Ceph Plan

[twigs]

I have a Ceph in the mail currently, and wanted to get some input on my plan.

Conditions:
I live in St. Louis, if you're not familiar, summers get very hot, with long stretches of 90 degree weather, and a few 100+ days. I could try putting the Ceph outside, but I would rather it be indoors (at least the first one, before I get a backup) to prevent critters/animals from investigating.

Light:
I have a 'Intelligent Plant Light' http://www.glentronics.com/plant_light.htm sitting around that I was wondering if it would be useful for my Ceph. It has a 9 watt bulb, I would supplement it with a compact florescent if it needs more light. Alternatively, I could try to put it in a window, however, I don't have any actual window sill's. I suppose I could put it on a table next to a window, but that is a last resort option.

Planting:
I will either be keeping the plant in whatever it ships in, or putting it in some combination of peat, sand, perlite, and LFS moss. I don't have access to live LFS, or I would top it with that. I hear these plants can be fragile when transplanting, so I would rather not have to repot until the winter.
I have been looking into African Violet self watering plants. They seem like the best fool-proof option to prevent soggy Ceph's. I have read these work well for Cephs in a few places. Anyone with personal experience?

Please give me input on my plan. Also, I have a noob's question on propagating. When should I try to get some leaf cuttings? Should I wait for the plant to get acclimated to it's environment first? Or (if I have to repot right away) should I take some pullings right away to get some backups started?

 

[jimscott]

Inside is a better idea. They do well with the media mounded, with the plant at the top of the mound. They like long fibered sphagnum. I would take cuttings any chance you have, as you never know when something bad could happen... as has happened with mine. The dried LFS will become alive after awhile.

 

[RSS]

I've grown a few ceph's under 1 23W 1 14W compact flourscent, they will not color up under this level of light, but they grew fine. I would say you would want 2-3 of those 9W bulbs as a minimum.

Here is a picture of a Ceph growing in an african violet self watering pot for about 9 months now. It is actively growing, the 2 unopened pictures are new. I would recommend the tallest pot you can find. I follow the instuctions that came with the pot except I allow the bottom part to completely dry out before I add more water. I only check them once a week, so the bottom part may be bone dry for 1-4 days before I refill it, I have never had the soil dry out this way. They are also in vivariums with higher humidity so that has an effect.

Another route I've had really good luck with is just placing a division onto a piece of driftwood with a very small amount of sphagnum. Then placing the driftwood into some water and allowing the wicking of the driftwood to water the Ceph. As in the picture below. Again this one is in a vivarium with higher humidity, the red picture along with another on the far side of the plant are completely new pictures.

As for cuttings/divisions I would have 2 second what jimscott wrote, take cutting whenever you can.

 

[BigBella]

I too would grow it indoors, at least until you get a handle on the plant's growing habits; but I would wait on the long fiber sphagnum while the Cephalotus is small. It ends to overgrow the pot a bit too quickly, unless trimmed.

Now is also the perfect time of year to take leaf-cuttings, from June through late Summer. I would initially choose a pot a bit too large for the Cephalotus and water it by the tray method. I have done this for years, have never looked back, and not had any problems.

A south-facing window or even north with diffused lighting will provide more than enough light. The more shaded the Cephalotus is, the larger the pitchers will become . . .

 

[vraev]

woah!! nice!!! what kind of lepanthes is that beside the ceph?

 

[RSS]

It should be a Pleurothallis grobyi, but the silly thing won't flower for me.