Pinguicula vulgaris seeds

[Jack Meatcher]

This year I've had some success raising P. vulgaris. Presently, I have 12 plants with (mostly) two seed pods per plant. I know the seed is best sown as soon after dehiscing as possible but what do the pods look like when they're ready to dehisc? My P.v. pods currently look like the images on the internet but these don't look "dry" or ready to split open. Any suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jack

[Tristan_He]

Hi Jack, they are not too difficult - when the seed is ripe the pods start to dry out and open up. There is plenty of seed and it's not explosive or anything like that, so fairly easy to harvest.

I kept my Pinguicula seedpots in the fridge this year with much better results as it prevented moss and liverwort growth. I now have 50+ seedlings each of a couple of species. Definitely worth doing if you can.

I've also sown some Pinguicula seed direct into pieces of tufa standing in plastic trays outdoors. This has had a lower success rate but should give a more pleasing effect once the plants establish.

[Jack Meatcher]

Thanks for your reply Tristan. It told me exactly what I needed to know. I did try growing seedlings (from what may have been from vegetative reproduction or surreptitious seed dispersal when I wasn't looking) on damp sphagnum moss and that was quite successful. I think I may have picked that one up from Ian Young.
I think I'll try this year's seed in two batches - some on ericaceous sandy "soil" and some on sphagnum moss.
Once again, many thanks.
Best wishes
Jack

[Tristan_He]

Photo of a nice potful https://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6490.msg422094#msg422094 here, grown in pure sand stood in water, overwintered in the fridge (this is actually P. longifolia).

Those below were sown direct into permanently wet tufa.