New to Cephalotus follicularis

[Cindy]

It is one of those species that you would do everything wrong in the beginning and end up killing many. Then suddenly, they start growing for you and you don't quite understand how it could be difficult to grow in the first place!

 

[MrFus]

hahaha... well looks like I need to pay atention to the basics here and have a lot of patience and don't get discourage if something goes wrong and try again...

 

[MrFus]

Ok... After a full month with my cephalotus and a lot of worry to start here is a pic of how it looks now:

<a href="http://www.freeimagehost.eu/image/a652ae3186887" target="_blank"><img src="http://thumbnails.freeimagehost.eu/319/a652ae3186887.gif" alt="free image host"></a>

There is a lot of new grow coming from the plant, so I'm happy, and I have my setup running fine, so I can give my plant more time of light and droop the temperature on the night to 60° with no problem... here is a pic of how my setup looks:

<a href="http://www.freeimagehost.eu/image/1491093186950" target="_blank"><img src="http://thumbnails.freeimagehost.eu/319/1491093186950.gif" alt="free image host"></a>

I will take some more pics tomorrow and I will post the details on the forum.

 

[elsantaclause]

cool which watering method do you use and what is the soil mixture?

 

[MrFus]

I'm using a mix of 50-50 of perlite and sphagnum peat moss...

I'm using the tray method and I top water the plant once every two days.

 

[xvart]

MrFus,

What kind of air circulation and lighting does that thing get?

xvart.

 

[MrFus]

well... the sistem have 2 fans that push air on the peltier element one push cool air and the other hot air to the outside, and I add a pair of ventilations points (the cooler is not airtight!) to increase the interchange of air, the thermoelectric sistem can run on with no problem all the night and keep the temperature on 60°, no noise or nothing... you can hear when it turns on, but you need to be paying attention to notice it.

And for the light I have a 26w full spectrum CFL, what is no too much but still is bright enough to check on it and see how it's doing.

The plant don't stay all the day on the "cooler", on the morning I take the plant out to the front porch, and when I come from work I take it inside (at 8:30 or 9 pm), so it have enough fresh air and sun every day!.

 

[BigBella]

Hey have read some of the tips that you have posted on the Cephalotus, after think a little bit I decide to give it a chance and I will be geting one on the week...

I have a question, should I repot the plant as soon I get it?

I usually do that with my nepenthes and no one have show any problem at all, but with the Cephalotus Im not sure about to keep it as is or repot and let the plant recover from the shiping shock and the repot at the same time.

Thanks

I have been growing Cephalotus since the 1980s and have never experienced a problem replanting them, dividing them, etc. Simply use some minor care, leave some compost around it (should any exist) and -- should it arrive bare-root (as many of mine did) --soak it in a solution of Superthrive (10 drops per gallon) and wave a free-range chicken over it in a counter-clockwise motion. Far too much mystique has been associated with this plant. If you've ever had a chance to see it in the wild, it's pretty damn hearty . . .

 

[CPlantaholic]

Ron (and mostly all of you),
after constantly hearing how you need to be an expert CP grower to keep cephs alive, it's nice to hear words of encouragement about this plant.
Now that you've got my hopes up, i think i'll try my hand at killing one now...
Take care,
Aaron

 

[vraev]

After almost killing my ceph, for now I have learnt the the technique that seems to work for most people (from Av8tor ) : Free open draining mix + distilled water + Trich + good light + good air circulation + medium humidity. Those satisfied...cephs can be slow for a while but they are a plant on auto pilot.

This is now:

This was in october last yr:

 

[MrFus]

Wow... well yours look amazing even on the last year picture, my was involved on a small accident on the shiping, I guess the box flip over and the plant get loose from the media inside of the container so when I open it the poor cephalotus was like bare-root...

But it looks like it's doing now well, still looks small (really small!) but there is a group of at less 3 new leaves coming from the center, so I have a lot of expectations on my cephalotus.

 

[vraev]

thanks man! that was after the hard spell with it. I got it potted in a 2 inch pot in LFS. It almost rotted.

when I got it:

before I repotted :

It was really lucky...that thing died all the way to the roots and then came back as u can see above.

Anyways...this is about your ceph...not mine. My suggestion....use a open media: I use 50% peat moss, 25% perlite, 25% orchid bark (not fine). As u can see above...very very open. I water once in a week...it loves it dry. But if u use a media like this...u need to give it some decent humidity....somewhere around 60 to 70%.

Good luck!

 

[jimscott]

I keep mine with the U. alpina colony. I top water about once a week, but my media is mostly LFS, particularly on top.

 

[Empyrean]

WELL I BOUGHT A Cephalotus also, its still potted in the same pot, but two pitcher turned yellow after 4 days and the rest of the pitchers is still in deep red brown is my Cephalotus growing normally?

 

[BigBella]

You're likely to have a bit of wear and tear just from the shipping of the plant. Don't unduly stress the plant -- setting in direct sun or cooking it in a terrerium for a week or so. Look for new growth as it settles in.
I routinely received bareroot plants from overseas and even then they are no problem . . .

 

[elsantaclause]

I just got my ceph today =)

It doesn't have any winter leaves though. Are their pitchers and leaves sensitive to human skin? Because I touched it on accident while I was trying to push it in deeper, because it came loose during shipping

 

[xvart]

Are their pitchers and leaves sensitive to human skin? Because I touched it on accident while I was trying to push it in deeper, because it came loose during shipping

Yes. It will be dead within two months. No really, that would make repotting very difficult.

xvart.

 

[elsantaclause]

so its really going to die?

 

[xvart]

so its really going to die?

No, it won't. Human skin has no noticeable effect on Cephalotus. Where did you hear such a thing or get that idea?

xvart.

 

[elsantaclause]

lol you got me there for a second
I forgot I just remembered reading that somewhere but it came to my mind when i touched it