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light levels and cephalotus....

Noticing just how much a 4" raise closer to the lights really impacts the plants.......
i would always get pitchers that were primarily green with dark teeth and red splotches, and the pitchers it came with back in June when i got it were a nice crimson red....
so i just propped them ontop of the bottom of an empty pot, which raised them about 3 1/2 - 4" and its made a huge difference....
now that i have found the sweet spot for growing them in my collection, i feel a bit more comfortable experimenting with them, and have had several leaf pullings strike in the last few days after only being pulled for a few weeks now....
Here are some before and after shots of the cephalotus i am referring to though...
here it was back on the 28th of October...mostly greens with hints of red...
PA280065.jpg


and now
P1010031-2.jpg

P1010029-7.jpg
 
They're looking good! Looks like you're coming down with some form of Cephalitis. ;)
 
ive always loved cephs, was just never able to grow them properly until now....
idk how many ive killed lol....
 
very nice!
 
and it continues to get darker...
P1010014.jpg

P1010017.jpg

P1010007.jpg
 
Thanks for all the comments guys :)
Brisco, we still need to get together some time and talk plants haha.
 
SK,
Very nice coloration on the ceph! :hail:

Two questions:
- is that a typical or some named cultivar?
- have the temps in the grow space been dropping as the temps gets colder outside?
 
  • #10
RL -
thanks for your comment :)
- it is a typical ceph, as far as i know...it is what i received it as, though if it continues to darken, i may look into something....
-as far as temperatures go, they have dropped slightly, but not very much as this plant is situated in my lowland terrarium...
It was producing pitchers that were green with red markings before i raised the plant up about 3 1/2 - 4" closer to the lights ontop of an empty pot...
Once i did that, suddenly the old pitchers gained a small amount of color, but the new ones, are this solid burgundy with green banding between the teeth...the midrib stays green but gains hints of red as the pitcher ages...
 
  • #11
Interesting. There is a well-documented phenomenon that many plant's colors darken as temps drop. Cephs definitely have this propensity to darken as it cools but as many have pondered, there appear to also be other factors which we're unable to regularly duplicate. People on the VCPS listserver recently had a discussion on this topic and could come to no solid conclusions.

I have a 'Czech Giant' I received a year or two ago as a tiny plant. It has been putting out adult pitchers for at least the past 6 months. While the plant does not grow as fast or as large as my HG Cephs, each pitcher it produced this year has been almost black, while HG Cephs & HG Ceph progeny in the same tank have nowhere near the dark colors.
 
  • #12
RL, interesting you say that your hummers arent coloring up, as mine arent really either...other than one massive pitcher that is deep burgundy that came on it, the new pitchers it has made for me are all green with some red...
im debating on figuring out a way to do the same thing i did with my typical, and try to raise it up another 3 1/2 or so inches closer to the lights....since that really seemed to work for the typical.
its also doubled in its diameter and growth points since i repotted it....
 
  • #13
RL, interesting you say that your hummers arent coloring up, as mine arent really either...
They're getting some additional color with the cooler temps but nowhere near the 'Czech Giant'. The HGs have tended to get their darkest colors when it gets coldest - mid to late winter.
 
  • #14
First I'll add my "nice color on that Ceph" comment to the list.

Then let me further confuse the issue.

Here are 4 Ceph's all grown in the same temps under the same lights, the 3 in pots are the same distance from the lights. The one not in a green pot is 6" closer to the lights and is all GREEN!!! To further mess things up it is a division from the 'Typical' in one of those green pots. The all green is growing really really fast and is in room humidity. The medium mixes are very close to the same. However the one on the wall is grown alot drier than the other three.

Sorry for the bad pics, but they get the color across.

Ron, I'd love to see a pic of you Czech, mine are not coloring up anywhere near black, but the growing area temps have not dropped yet.

First, a 'Hummer's Giant'
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/5214774465/" title="Ceph. 'Hummer's Giant' by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/5214774465_67e425d66d.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Ceph. 'Hummer's Giant'" /></a>

Next a 'Czech Giant' baby
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/5214774843/" title="Ceph. 'Czech Giant' by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5214774843_f57605289f.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Ceph. 'Czech Giant'" /></a>

Here is the colorful typical division plant that is 6" further from the lights. Ignore the decaying pitcher in there :blush:.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/5214775317/" title="Ceph. 'Typical' by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5214775317_4da6dc11d0.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Ceph. 'Typical'" /></a>

And last the confusing part...The same clone as the pic above and its closer to the lights. With the same temps.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39807474@N07/5214775913/" title="Ceph 'Typical' by randallsimpson, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5214775913_a11aedf121.jpg" width="334" height="500" alt="Ceph 'Typical'" /></a>
 
  • #15
RSS- what king of lighting are you using? And how far from the lights are the plants? My typical that is photographed here, is about 4" from 6x 20watt 24" T-12 bulbs... Almost dead in the center of all of the light....
 
  • #16
RSS- what king of lighting are you using? And how far from the lights are the plants? My typical that is photographed here, is about 4" from 6x 20watt 24" T-12 bulbs... Almost dead in the center of all of the light....

The lighting is from 2 T5 55W bulbs with reflectors, the 3 potted are 14" below the lights and 8-10" from the center of the light. The one on the wall is 5" below the lights and 12" from the center. The fixtures take up 5.5" X 48", lighting a 12" X 48" area. The 'Hummer's', potted typical, and walled typical are directly under 1 of the bulbs, the Czech is between the two bulbs. Also the 3 potted ones have a glass top with dust/buildup on it that the light is passing through, the walled on has nothing to deflect/block the lights. To make things even worse the walled one gets about 15m of natural sunlight every day, the other 3 get none due to furniture.

The one growing on the wall is getting a ton more light than the other 3.

I've experienced this in a few growing areas and I can not find a reason for it. Lighting atleast for me is not the only reason for Ceph. color, but I think it is a major factor. I've been wanting to try different Kelvin levels and see what that does. I know during the year the Kelvin levels change, if I recall correctly winter is more red and summer is more blue. Although I may have those mixed up.

Anyway I'm at a loss to explain what I'm seeing. All these plants have been in place for many months and have new growths.
 
  • #17
Ron, I'd love to see a pic of you Czech, mine are not coloring up anywhere near black, but the growing area temps have not dropped yet.
Here's a few Ceph pics. The 1st and 2nd are seedgrown from HG Ceph selfed seed. Both have just started to add a darker flush as the temps have cooled.
Ceph-HGprogeny1120110RS.jpg

Ceph-HGprogeny2120110RS.jpg


... and here's a fairly current pic of the 'Czech Giant'. I received this as a tiny plant and it has grown slowly but surely. The darker colors were not evident until it started putting out adult pitchers. Although it has yet to show any real size, the darkness has been evident all summer, even when the other two were mostly green (all 3 are in the same tank & each is in a 2.5" pot).
CephCzechGiant111510RS.jpg

(The midrib on the left was accidentally sliced when I recently trimmed LFS - which was almost covering some of the pitchers).

Heck, with colors this dark, I've almost stopped hoping for an 'Eden Black' .... :-O The 'Czech' Giant' has been a very pleasant surprise. :hail:
 
  • #19
Plants changing colors in the fall are caused by several things.

More intense light
shorter daylight hours
sugar build up
loss of chlorophyll
Cooler temps

Heres some reading to get a basic understanding of why plants change color:).

http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/pubs/leaves/leaves.shtm

Very beautiful Ceph btw!
 
  • #20
@dionae: here's the kicker though---the leaves are very much alive and tend to stay on the plant for months, even years. your info from the site only applies to deciduous plants.

that being said, i've also noticed that Heliamphora behave this way as well. i'll take you pics to show you what i mean. the older leaves still maintain that green color but the younger developing leaves have become heavily pigmented.
 
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