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Ceph Dividing Question

When Cephs divide, does the divided plant have an effect to the mother plant like basals on neps? My ceph made a division a few months ago and ever since, the division has been faster while the mother plant has slowed down a bit.
 
Cool, do you have pics of the new stem? Sorry I can't answer your question though...
 
SN852932.jpg


As you can see, it dwarves the other two growth points.
SN852933.jpg
 
growth is good, its when there is no growth that its time for concern...

lil trick, get you some cotton swabs and wipe orchid mix over all exposed surfaces twice a month, there will be some lag but you will see good gains in growth rate after that. I do this untill the traps are large enough to feed directly.

of course ymmv,
Av
 
It's not that they're not growing, it's that they've slowed down, but the division is growing normally. I can see a fist is going to pop up on the left growth point, yet to see anythg from the right growth point, but it still has a pitcher developing. Is it possible that after I started using ice bottles, the cold conditions stimulated winter for them? I've started using them less than two months ago. Plus, I don't want to use orchid mixes, afraid I might mess up.
 
why not just spray?
you meant orchid fertilizer right??
do you fertilize neps too?- when there small
 
When Cephs divide, does the divided plant have an effect to the mother plant like basals on neps? My ceph made a division a few months ago and ever since, the division has been faster while the mother plant has slowed down a bit.

In my experience, I haven't noticed any real difference between the main Cephalotus plant and its offshoot(s) -- that is, in the long run. Often, though, those early shoots do experience a brief growth spurt but it doesn't affect the other plant and doesn't last very long . . .
 
In cephs winter/summer growth is photoperiod based. As long as its growing cape dont worry too much mate. More cephs die from being loved to death then from any other cause

Of couse i would recommend trich but you knew that was coming LOL

Alec, no overspray with cotton swabs, but now once cephs get some size i do root feed in addtion to the pitchers, cephs get 40-60% of their nutrient ions from their roots. Much higher ratio then most Cp's (this is why trich can be of such a benefit in this species)

Av
 
In cephs winter/summer growth is photoperiod based. As long as its growing cape dont worry too much mate.

Av

I changed the photperiod down by an hour less not long ago, but I don't think that's enough, is it?
 
  • #10
I dont know Cape, Ive never kept track of how much change was required.. sorry mate, cant answer that...

but just FYI

....The amount of nutrients obtained from either
prey or from the soil seems to vary substantially.
Sarracenia leucophylla can get 60 times more ions
from the prey than from the soil (Gibson,
1983b). Nepenthes mirabilis gets about 60% of its
N from insect prey, whereas in Cephalotus it is
only 30% (Schulze et al., 1997). In Drosera
rotundifolia about 50% of the total N is of animal
origin (Millett et al., 2003), and in D. hilaris
68% (Anderson and Midgley, 2003). The protocarnivorous
Roridula gorgonias, which needs
symbiotic hemipterans for digestion, even up to
70% of N comes from animals (Anderson and
Midgley, 2003)......


The roots of carnivorous plants
Wolfram Adlassnig1, Marianne Peroutka1, Hans Lambers2 & Irene K. Lichtscheidl1,3
1Institute of Ecology and Conservation Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna,
Austria. 2School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of
Western Australia, Crawley WA 6009, Australia. 3Corresponding author*
Received 30 April 2004. Accepted in revised form 31 August 2004
 
  • #11
why not just spray?
Alec,
Butch mentions overspray but doesn't place much emphasis on it. Seems that most growers who've been around a while have used foliar fertilization to help growth. However most quickly learn that the downsides are large - at least aesthetically and often outweigh the benefits. I remember spraying a tray of VFTs a number of years ago. I ended up with a nasty green gelatinous mess. Once it started - it kept growing - no matter what I did. It was the gift that kept on giving.... The 'things' in CP soil are accustomed to a deprived environment - when they get a burst of nutrients - it's party time!!
Alec, no overspray with cotton swabs, but now once cephs get some size i do root feed in addtion to the pitchers, cephs get 40-60% of their nutrient ions from their roots. Much higher ratio then most Cp's (this is why trich can be of such a benefit in this species)
Butch,
Do you have any special methods to avoid the above nastiness when root feeding?
 
  • #12
Ron, nothing special... i usually keep the concentration rather low (usually around 50ppm) and i only root feed a couple times a year. Maybe its the cephs being so root hungry, maybe its the substrate I use... I dunno, but it has never been an issue with my cephs. As far as I know they are the most root hungry (or at least close to it) of the CP's

but that doesnt mean ppl should lay on the osmocote either...

moderation and patience is key
Butch

edit: one thing that i forgot to mention... with cephs the root uptake is directly related to pitcher intake and light levels... IIRC phosphorous is the controlling factor... Id have to dig to verify that though, been a while

but everything must be in balance for optimum growth
 
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