I suspect that the wide range of growing tips you read from different people are an indication that this plant is far more forgiving than some people think. That doesn't mean you can completely ignore any one of its basic needs (light intensity, temperate limits, soil requirements) and expect to get away with it, because if you mess up the core needs, you will get into trouble. What do I do? Mine are potted in deep ceramic containers (almost 2X as deep as wide) and they are glazed white or pale beige on the outside, to prevent the absorption of heat from sun (
Cephalotus likes the soil to remain on the cool side). My soil mix is mainly half coarse sand and half (washed) Canadian Peat, with some fine orchid bark and horticultural charcoal mixed in, accounting for maybe 20% of the total volume. Whatever soil you mix, if water doesn't drain through it in a matter of seconds, then its too dense. My plants are on the south wall of my greenhouse where they get full sun exposure, minus whatever percentage of light the twin-wall polycarbonate absorbs as light passes through it. (No more than 15%, I believe) I use either rain water or reverse osmosis water, so my H2O is really,
really clean. Aside from the occasional ant or box elder beetle I pop into the pitchers once in a while, my plants get almost no feeding. I will occasionally apply a tiny bit of Orchid fertilizer (say, 6 drops in a quart of water, at most:
very dilute) to the soil, but only a couple times a year. I suspect they would do fine without it. As for winter dormancy, I know many skilled growers who have grown plants in terraria for decades without ever giving them a dormancy period, so I suspect winter dormancy is not an absolute requirement. Since my plants live out in my greenhouse, the drop in light intensity and photoperiod in the winter triggers a dormancy cycle for my plants. They slow down growth and switch to making non-carnivorous leaves for a while, and then in the spring, they flower, followed by a burst of new pitcher growth. I cut the flowers off, since they clearly slow the plants down and rob it of energy. In spite of hand pollinating between different clones, mine refuse to set seed anyway, so its pointless to let 'em bloom, IMO.
Thats pretty much it. I have found them very easy to grow as long as the three basic needs are met: soil, temperature range, and lots of bright light. So, my first Cephalotus was acquired in June 2011 and it was smaller than yours is now. This is what it looked like a few weeks ago (it has grown since this photo, now exceeding six inches across):