Springtime Ceph Pix.

[JMatt]

This pot of cephs I put outside a few weeks ago.
They just love the Spring weather here with the cool nights.
They are starting to color up pretty good, probably in another week or two they will be all red. They recieve full sun from sunrise to about 1pm. These are all Hummers Giants, just not really showing there full potential at the moment.
The more sun you give them will keep the pitchers a bit smaller. They are putting out more leaves than pitchers right now too.
JMatt

 

[thez_yo]

Awesome! What are they potted in... and a shallow bowl?

 

[JMatt]

Thanks!
I have these growing in 2 parts peat, 1 part sand, 1 part perlite.
The pot is 12 inches across, 6 inches deep. Very similar to a bulb pot.
They have been in that pot for the past two years.
There is also some live Sphagnum moss on top although it's just starting to come back from the winter.
JMatt

 

[thez_yo]

Thanks! Hmmm... I thought they were supposed to be in taller pots because their roots get big? Do you find little roots trying to escape the bottom ever (does the pot have holes on the bottom and you sit it in a tray or you topwater or ?)? Mine like to root-bind themselves in 5-6" pots... in fact the roots just hang out white and shiny among the perlite in the sitting water (the tray I leave the pots in washes out the peat after a year at the bottom).

 

[BigBella]

Great, Jeff, as always . . .

 

[JMatt]

Oh man, I just wrote a huge paragraph on how I grew cephs in a fish tank and it's all gone! took me so long I got logged out and now it is missing!
Anyway, I can't go threw that again right now. The point I was trying to make was that I have had ceph plants that had 16+ inches of roots per plant. Yes I'm serious.
You grow them in tanks suspendid off the bottom growing on the wick system and they will seek out the water. Man I'm wiped out now! Lol.
If you want to know the set up I had I can try to explain it all again later.
Too frustrating typing a huge thing and losing it all.
I need a beer!
JMatt

 

[dionae]

Thats a very nice bowl of cephalotus.

 

[Halt]

50$

Haha, just kidding. I've never seen a ceph is such a large bowl. :O

 

[jimscott]

It sounds like you were growing them like some people grow terrestrial utrics.

 

[Not a Number]

The wick system is simple. Travis (Pyro) detailed this in his write up on his methods of growing some Utricularia. I believe it on Terraforums some where and it was printed in a past issue of The Carnivorous Plant Newsletter of the ICPS.

Ed Read recommends this method for growing Cephalotus.

Basically take a piece of absorbent material (yarn, thick string, long fiber sphagnum moss) and hang it out one or more of the drain holes of you pot. Suspend the pot or place it on top of something the tray below. Place the "wick" so that the free end reaches the bottom of the tray. Fill the tray so that the water level stays below the bottom of the pot and keeps the wick in water. Capillary action should draw the water to the pot unless there is too much distance to overcome gravity.

 

[JMatt]

Here are some observations on root growth with my cephalotus plants.
This is one example of how I grew cephalotus in a fish tank.

I guess the best way to explain the set up would be to list everything from the bottom of the tank up to
the plants. At the bottom of the 45 gal (high) fish tank there was 2 inches of water with a stone fish tank bubbler
to keep it aerated. Above that was an air gap of 8 inches which had overturned pots. Above this was egg crate material that sat
on the pots. I had a layer of fine window screening on the egg crate material. I then placed a 3/4 inch nylon rope across the egg crate material from one end of the tank to the other. On the ends I had the rope go threw the egg crating all the way to the bottom
of the tank. This was for wicking the water up to the media. Then I added 8 inches of soil and my plants on top.
I did cover the tank, and only used a two bulb T-12 shop light for lighting.
The cephalotus plants I added grew very well for a couple years, hardly ever having to water them.
The problem I found growing the plants this way was that the roots grew threw 8 inches of soil,
threw the fine window screen and then hung down all the way to the water at the bottom of the tank.
It was virtually impossible to remove a plant from the tank without damaging the fine roots.
Using the rope to wick up water into the media was ok, but the soil was always just barely damp.
The plants seemed to seek out the water source and grew roots 16+ inches long.
If I hadn't grown them myself, I would have never believed that they could grow such long roots.
The fact that I could only add plants to the tank and not remove them for fear of severe root
damage, and the fact that the set up was just too big to move around I shut down the whole thing.

I still grow cephs in tanks, just smaller, putting 8 inches of media right on the tank bottom.
It's a much easier way to go and if the tank is covered they will only need watering once every couple months.
I have plants that grow stolons just under the soil surface right across the tank.
Some stolons being almost a foot long. You can remove the plants much easier, with less stress on the roots.
Cephalotus plants can, and do grow very long tap roots, but I'm not so sure if it's necessary
for good growth. I've had beautiful plants in a 3 inch pot, and single plants that were the size of a dinner plate.
To me cephs can be a real pain in the rear, but you gotta love em!
Just some thoughts.
JMatt

 

[thez_yo]

THANKS!!

Very informative and awesome