeds after 4 months, but we decided to give them a full six months.  Good thing we did!)

There might be growing conditions that contribute to quick germination of unstratified seeds, but I simply don't know what they are at this time.  Until I have more experience with germinating Cephalotus seeds without stratification, I can only recommend stratifying them.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin