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Ceph humidity issue

  • #21
v,

ilbasso is spot on, you can love em to death before you know it... and don't focus your methods based upon a lid opening or closing, when she is ready that will happen on its own mate,

get some weak orchid mix and wipe the foliage down with cotton swabs every couple weeks... you will get the growth spurt youre looking for

av
 
  • #22
I guess I should leave it as it is now? I mean I understand about "let it do its thing"....but I better make sure that its right before I let it do its thing. so far..it was growing under this kind of heat for the past month. it was fine. It showed that progress as I posted in the earlier thread. I guess i might as well...let it do its thing.

thanks,

varun
 
  • #23
believe me, I know its hard but patience young one ;)

I like 68-72f / 60%RH /deep pot/ airy coco fiber mix/ tray watering/ biweekly feeding/ monthly trichoderma/ 18/6 photo period

after that it is pretty much on auto-pilot
 
  • #24
hmm....my growing conditions are like 65 - 85 F / 40 - 50% RH/ chilean sphagnum / well..top (only medium top...not on top of plant) watering / 18 hr photoperiod.
 
  • #25
while it is young you can top water without much concern, but once big clumps of traps have formed botrytis will form under the clumps if you are not careful, so at that point I like to tray water and only top water periodically, and then I make sure a fan is on... typically I use top watering to apply the monthly trichoderma drench

hang on Ill post a pic of what im warning you about

sickceph.jpg


look under the clump and you will see botrytis growing, this was not visible without the flash picture...

treated with trichoderma and the plant fully recovered and has at least doubled or tripled in size
 
  • #26
Take the cover off. Once you grow it in a cover you will experience a mass die off of 80% of all pitchers once it gets used to that cover. Bad idea right? I grow mine in peat + perlite and a top layer of live sphagnum and I just mist the moss and never the ceph. Everything grows although the moss usually overruns the ceph and has to be trimmed down every few months.
 
  • #27
aaah....good to know av. :) thanks! I will keep that in mind. :) i hope that my ceph goes to that size. :)

yup! the cover is off for good. Now, I'm gonna wait and see if it has suffered any shock my all my messing around. :(
 
  • #28
av, and the other guys that helped me, :D

The pitcher hasn't closed so far. So I am guessing the plant is fine. Probably was just a bit uncomfortable with all my meddling yesterday. But it seems ok. :D

Thanks guys,

vraev
 
  • #29
I guess it has already acclaimatised to the low humidity till now. I mean for all this time...the plant was open like that. I am just trying the dome becos i don't want it to loose these new pitchers due to low humidity. :(

but watch this:

this guy says high humidity is required:

http://buckeyecarnivores.com/cephalotus_follicularis.html

also this site;

http://www.aqph26.dsl.pipex.com/cephalotusfollin.html

they say its good for optimum growth.

mine grow in 40% humidity also...the lids dont open up to the extreme in the links. but they open and it still grows. mine is producing some winter leaves right now....or are they summer leaves?
Alex
 
  • #30
I wouldn't be too concerned about the first adult pitcher anyway, because after one adult pitcher will come another, and another, and another.

I use the tray method on my ceph. I water the tray with just a little bit of water every few days. Most times, when I come back in a couple hours the water is all gone from the tray, but I also keep a D. spatulata in the same tray (since I am running out of small tupperware plastic dishes!). No dome either.

The only other things I can reinforce is to follow John Lenon's advice: "let it be."

xvart.
 
  • #31
People will probably be infuriated I'm posting here (since I've only had this plant for a few months) but...

When I received my Ceph German Giant it acclimated in only a few weeks. I have it in a 5 inch drained pot in a peat/perlite 50:50 mixture with a topping of LSM. It is thriving and making many new pitchers, it has about 6 coming in and one pitcher that is slightly bigger than the biggest one I had when I got it! Huzzah. It has even made a second growth point (it was probably already developing it though when I got it) since I've gotten it, this growth point seems to make smaller pitchers and non carnivorous leaves a lot, but, that's fine.

I also have a humidity dome over it, but, I've tattered it. I poked a few small holes in the top with a tooth pick, tore a giant slice through part of it, and then stabbed more holes in it, then since the Cephalotus is centered I leaned it against the moss a bit and had one end on the pot so there was a large gap, and then there is some area for air to circulate under it, so it's got good air circulation while it has good humidity. I prop one side up on the pot because if I don't then the Summer sun will get it too hot and humid inside, when I prop it up it's only very slightly warmer and still around 80% humidity. Other than this I have a pitchering Nepenthes and a thriving Mexican Butterwort on the windowsill which receives sunlight most of the day and bright shade the rest until sunset.

Basically, I just ignore it, I frequently forget to water it and the soil goes dry, yet this never seems to affect it, I'm paying more attention to it now to keep the soil damp the first day I do it, the next day slightly damp and wait for it to get almost dry and repeat. :). Doing well for me so far...

Now if only I had the coloration...
 
  • #32
Wow! can I see pics of yours NeciFX?

I fed the pitcher with a few little green light bugs which are attracted to light at night :p . I guess the one thing I am happy is that my plants (apart from the neps) are all getting nice fresh natural air from the outside over them. Personally I think this is big as it helps the plants get little to no air during day...but at night a nice cool breeze. Cephs apparently grow at those temps in the wild soo I think thats great.

But, there is a new nub of growth at the center...but its really really slow. How many pitchers on average does a ceph make in a month??

I guess i follow the tray method too...but my tray is a bowl with al foil on the sides to lighten even the sides of the plant, since I use artificial lighting only. Today I watered all my other plants...but nothing for the ceph as I watered it yesterday. I do water it 2-3 times a week...and it seems ok. I water when I notice the red sphagnum getting a bit on the dry side..i.e., kinda loosing its dampness. I guess this is the advantage of having pure chilean sphagnum as a medium. The person who gave it to me is extremely successful with his cephs which grow like weeds (only a bit slower) for him. He grows most in sphag and now he is trying various other media as well. So I asked him to send me the plant already potted. I guess it helped in minimizing the stress and all.

But the good news is ...it seems fine. THe pitcher lid is at a decent angle...it hasn;t closed or anything.. it seems ok. :)

I guess right now I am just curious to see when it will make more pitchers. :p Thats why I am asking .. how many pitchers does a ceph normally make per month in its growing season? :)

thanks,

vraev
 
  • #33
Good question... it's made 2-3 pitchers a month at each growth point. Non carnivorous leaves grow fairly quickly, in only a week or slightly more.
 
  • #34
Basically, I just ignore it, I frequently forget to water it and the soil goes dry, yet this never seems to affect it...

It probably isn't dry below the surface...

xvart.
 
  • #35
I've done a lot of experimenting with this one so Ive been keeping a pretty good photo history of it...

FWIW here is 10 months growth, oh and BTW this is the one that had the Botrytis attack last winter

immaturecephs.jpg


maturecephs.jpg


It's still relatively young but all things considered, Im pleased with it's progress

growth is somewhat exponential, so the surface should be covered by this time next year (I hope LOL)

Av
 
  • #36
ooh man! I can only dream of my 2 inch pot being covered in pitchers like that. :p amazing dude. But lol! I like to keep even more frequent updates. lol! like every month. then...I can flick through the pics and recall how much it has grown and all. :D I still remember the day I started with my saggy looking VFT :p .. lol! and now I compare to the current look...man! they have come far. I hope the ceph tags along as well. :D
 
  • #37
woah! that means its loving the care u are giving it dude. Good job! :D

cephs are one plant (like the rajah) which u can one day look back and say....I was able to grow that finicky little thing. :p

Good question... it's made 2-3 pitchers a month at each growth point. Non carnivorous leaves grow fairly quickly, in only a week or slightly more.
 
  • #38
Yeah, but it would be completely ironic for it to die all of a sudden :(.

I think I'm growing it okay, not that well though. He was a fighter since I got him, quick to un-shockify (that's not a word) and quick to acclimate.
 
  • #39
lol! don't worry....myself and my friends make up words as well...we mock each other by calling "geniI" as a plural of genius. :p ! lol!
 
  • #40
guys, an update on my ceph:

635571099_5a9389e42b_b.jpg


BTW...do you guys know what the left "whitish gray streaks" are on the left unopened adult pitcher?? :(

635571137_72c8f29932.jpg


The growth tip is still barely anywhere moving....I haven't seen a new pitcher bud since a month now. It seems like it stalled when I moved in on may 23rd. Already started buds did balloon out to form these adult pitchers..but I haven't seen any new ones.

and a last one of my nice cute little baby ;)

635609543_33d5603b90.jpg


cheers,

varun
 
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