Nepenthes germination

From: Steve Alton (S.Alton@rbgkew.org.uk)
Date: Mon Nov 29 1999 - 03:23:16 PST 

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 11:23:16 -0000
From: "Steve Alton" <S.Alton@rbgkew.org.uk>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg4017$foo@default>
Subject: Nepenthes germination

Hi, folks,

Thanks to the generousity of Jos Franken, I was able to set up a
small germination trial using N. madagascariensis seed in some of
our controlled-environment incubators.

I didn't want to blow all my precious Nep seed in the cause of
science, so the trial was very small-scale ie. not statistically
significant, but the results may be of interest.

The full story can be found at
http://hometown.aol.com/stevedalton/myhomepage/nepgerm.html

For those of you who haven't got the time to look, here's a
summary:

Gibberellic acid has a major effect on germination - faster and
higher percentage.

A constant 31C gave better results than a regime of 26C day/16C
night.

So there you go - no big surprises, but nice to show it in a quasi-
scientific way! And I'm having surprising success weaning Nep
seedlings off agar into compost, so I should have plants up for
grabs next year.

Good growing (and germinating),

Steve

Steve Alton
UK Co-ordinator - Millennium Seed Bank
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Wakehurst Place
Tel: 01444 894079
Fax: 01444 894069

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