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  • #61
[b said:
Quote[/b] (droseradude @ June 24 2006,3:18)]I have a soil question.
Where can i get silica sand/sand that is appropriate for cps? I've looked everywhere but can't find it...

and If I can't, could I substitute perlite for cephalotus?
In addition to the other suggestions about where to get sand that is almost pure silica (rather than sandbox "play sand" or river or ocean sand, all of which contain other types of ground rock and minerals that can easily harm or kill carnivorous plants), the sand mined and sold for sandblasting ("blasting sand") is silica sand. I bought mine at a local home and building materials center. It comes in several grades. I bought #2, coarse.

My own cephalotus (now a small colony) is planted in 1 part sphagnum peat moss to 2 parts silica sand in a fairly deep (about 8 inch wide by 6.5 inch deep) insulated foam pot, and his been growing very well, despite our very low humidity in eastern New Mexico, US. I take care to keep the crown dry, and I keep the medium drier than the sarracenias and sundews. Like others have said, and although I don't have a lot of experience with this plant, my feeling is that cephalotus likes to be planted in good air circulation above the rim of the pot (by mounding the soil or at least leveling the soil with the container rim) rather than sunk into the pot where the air can get a bit stale or stagnant. The extra sand in the medium I use helps to keep it from staying too wet too long.

Since I started this thread with a photo of my cephs at that time, I'll post a few followup photos of my cephs in a day or two. WildBill's suggestion to feed them Betta BioGold fish food has worked wonderfully. My cephalotus seem to love it and have grown very vigorously.

Cephs really are strange little plants, but very beautiful and interesting.
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Steve / xscd
 
  • #62
I hate to take photos at night in artificial lighting, but here's a Friday the 13th, Halloween season photo of my cephalotus. It has grown a lot since the photo I posted with the message that started this long and interesting discussion thread.
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halloween-ceph.jpg
 
  • #63
Steve, what a beautiful picture! I offer contrast.... a leaf sprout in a mounded soft drink cup:

IMG_4309.jpg
 
  • #64
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Oct. 14 2006,8:19)]Steve, what a beautiful picture! I offer contrast.... a leaf sprout in a mounded soft drink cup:

Thanks for the compliment Jim. It's October and was Friday the 13th, so I just had to take and post a "seasonal" photo.
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For some reason my cephalotus has only produced a few of those "flag" type leaves this season, and they have been very small. Instead, it has concentrated on pitchers. I have read that the early non-pitcher leaves may be designed for maximum photosynthesis as the plant begins growing again and needing nutrition. But our bright high-altitude sun in New Mexico (and rarely cloudy sky) might make those early more standard-looking leaves less necessary--I don't know. Then again, maybe next year this plant will act differently.
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Here are a couple more photos taken today (Oct. 14, 2006) of my single pot of cephs (today is one of those rare heavily overcast days in New Mexico, which is responsible for the subdued lighting in the photos), and then I'll refrain at least for a while from adding such bulk (filesize and downloading time) to this discussion thread.
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cephalotus-folicularis_10-2006_a.jpg


cephalotus-folicularis_10-2006_b.jpg
 
  • #65
Steve, that purple background (where the words are) brings out the colour of your cephalotus. Very cool!
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