sowing D.capensis

Nexus User elliott (elliott@nexus.edu.au)
Wed, 27 Sep 1995 12:20:20 +0930

>I am about to be the father of some D. Capensis seedlings soon. From
>what I've read, it seems like I will be getting MANY seeds ( I don't
>know if people were exaggerating just a little...) , but if that
>happens, how do I keep some until I am ready to plant them? SHould I
>pop them into the refridgerator and spray them with some fungicide or
>just leave them in a cool dry place?
>
>For those that I plant, Why can't I bury the seeds under a millimeter
>of soil like other seeds? I've read that all I should do is sprinkle
>the seeds on top of the soil and that's it!!

Dio,

Iv'e been growing D_capensis for a long while, and in my experiences,
they produce *thousands* of seeds! If you aren't too careful, and don't
gather the seeds as soon as they are read, you will soon find hundreds
coming up in your other CP pots. I just finished my re-potting over
here in Australia, ( Here the CP season is just beggining!) and in the
process removed many D_capensis that had emerged in other pots.

Anyway, if you want to store them, place them in a paper envelope, and
place them on the bottom of you refrigerator until spring. When
planting them up I never use fungicide, and I scatter the over the
surface of the mix without covering them. You should have a high
germination rate anyway with D_capensis.

All,

Just an important tip to keep in mind when you are repotting S_purpurea
species. Don't tip the plant upside down! I had a shower of smelly
half digested insects cascade all over my new jeans, and I wasn't too
impressed. I better sign off now,

cya

Russell Elliott

elliott@nexus.edu.au