Yeah, I know was originally planning on getting a Ceph, but I decided I'd hold off on that for the time being since I have a few trips planned and it would be too easy for someone to water it wrong and kill it (making it either too dry or too wet, watering it with tapwater, etc). So I decided to take my chances on a couple other species, Drosophyllum lusitanicum and Darlingtonia californica - BigBella's assurance that they can be grown in warm areas encouraged me to take the plunge on the cobra lily, and I figured since one species likes it hot and dry, and the other likes it cool and wet, I could get at least one of them to live.
I planted to the dewy pine in a tall 10" pot; the substrate is a basically equal parts sand, vermiculite, perlite, and volcanic rock, with a few handfuls of peat thrown in for kicks. It was being kept on the tray system before I got it, but I'm keeping it much drier to better match the conditions in which it evolved to grow. I water it once a week, following Brokken's technique, and the plant also absorbs moisture from the dew and fog that forms overnight. So far I haven't seen any signs of stress or sulking from the new, drier conditions, and the plant is catching plenty of insects.
I think the Darlingtonia will require a bit more work than the Drosophyllum - at the place where I got it, they know I'm a beginner to CPs and told me this was going to be a bit harder than my other plants, but I said I was up for a challenge. I went shopping for pots and felt every one of them and picked the one that felt the coolest under the baking sun (glazed and pale-colored), then got another larger pot to use as a reservoir for the water. So far this system seems to be working pretty well - though we haven't had any excruciatingly hot days since I got the plant, the roots have been pretty cool on the 80 degree days. Where I have the plant now, it gets direct sunlight from sunrise to about noon, then bright shade after that. These pictures were taken at about 11:45 am, and the soil temperature is still 57°F (14°C), despite having sat out in the sun for several hours already! Though by the end of the day, the soil temp is usually 70-72°F. I read on here that the magic temperature (er, death temperature I guess) is 81°F, is that right?
If these plants do well and my CP self-confidence goes up, I'll finally take the plunge and get a Ceph.
I planted to the dewy pine in a tall 10" pot; the substrate is a basically equal parts sand, vermiculite, perlite, and volcanic rock, with a few handfuls of peat thrown in for kicks. It was being kept on the tray system before I got it, but I'm keeping it much drier to better match the conditions in which it evolved to grow. I water it once a week, following Brokken's technique, and the plant also absorbs moisture from the dew and fog that forms overnight. So far I haven't seen any signs of stress or sulking from the new, drier conditions, and the plant is catching plenty of insects.
I think the Darlingtonia will require a bit more work than the Drosophyllum - at the place where I got it, they know I'm a beginner to CPs and told me this was going to be a bit harder than my other plants, but I said I was up for a challenge. I went shopping for pots and felt every one of them and picked the one that felt the coolest under the baking sun (glazed and pale-colored), then got another larger pot to use as a reservoir for the water. So far this system seems to be working pretty well - though we haven't had any excruciatingly hot days since I got the plant, the roots have been pretty cool on the 80 degree days. Where I have the plant now, it gets direct sunlight from sunrise to about noon, then bright shade after that. These pictures were taken at about 11:45 am, and the soil temperature is still 57°F (14°C), despite having sat out in the sun for several hours already! Though by the end of the day, the soil temp is usually 70-72°F. I read on here that the magic temperature (er, death temperature I guess) is 81°F, is that right?
If these plants do well and my CP self-confidence goes up, I'll finally take the plunge and get a Ceph.