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Cephalotus turning black

Hello, I have a new cephalotus. It was actually quite healthy when I got it. I put it in total shade and it's potted in peat and some kind of inorganic material which I believe is called diatome or something. I noticed that in 3 days, some pitchers are vrown! They were grren a few days ago... erm, do cephalotus pitchers last so short or is there somethg wrong?
 
Hey,
Total shade?? Give it some light. Is it very enclosed? Cephs like to have alot of room, like a greenhouse, large terrarium/growchamber. Don't keep them couped up. Also, I would advise to keep them in a tray, but not standing in water. Cephalotus can be tricky to grow.
Kevin
 
Cephs can be touchy about being disturbed. I sometimes lose pitchers too when dividing or otherwise bothering them.

I keep most Cephs in sphagnum moss with a little coir in tall 2" square pots. I don't put them in water trays. This time of year they're under fluorescent lights with some of my smaller potted orchids. They spend summers outdoors getting dappled light thru mid-afternoon and sun the rest of the day.
 
Please note this has been modified from the original post:

My cephs are about 8 inches from 6-40 watt flourescent bulbs. They get about 15 hours of light a day. Humidity levels are above 70% as the pots are in gallon size ziplock bags.

I use to grow a ceph in a greenhouse window that faced East in high school, and later my first two years of college. This was kept in a pot covered with a clear plastic dome. The plant was protected from direct sunlight by placing it on the lower shelf and which was partialy shaded by the pots above.

I have noticed that my cephalotus grow best when the humidity and light levels are high. I have done this by growing them in partialy sealed containers.

As an example:
I bought two cephalotus plants about 4 months ago. Each was potted in a 4" pot and placed in an open top terrarium. My hopes were that the plants would get enough humidity without having to enclose the terrarium or keep them in sealed containers. However, after 2 weeks, the typical cephalotus began to turn black and die. The other, Giant Form, was not showing the same signs, but has not improved from its initial planting. Taking by previous experience with a covered or sealed growing environment, I placed each in a gallon sized plastic bag and put each in my basement were its a bit cooler. Right now, the Giant Form is putting out a trap that is twice the size of the original traps and the typical form has produced a clump of leaves without traps. If I had not done this, I believe each plant would have died.

During bog visit, I happend to learn that Bio Ohio was going on the same day I was making my trip. Bio Ohio was on my way to the bog so I popped in in hopes to see my college professor and the greenhouse manager. I lucked out and got to spend some time with each. The greenhouse manager told me that he had borrowed an idea of mine. This got my attention as I wasn't sure what he had ment. He mentioned that he had trouble growing cephalotus and noticed that I had been growing mine in a mini terrarium (my covered pot of cephalotus). He has since built a special sealed terrarium with custom lighting for his cephalotus. He told me the plant is doing very well and only needs watering a few times a year. My witness to this discussion is Ozzy as he was there as well and enjoyed a nice mist with the L&B West Greenhouse's new misting system.
 
I think I lost it. I checked on it today and the crown's black. The new leaves are black too. I'm buffled why it died so quickly and suddenly. But I've repotted it and placed it in the sun. I'll see what happens. Sigh.
 
These plants are sensitive to root disturbance. Your profile lists your location in Singapore. These plants grow best with cooling during the night much like highland nepenthes. I am not sure if they can adapt to constant heat and humidity.
 
The biggest problem I ever have with Cephs is mildew, so I don't grow them in enclosed spaces anymore. I'm sure they could do better if conditions were more ideal (meaning more humidity in winter), but I've been able to trade several divisions from the original modest sized Ceph I acquired a couple years ago, so they do well enough.

Maybe it's just the particular clone i have, but I find Cephs tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions and are quite durable, except for the root disturbance issue mentioned above. And even root disturbance isn't always a problem.
 
Oh well, I waited 2 mths for this plant and it lasted 4 days in my care.
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And I'm not even sure what killed it!
 
don't give up on the dead crown. The thick rhizome of the ceph has a tendency of coming back after harsh times. Since you live in a warm and humid place, the ceph may be easier to grow on a windowsill, as the humidty should be fairly decent to support one there. If it is cooped up in a terria, stagnant air can disturb the growth and cause a fungal outbreak, as did happen to a few of mine. If you see the beginning of some blackening or fuzziness, dab those area with some rubbing alcohol.
 
  • #10
Don't give up on it. I know someone here...I think it was RAM, had his ceph die and it came back. Maybe put it in as cool an area as you can keep it moist and see what happens.

Sorry to hear about that...I know that must have been a big blow. You should add that to the "Plant disaster" thread.
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Good luck to you for the return of the plant.

Suzanne
 
  • #11
Do they need to be of a certain size before they'll come back? Mine's pretty small
smile.gif
 
  • #12
they'll come back as long as they have a good root system . my cephalotus i got was pretty small , i once thought that growing them in shade was a good idea becaise they said it would grow faster and bigger and then the plant could then be moved to more light where the pitcher can develop a good coloration . but growing them in dense shade can be a problem as the new growth can get deformed , smaller , and weaker whcih is what happened to my plant , i moved it outdoors where it could get more light and its doing better now , it starting to make new growth points so i can't wait til it starts growing pitchers .
 
  • #13
Hi Goldtrap:

When it is referred as cephalotus growing bigger pitchers in the shade, it was meant partial shade, not total shade. Any plant without proper light will grow deformed and weak leaves no matter how well the temperature and humidity are controlled.

Agustin
 
  • #14
cephalotus88 is right - I had a crown die off and a few months later I was able to get a small offshoot. That unfortunetly died, but that's another story.
 
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