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Watering your Cephs?

juliethegr8t

Instant Addict
Yesterday I got my birthday present from a friend, an itsy bitsy baby Ceph. :) He knew I wanted one but was too scared to try an expensive, mature plant, so mine is about quarter-sized. I have done a lot of research on how to care for them, but the one thing I am still unsure about is watering. Everyone seems to have a different method, so I'm curious what everyone here does for theirs? Do you water overhead, and let the pot sit in any remainder; occasionally sit the plant in standing water; tray method; etc? I would love to hear any methods and what kind of success you've seen with them. Thanks so much!
 
I let the soil get a little bit damp by watering over head, then letting the remainder flood into the plate, then once I feel the top of the soil is dry I water again. Seems to work well for me so far.

Of course, it's best not to listen to me.
 
I am no ceph expert....as I just started as well...but I think it also depends on the media being used. I use pure LFS and I think there is a lot of live LFS in mine. I water once in 3 days. I use both top and tray watering. I first wet the top moss nicely to wetness (more than just damp). Then pour little by little in the tray, watch it seep into the moss. Then basically, I pour a whole lot so that there is like a cm of water level in the tray. and then thats it....I don't water till like 3 days later. It also has to do with size of plant. I know av8tor was saying that if the plant is big...u shouldn't top water at all.
 
Keep in a tray of water. Once it's all gone, leave it for 3 or 4 days and then refill.

Mine's in a tray of water permanently, but some people advocate letting the tray dry out before waterings.
 
When the plant gets more mature you will want to stay away from watering overhead, as horror stories yield crown rot from water that gets trapped on the plant (or just be very careful and intentional about where the water goes).

Keep in a tray of water. Once it's all gone, leave it for 3 or 4 days and then refill.

That's what I do.

xvart.
 
Julie you have a nice friend.
Do you visit them often? Honolulu, HI would be a great place to visit.

Now I understand the different shipping address. LOL
Glad the plant made it there ok.

Many people have different was of watering that work for them. I can tell you my way, which may or may not work for you as there are many varialbes which can come into play.

I do not use the tray method for my cephs. They are potted in pots which have a small saucer attached to the bottom of the pot. I water twice a week and dump any excess water that may collect in the saucer.
I have also heard of stories about crown rot, but may also depend on how humid an environment you grow them in. I do not grow mine in a very humid environment, and I top water. When I do it gets all over the crowns of the plant. There is no other way around it for my cephs. Here's a picture and you can see why......

cephsplit1.jpg


This is the mother plant of your little one.
 
man!!! how the hell can u grow all ur plants liek that?? lol! its insane. :D .. BTW...hold old is that ?? :p
 
And to add even more contrast, I keep mine in a tall, plastic drinking cup and water 2-3 times a week, from above, but from the sides, so that I don't get any water on the crown.
 
Congratulations Julie! You are on your way to getting a nice collection of CPs!

I cant offer much help because I havent had my Ceph for long at all but I water mine from the bottom.

So here is another question, should you mist Cephs at all? I have heard yes and I have heard no, so what do you experts think?

Victoria
 
  • #10
I'm no expert but I don't mist anything except when I fertilize. Why mist? It just evaporates and doesn't do that much for RH in the big picture.
 
  • #11
Yeah, misting is quite overrated. It only raises the relative humidity for a few minutes, and then it's back to normal. But, if it's something you like to do as part of enjoying your plants, a relaxing part of your daily routine, or makes you feel better then go right ahead.

xvart.
 
  • #12
I water mine by misting nightly during fall, winter, spring and every other night or third night in the summer to let it dry out more. My ceph is in a plastic terrarium so I can see how wet the soil ( 2 parts perlite / 1 part peat ) is, if it starts to look dry I top water so there is about an inck of water at the bottem and let this evaporate. I bought it four years ago as a tiny baby and I now have 5 growing points. But, like everyone else here says: this may not work best for you.
 
  • #13
Sorry I've got better things to do than stand there misting mine. I dump the water on and let it drain through. Occasionally wash the sand off the growth point. Otherwise I ignore it. I now have three growth points from the one I started with last year. Plus a small plant from a leaf cutting I took last year. I think elgecko is right about the humidity you grow them in being a factor in getting mold on plants. My humidity is about 30% most of the time and in all the time I've grown CPs, I have only one plant that I have had mold problems with and it is a Utric.

Mine started as an itsy bitsy plant from Steve, too!
 
  • #14
I keep mine in a drained pot with a saucer. I wait for the saucer to dry out them water overhead until the saucer has about 1/4-1/6 of an inch of water in it. I also mist semi-consistently every night.
 
  • #15
man!!! how the hell can u grow all ur plants liek that?? lol! its insane. :D .. BTW...hold old is that ?? :p

That's an old picture of the plant. The time I took that picture the plant was around 2 and a half to three years old.
 
  • #16
wow!! wicked man! its just staggering. :D
 
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