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THE HEART OF A CEPH: Repot of my small darling

vraev

Carnivorous plant enthusiast
Admin
Dear respected CP growers, a new generation of nature lovers,

I did it. I finally did it. I guess its an apt time to say "I had the guts to repot my ceph". I have seen my heart in front of me. Well, half of it...the rest of my heart is in my rajah. I have never been soo nervous before...the only other instance was when I met Rick HIller in Boston Pizza with his family where they showed me my KING. However, I kept it cool...and with a missing heart in my chest, I took out half of my heart in the ceph's crown, glanced it and put it in a new mix.

Enough with the cheap try at poetic impressionism. Here is the run through:

- I went back home, got myself 3 cups of perlite and 1 cup of peat.
- After coming back here, I opened my new bag of Orchid bark. Intererstingly, it was actually damp inside the bag. That worried me if the bark has been wet with REGULAR water at the processing. However, I moved on. I couldn't stop....it was now or never.
- This is it gents: the mix. As you can see.... its insanely airy. I have never made a mix with soo little peat. Its like 45% bark, 40% perlite, 15% peat. [PIC1]
- I then carefully opened the trich box and took 2 spoon TIPS (the rear end) and put it in the bag with the mix.
- Then, water with distilled water.
- MIX MIX MIX . Half way through...AHHH! the hell with the plastic bag, I don't care if this is bacillus, I go in bare handed.
- Well, here is my sweet heart. As you can see...its looking on a great recovery... see the new growth. That is just since 2 days ago. New pitcher buds. It looks like it was finally back on track when I am doing this. :( [PIC2]
- Well, the most careful unpotting ever. Carefully removed the moss. Then, I come to the heart, I can see the WHITE corm and A woody stem. [PIC3]
- ONE THING is for sure, MY CEPH has A WICKED corm. The corm was soooo freaking healthy. Its insane. However, there was the dead part on the side..from the main plant when i got it. (remember the dead growth point??I burnt the growth tip)
- I tried cutting of the dead part...but I was very very very afraid. So I only cut a small part. there is still more of the dead part. But I didn't remove it. I couldn't do it.
-Then, the other shocking thing.. Contrary of most advice, I wanted to take off as much of the moss as I could. I especially took apart the moss stuck to the roots. MANY OF THE SMALL ROOTS SNAPPED OFF :( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
- Well, with the missing heart, I was able to carry on and I put it in the new pot, I carefully filled its sides and carefully let it go, once the new medium JUST SUPPORTED the plant. [PIC4]
- You should see this mix...its insane. the water was actually draining even 10 min later. SO even little water will never be causing any problems. [PIC5]
- I then mixed 3 PLASTIC KNIFE tips of trich in my water bottle, and SHOWER SHOWERSHOWERSHOWER. I drenched the ceph from top all over the crown. ALL over the pitchers...some might even go inside the pitchers. [PIC6]
- SHOWER SHOWER SHOWER SHOWER
- Well..pics snapping.
- with a big sigh of relief and hope of a recovery, I started with this post.


continued....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
lol! andrew, I hate the limit of 10 images in a post...but well...I guess its your choice. ;)

continued:

So here are the pics:[/color]


1) THE MIX
1430029594_19b2d14677.jpg


2) Before repotting: Notice the new growth : 3 NEW BABY pitcher buds.
1429154285_dbc411662f.jpg


3) The half of my heart in my hands. Sorry for blurriness. I couldn't afford to care too much about the pic
1429154347_c1856580b8.jpg


4) the new home. ACtually all this water is gone as I am typing. Now there might be a new problem. NO WATER retention at all. :'( :'( :'(
1430029974_38a1c364f6.jpg


5) Look at the drianage...this is even that little water I used to prepare the mix
1429154751_988612dfd7.jpg


6) My magic water
1430030036_e969525265.jpg



FINALE:

Comparision between homes:

1430029816_63a38f5100.jpg
1430029886_c9a02c1d38.jpg


Problems:
1) I might have cut off tooo many roots
2) I might have made the mix TOOOOO AIRY
3) I am scared
4) I am scared
5) I did not center the plant properly...but did not want to disturb it too much
6) Hope that it continues growth. :(
7) Hope the trich is good and alive and at work

thanks for tuning in,

varun


HIGH RES PICS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vraev/sets/72157602135291605/
 
You just repotted it, calm down.

I know Cephalotus are sensitive, but it's just repotting.

Just my opinion.

-Ben
 
lol! *gulp* I guess. :p

well....its done. I guess all I need to do now is wait.
 
Ah you'll be fine, I repotted mine and it took right off!
 
well....if anything...this should be an ideal mix for it. Hope it does take off as well. :)
 
I agree with Ben: calm down and relax. People baby their plants waaaay to much.

lol! andrew, I hate the limit of 10 images in a post...but well...I guess its your choice. ;)

Why does it matter? You only posted 8 pictures!

xvart.
 
People baby their plants waaaay to much.
Agreed. I don't know why you worry about everything. If you had something like a rafflesia (which IIRC there aren't any in cultivation), I would understand, but sheesh! As someone said in a diff thread, its not fun if you sit there and worry nonstop. In my experience, babied plants don't even look very good.
 
lol! it actually counts the smilies as well. ;) So the first post has like 3-4 pics and the second around 10 as well

DUde...I am not sitting here worried.. I am actually sitting here smiling and excited about HALO 3. lol! freakin 9.8 score on gametrailers.com. AMAZING GAME! Too bad I don't have a 360..but thats the first game I will get when I do get it ;)

I'm calm about the ceph npw. its done...there's nothing I can do anyways...but eyah...I was worried when I was writing the post. :p
 
  • #10
Wait, we can't say balls?


It's a plant that doesn't like to be disturbed, but it's not a live bomb dude. You should try some Chamomile tea or something.
 
  • #11
It's a plant that doesn't like to be disturbed, but it's not a live bomb dude. You should try some Chamomile tea or something.
AS JLAP noted, Cephs don't like to be disturbed. With my leaf cuttings, I've had a 100% strike rate. However, I've been losing about 1/3 of those that I move from propagation media to their final pots. Once their older, the odds get better but in general, they like to be left alone.

The other recommendation is to listen to what your plants are telling you. You noted in your post that you have 3 now shoots coming out. The plant is happy. It's growing well. It wants to be left alone and put on new growth.

Obviously this is all water over the dam but if you want to improve your growing skills, you need to slow down and listen to your plants...

Good luck.
 
  • #12
lol! well....that was the entire discussion before this. I decided based on the others opinions from here that the media in general is not very good at all. Also, the ceph is root bound. I read from other ceph pros like av8tor that its better to repot it, use some trich and then leave it alone for a long while. Even xvart suggested this. Based on all the issues i have been having so far, with apparent INK spot fungus, early pitcher death and so on, I decided to go for it.

No regrets though. Based on all I have read about the plant, this is a definately better mix and better condition for the plant.

so well, yeah...now it is going to be left alone for sure..atleast for a couple of years.
 
  • #13
i repotted mine with 0 difficulty. the plant didnt even go into shock.

Alex
 
  • #14
lol! well....I have a habit of freaking out for the rare plants that i have. I repotted the VFT seedling that was growing with the ceph with the most shocking thoroughness ever. lol! pulled away the sphag....tipping the plant here and there...trying to take part all the moss...then just pushed it into soil of one of my other vft's. lol! See....I don't freak out for all my plants. :p lol!

well...in either case, I think its ok... I know that normally if plants don't like it...they show signs in just hours. So far it looks exactly as it was before and well....I'll keep u guys posted on the progress. :)
 
  • #15
Next time you repot it, just use the same media (well, NEW media but same ratio/ingredients I mean) and bury the current pot into a larger pot. Then take it out, gently flip it upside down, tap it and it should come out in one piece. Ease it into the new hole and it should be a perfect fit with no root disturbance.

Do so at your own risk of course. Could end up with media everywhere if you aren't good at it :) It's the best way to repot Cephalotus, IMO. Since you're using the old media and just adding it to the new media, that's why lots of inorganic material is preferable.
 
  • #16
what i did(similar to clints method) was take the pot its already in(in my case a plastic cup with holes in the bottom) cut out the bottom and cut down the cup lengthwise 4 on opposite sides. take the bottom part off. slide the whole thing into a premade depression in the new pot. and just lift the 4 sides out. viola! now you just pack the soil in and its ready to start another journey!

Alex
 
  • #17
Alex, the reason he was repotting was because his soil mixture wasn't not ideal for an established plant. It was holding too much water (100% sphag) after the cutting had sprouted. Otherwise, that is a good method for transplanting a ceph if you are overly concerned about root disturbance; however, I wouldn't do this every time as you would want some "fresh" media every couple years.

xvart.
 
  • #18
I just repotted mine about mid August. It's pitchers were all gone cause the soil had broken down from two years of use! It had no problem reestablishing itself. It now has like 8 new pitchers. ;)
 
  • #19
yeah...It is going to be really interesting to see the antics of this plant after this experience. well, I guess its a learning opportunity. ;) BTW...yeah.... I just slid the plant out of the old pot by the edges and GOT THE entire media ball + plant from which I carefully whisked the media away cutting inwards with each swoop.
 
  • #20
Hey vraev, I think you repotted our Cephs on the same day!

Mine was heart-in-the-throat!! The leaves and pitchers of my new Cephs became limp when potted into my leca/peat mix. I tested the water from washing the leca last night and it was like 330ppm!!! My tap water is only 74ppm. I repotted 3 Cephs and flushed another 2 pots with distilled water. I only have enough distilled water for flushing 2 pots. This morning, the leaves and pitchers firmed up with the plants in their new media of perlite/peat. PHEW!!!

But I did lose one really really large Ceph which is down to two stumps. I broke it into two and they will become cuttings instead.

I know I must be mad. :crazy:
 
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