Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Lotus Seeds Planted
The soil I used is store bought garden soil. Online I saw some people just dug some soil out of their backyard. Unfortunately, my backyard is full of grass. If these seeds fail, on my next attempt, that is what I'll be doing.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Both Lotus Seeds Growing
Next Step
I have 2 buckets. I'm going to fill them with garden soil up until 3 inches from the top. I will then fill it with water. I'm going to let the soil settle overnight and in the morning I will plant the seeds.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sprouting Lotus Seed
Well this morning when I checked on the Lotus seeds, there's a little green sprout coming out. This means in a few days I will have to plant that seed in a bucket.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Update: Lotus
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Update: Lotus, Pitcher, and Venus
I placed the lotus jar and pitcher plant, venus fly trap seed tray on the heating pad and turned it on. There's a safety feature on the heating pad that only allows it to be on for 2 hours. So I had to turn it on several times a day.
So far nothing but I have seen more humidity in the seed tray.
Pitcher Plant
Before I put the seed tray on the heating pad I noticed something that looked like a blade of grass growing out of one of the white pitcher plant compartments. This is the same seed starter that I'm using for my vegetables and flowers that I'm growing. I have noticed weeds growing in those seed trays. However, none of the weeds have looked like a blade of grass. I don't know what the germination of a pitcher plant looks like so I'm going to leave the the "blade of grass" in for now.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Possible Delay In Germination
According to what I read online lotus seeds are suppose to start sprouting within 4 to 5 days. Well it's been 6 days and there's not even a split in the seed yet.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Growing Water Lily Seeds
The colors are
- Pink
- Hot Pink
- Sensation Pink
- Blue
- Yellow
- White
I'm trying to grow them in a rather unconventional method.
I'm using one of my 12 compartment seed trays. I filled each compartment halfway with gardening soil. Then I slowly flooded the compartment with rainwater. I let the soil settle overnight.
I grew 2 seeds of each color, one seed in each compartment. According to the person who I bought the seeds from, it should take 3 to 4 weeks for the seeds to sprout. Since this method is not your typical method it may or may not work but if it does, it is easier for me. We'll see how things go 3 to 4 weeks from now.
Update: Lotus seeds
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Growing Lotus Seeds
Lotus seeds needs to be scarified in order to germinate. Online I found 2 methods. One is to use a knife and cut a slit until you see the white parts. Another is to file the outer coating until the white part shows. I tried the filing method, I gave up after an hour. Cutting a slit is tough but much easier than filing down. (In nature lotus seeds spend 50 to 100 years at the bottom of a pond before they germinate. You can see how tough that coat is)
To get the seeds to germinate you're suppose to soak the seeds in distilled or rain water. I put the seeds in a jar and covered them with rain water that I collected. Place the seeds in a warm location and change the water every few hours when it gets cloudy.
It's only been a few hours since I started the seeds but I have noticed something. From what I read online the outside coating gets lumpy due to water absorption. That happens after a few days. The one that I filed down is already lumpy. We'll see if that speeds it up in a few days.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher Plants
These are the requirements I found online:
- Use nutrient lacking soil such. I'm using peat moss.
- Use only distilled or rain water. I placed a large trash can on the corner of my house and caught the rain.
- Keep the area humid and warm. I'll be using a plastic dome which will serve as a greenhouse over the seed tray.
I have these 12 compartment seed trays. Online I bought 50 Purple Pitcher Plant seeds, 10 white pitcher plant seeds, and 10 Venus fly trap seeds.
Here's how I planted the seeds:
- I filled the seed tray with seed starter.
- Using a water sprayer filled with rain water, spray the soil until top appears soaked.
- Slow pour rain water into each compartment. Keep pouring until water is dripping out of the bottom holes.
- Plant the seeds. I'm planting 6 Purple pitcher plant seeds, 3 white pitcher plant, and 3 venus fly traps. Gently push the seeds in, but don't worry about covering them.
- Cover them with the dome and place in a spot with a lot of sun light
According to the research I did online, it could take anywhere from 14 days to a few months for the seeds to sprout. I'll post when they sprout.