What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

NeciFiX

Kung Fu Fighting!
This is just a general little poll. :)

What are your thoughts on giving Cephalotus a small dormancy like it experiences in the wild? In the wild, it apparently goes through light frosts and a chilly winter, where it stops growth or slows down. In Wisconsin, in the windowsill I grow it in, lows can be down to 40F very briefly but it is usually 55-60F in the day, with 45-50F at night, for a few months. I've noticed ever since my Cephalotus came out of this long, light sleep, it is quite invigorated. It is growing faster than most of the plants around it (a Nepenthes, a few pings, not quite as fast as my D. capensis but it is 2nd in line), it has put out 9 pitchers or so (about 5 of which are developed, 4 are coming in, 2 of the 4 are going to open in a week or so) and a flower stalk since the very beginning of April, about a month and a half. I'm astonished at the rate of growth. Last year, my Cephalotus didn't grow as slow as people say Cephalotus grow. From what I understood before I got my Cephalotus was that it would put out a pitcher or two every month and that was it, a very, very slow grower.

I stood corrected, it grew significantly faster than this. After it's little dormancy, it is now growing about 3x as fast, and is speeding along. Honestly, every new day I see a new non carnivorous leaf popping through, or a new pitcher pushing it's way through some LSM and some older pitchers. Maybe my Cephalotus just loves me, or maybe the dormancy thing has really helped out. And all this WITHOUT bugs for about a year! I gave it some ants the other day just to give it an even bigger boost. What are your thoughts on dormancy? And sorry for the rant. I grow my Cephalotus overall in a Wisconsin windowsill, 30-45% humidity, tap water. In a 75% peat, 25% perlite mixture (I tried to do 50:50 when I potted it up but it turns out that I could get bigger handfuls of peat than perlite lol) with a top dressing of LSM.
 
Back
Top