I’ve been experimenting more with the camera and lighting – I think these are better than last weeks pictures.

1. Coleus’ – Pictures starting with the Black Dragons.  I’m going to replant these today.

2. Polka Dots – not growing as fast as the Coleus’.

and look, 100% Polka Dot germination rate using the old fashioned way. What you can’t see in this pictures is that the Hens & Chicks and Cacti have also sprouted.

3. Birds-of-Paradise – a single leaf.

4. Finally, whats left of the VFT flowers.  If pollinated correctly (fingers crossed), once they dry out completely I should find seeds.

1. Polka Dots – I’ve replanted these to larger pots. Still disappointed at the germination rate so I planted a fresh batch my way.  Will update you on that later.

2. Coleus’ were also repotted and spread around.  Planted a new batch of Black Dragons and mixed variety.

Black Dragons – Notice that the entire leaves are a solid color.

3. Cactii – two sprouted.

4. Birds-of-Paradise – One sprouted.

Will update next week on the newly planted seeds.

1. VFT

I’m starting with the fly traps today.. why? it flowered!

2. Seedlings

I’d just like to reiterate – I don’t like the germination rates from this kit.  Maybe thats because I’m not using their peat pellets, but still.. not impressive.

The Polka Dots have developed nice colors.  I can see pink, white(ish) and red.

Coleus – these are growing nicely as well.  The Black Dragons are showing some nice color, the Giants are still tiny.

Stevia Sugar Plant – a couple of these have sprouted nicely!

I planted some of the cactii seeds I bought from Amsterdam.  No updates on these, the Bird of Paradise, or the Sundews.  It’s too early for all as the germination period is long.

3. Coleus (Batch B)

These have grown nicely, and I had a very good germination rate using the old-school method (tupperware and transparent film).  I have replanted some and taken them to work and others I spread around the house.  I got some nice looking pots from Daiso.

4. Coleus (Batch A) – Loving the sun.

5. Various small plants – I bought these from Amsterdam.  Its basically a small pot with tiny seeds and a peat-pellet. These have sprouted and are very cute. They include Strawberrys, Forget-me-nots, and two others that I can’t remember off-the-top-of-my-head.

and finally, I bought a new car!

Coleus (Batch B) – Growing nicely, showing some very nice colors! Gotten too big for the germination trays so I will replant the big ones today and take some to work.

Batch B

The remainder of the batch is also growing nicely now:

Coleus (Batch A): The few that I managed to grow in the first batch dating more than 6 months ago have been going through the hardening process. I’ve removed them from under the plant light and placed them near an east-facing window.  They’re doing well. Notice the jolly green giant in the second picture.

New seedlings – These are also growing nicely, especially the Polka Dot plants and the Stevia Sugar Plants.  This growing kit claims excellent germination rates but they’re not great.  I could have probably done the same or better in my home made solution (tupperware and see-through wrap).  Notice the Polka Dots starting to take shape and a pinkish color:

Closer look at the Stevia and the Polka Dots:

And a closer look at the Black Dragon Coleus and Giant Coleus:

Still too early for the Birds of Paradise to germinate. Nothing from the Sundews yet either.

Venus Fly Traps – Not doing so well. I think the weather is too hot! but check out how long this flower stalk has become – insane.

And that wraps up the Friday update. I have some new things brewing, namely the little pots I bought from Amsterdam. Will post their progress shortly.

Got back from Amsterdam last night.  It’s a wonderful city.  My conference went well and I spent the last two days walking around.  Luckily, I ended up at the Floating Flowermarket.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.  Here are some photos but please forgive the quality as these were all taken with my phone.

What I didn’t expect from that visit was this: a shop FULL of carnivorous plants.  For the first time I got see all the carnivorous plants first hand.  They looked big, colorful and healthy.  This included Venus Fly Traps (Dionaea muscipula), Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Sarracenia), Sundews (Drosera). Check out the last 7 pictures of the gallery above.

I bought a few Amaryllis bulbs, VFT seeds, mixed cacti seeds and Lotus plant seeds.  Should be interesting! I will post more about that soon.

1. The Stevia (Sugar Plant) have sprouted (left of the picture above).

2. The Polka Dots have grown about an inch since last week as can be seen from the picture below.

3. Coleus (Black Dragon) have finally sprouted (below).  Nothing from the Giant collection yet.

4. Coleus (Batch B) Update

5. Venus Fly Traps – not much to say here except the one is very close to flowering. Check out the long flower stalk.

Thats it for this Friday! I’ll be in Amsterdam next Friday for a conference, but I’ll update the blog once I’m back.  I’ll see if I find new flower seeds to grow during our “winter”.

Compare it to its brother (purchased the same day) who’s been exposed to the same conditions:

Notice the flower stem in the middle.  It grows much taller than the other leaves to attract insects which will pollinate it.  I’m letting this one flower to harvest the seeds.

If you enlarge the picture above (the prominent fully green coleus), you will notice the lower branches all consisted of a single leaf.  Now that I snipped the top leaves before they fully grew I have two new branches consisting of two leaves each.  Interesting.

1. New seedling updates

I planted fresh seeds of several types of plants on the 9th (5 days ago) and the Polka Dots have already sprouted!

This is what they should look like fully grown:

Nothing else to report on this front.  Yet to see some progress from the Sundews, Coleus’ and Sugar plants.  Will sow the Birds of Paradise today having been soaked in water for 5 days.

2. Coleus – Batch B update

Must have misplaced my Sharpie, so my finger will have to do.  Growing very nicely under my plant lights.

This batch has some yellow in it, besides the typical red/maroon.  I’m hoping my new batch (not locally bought) will show different colors.

Again, compared to some of their peers some are still lagging behind in growth.

3. Venus Fly Traps

Growing nicely and flowering.  I have two flowering simultaneously so I may leave them and then cross pollinate and plant the seeds.  I’m dooming the plants by letting them flower but it’s all for the sake of learning and experimenting.

The flower stalk is the long one in the middle (pictured above).

That wraps it up.  My yellow sunflower has a brand new flower but I didn’t take pictures yet and its too hot at the moment!

I’ll leave you with a fun quote – “I used to play sports.  Then I found out you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything”.