The Pitcher Plant Project

Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for winning  Superbowl 45! Awesome game it was, indeed.  And oh, the commercials — now that was the BEST part! HA! (That Doritos one with dude sucking on the fingertips – genius…)

So, what was I up to Sarracenia wise while watching the big game? I was packing. Seeds. Getting ready for cold damp stratification! YEP!   I finally got around to my big project and truth be told, I am quite behind. See, Sarracenia seeds do need a period of damp and cold in order to break away that waxy surface of their seed shell allowing them to germinate when it’s warm and sunny again.  On a typical year, I’m able to cold stratify and germinate all within the same year, thanks to our freakish mild climate here.  However due to cube farm matters as of late, it was difficult to get to this project in time.

If I had the room, I would be doing all this outdoors in tune with the seasons – stratifying right in the pot and media in the winter so that by the time spring rolls around, they’ll be germinating.  Being that 1.) I don’t have space and 2.) I don’t have the space 3.) I don’t have the space to get all 110+ crosses from last year stratified in that particular manner, I had to somewhat compact it and used those baggies that I mentioned in my other post.

This process can be somewhat labor intensive, but in the end – given my circumstance with space, it’s worth it.

Baggies for Stratifying! Courtesy of my local Beverly’s craft store!

These bags are where the seeds will be in cold damp stratification for the next 4-6 weeks or so.  To keep the Sarracenia seeds viable, I’ve kept them in cold dry storage in the fridge.

This will be my damp stratification media. It’s actually the media I use for planting. I added a little bit of water after this photo to moisten things up a bit. It’s a mix of sand and peat.  I learned from fellow grower, (Hi Mama Lo!) that sand could help scrape that waxy coating of the seeds.

And here  you see one tool that I find quite useful for scooping the media into the bags. I figure a spork would work equally as well.

So I take about half a spoonful of media and get that damp media in there.

Repeat the above for about a hundred times over, and get something that looks like that. Bags are now ready for the seeds!

I pulled the seeds I had in dry cold storage out of the fridge. You know, the ones I referenced to in this post…  that were stored next to the bacon. I’ve gone from the Vans box to the New Balance Box. This is ‘cuz I needed new running shoes and this box was available to hold all the stratification bags. “Strat-bags.” Gawsh, that sounds so nerdy… but heck, it works for me.

The envelopes that contained the seeds are then emptied into the “Strat-Bags”

Here you can see the small Sarracenia seeds (yeah, they’re small…) in the bag with the damp sandy media.

Strat-Bag, packed full of media and seed  is then slid back into the envelope – and remember that the envelope has the cross indicated on it. Helps keep things organized.

And now, here is the completed project. I actually finished up right after the Superbowl.  I covered it with foil, since the lid wouldn’t fit anymore then place the container back into the fridge (next to bacon, of course), and just wait for a few more weeks before I’m able to sow them onto the media. Throughout the course of this cold stratification, I may just take the packets and massage them a bit (if I feel like it) to allow the sand to gently scrape up the seeds a bit.  In the meantime, I’ll clear out another grow area for these bad boys.   Honestly, I think I can fill up a small nursery with all of these seeds in there!  Ah, this Superbowl Superbag Packing Project, good times indeed!   Just next time, I hope it’s the SF 49er’s that I’ll be packing to, hah!

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