International Carnivorous Plant Society
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter Archive
Germinating Nepenthes seed: Putting myths to rest
Mason McNair and Jeremiah Harris
Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 44(2):80-81
Published 21 May 2015
https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn442.mm333
Summary
The Internet is full of personal accounts and guides on how to grow Nepenthes from seed. However, there is a plethora of misinformation available. Many of these myths involve the treatment of Nepenthes seeds before they are sown. In particular, whether they require a dark period in order to induce germination. A period of darkness after being sown has been shown to increase germination in other genera of plants such as Cyclamen, but there has been no conclusive study whether Nepenthes require a dark period to germinate. Others swear that treating seeds with gibberellic acid (GA3) can aid in the germination of Nepenthes seed. Again, no conclusive study has been published on this claim. The final claim is that sowing seeds and putting the pot on top of a heat mat will increase germination. Again, no study has been published legitimizing this claim. This study is an attempt to put many of these myths to rest. We hypothesize that none of the treatments will yield better results than the control treatment.
Keywords: cultivation; Nepenthes Rokko, veitchii; seed, gibberellic acid, heat mat, dark period, GA3
Article Citation
Mason McNair and Jeremiah Harris. 2015. Germinating Nepenthes seed: Putting myths to rest. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 44(2):80-81. https://doi.org/10.55360/cpn442.mm333
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