Help/ Opinions on Baby Ceph clumps

[Mawy_Plants]

Hello all!

I recently purchased a couple Cephalotus clumps that were shipped bareroot. None of the pitchers have opened and I can hardly tell if any of the previous growth is still growing. I have read they do take a while so I was interested in your opinion about how they're doing and if there's anything I can improve on.

Today marks two weeks since I potted these little guys. I used a mixture of peat, silica sand, and perlite. Made it pretty gritty, then topped off with sand. I top watered them a few days ago, with about 90mL each pot, barely any water hit the drip tray.

They stay outside with my other new additions that I am acclimating. They get dappled sunlight since they're in an area where our fruit trees cast a shadow most of the day. My hardiness zone is considered 10a. My latitude is 2 degrees off of Albany, AUS and longitude is a 5 degree difference. This information gave me much confidence that they will fare well in my conditions. Was I mistaken?

It has recently been less humid than usual so the other day I decided to cover each with those clear orchid pots that have a bunch of slits. I'm not sure if that's helping increase humidity, so yesterday I sprayed the inside of the pots with DI water and later sprayed the clumps directly.

They may still be adjusting to the conditions since I'm not sure if they were intially grown indoors, but they're from barely over an hour North of me. Hopefully they're just overcoming the shock of new media, repotting, and outdoor conditions opposed to my negligence.

I would like to note a few pitchers have dried since receiving them. I can include photos from when I first potted them and a week after if that would help.

This is my first go with this Genus, any input would help. Many thanks!

https://imgur.com/gallery/GHj9H

 

[schmiggle]

Two related notes: I suspect you actually have had growth, and I suspect that they would be happy with more light. The reason for both is that there are distinct green leaves and reddish ones, and right now I have a cephalotus growing in bright light (several inches away from a high-output LED bulb) and it is finally starting to turn somewhat red. Pitchers drying out may just be adjustment, the soil might be too dry, or there may be a root fungus. I will say, I've never bothered with Cephalotus humidity levels, and they've never seemed to care. Reducing the airflow with a plastic cover could very easily lead to increased fungal growth, particularly if you spray regularly. I therefore would remove them. I think a combination of that and increased light could solve any problems you may have. Having said all that, it actually does look to me like they may have grown since you got them.

Hopefully you have good luck with these.

 

[Mawy_Plants]

Thanks, smiggle!

I only recently began covering them with pots and sprayed them directly once. I'm not sure if they media is too dry, I have only watered once since repotting. Nonetheless, I do check with a bamboo skewer every other day and it has been moist. How do you water? Top water or let them stand in a tray? I've read some water right around the plant and others have said around the circumference if choosing to top water. I don't like the idea of letting them just stand in water since my media is pretty water retentive.

At this point, is is okay to introduce them to more sun regardless of not being fully hardened yet?

 

[schmiggle]

With regards to watering, if your media is still wet, it's probably too dense for cephalotus--they definitely appreciate air to the roots. I top-water mine pretty frequently--I try to do it every day, but usually I remember about 4-5 times per week. My pot is too small to really be able to control if I water near the plant versus around the edge, and honestly I'm not sure it matters--I water until it flows out the bottom, because I think doing so helps to aerate the soil (don't quote me on that ). That might be too often, but it's worked fine for me for over a year. If you stand them in water, then make sure to either not put in very much and change it frequently, or if that was someone you were really set on (it sounds like you're not) one thing that apparently worked incredibly well was putting an aquarium bubbler in a thing of standing water with cephalotus standing in it, because that aerates the water. As far as light is concerned, I definitely wouldn't suggest moving them immediately into full sunlight--I've killed plants like that before. My LED's are also fairly cool, so that's worth remembering. But you might try moving them into a somewhat brighter location, seeing how they do, and if they do well, continuing to increase the light. Remember, cephalotus in the wild often look like this:

They can only get those kinds of deep, almost purple reds if they grow in very bright light for fairly long hours. Of course, not all wild cephalotus look like that--there are also some that grow in dimmer light that are greener or have a lighter red color--but they can clearly handle very bright light. Given that you have the ability to grow them outside year round, if I'm not mistaken, I think you might as well adjust them over a period of a few weeks to bright light. Having said that, it's probably not a huge deal--they are still growing, after all.

 

[Mawy_Plants]

I appreciate the thorough response!

I hope my media isn't too dense... I suppose that's why I water infrequently and would rather not have it standing in water. Thanks for the bubbler tip tho, I may use that in the future to experiment! I guess plants in nature are okay getting watered so much/ so throughly since the water doesn't remain stagnant. Water will seep into the depths of the earth! Must be nice not having to worry that they might drown. Lol. I guess that's why it's recommended to have quick draining media... Blah. As with all things, it's a learning process. I have been told about being able to water Nepenthes everyday too, the media I chose is probably too water retentive for that as well (another peat, sand, perlite mixture). I suppose I just need to figure out the best watering schedule for them and myself. May I ask what mixture of media you use? Or does it really matter as long as it doesn't get water logged?

I may dabble with lights and an indoor setup one day. It's nice being in an area where all I really have to do is water. Except I should've realized there was a little more I needed to do with my new additions! I will definitely let them get more sunlight, I would love to see those stunning colors of these little guys and of course more growth.

What was the first plant that got you interested in CPs?

 

[schmiggle]

Hmmm, no your media actually sounds fine if it's as gritty as you say it is (I had missed the description of it before--my apologies). Do you have an approximate measure of proportions of sand/peat/perlite? I'm just trying to figure out why it would still be wet after two weeks without watering. Perhaps it's not very damp and you should water? I'd say the media is not so crucial--I was just reminded of a case online elsewhere, I believe, where the cephalotus had grown its roots down to the bottom of the pot, where there was sphagnum, and spread out, because most of the media didn't have enough air. He also only had to water once a week. In any case, everything might be fine, and it might just be due to settling in. I will say that pitcher lids not opening is often a sign of not having enough water, although that's only with mature pitchers (mature as in finished growing--both juvenile and adult pitchers close when water needs to be retained, I believe). I'm not sure if by not opening you mean mature pitchers being closed or developing pitchers not finishing development. You may just want to water more and everything will be fine, particularly if leaves are drying out. If you water more and they continue to dry out, then it's probably a fungus, but I wouldn't go straight to that proposition unless you try watering more first. Keep in mind, these do come from swamps and streamsides--they like to be fairly wet, as long as the water is moving. I know that's the opposite suggestion of what I said before, but again, I hadn't seen your media. I will say, if a majority of the media is peat, you probably have a problem.

 

[Mawy_Plants]

No worries! It's seemed gritty to me, but I am still new to all this so it may not really be. I believe I went with 4:4:1 dry peat/silica sand/perlite for the first 4.5" or so, the next 1" I added more sand to the mix, perhaps resulting in a ratio of 4:5:1. Topped off the final 1cm with pure sand. The sand is 16#. Potted them on 09/14 and finally watered 09/25. When I do check the moisture, it is not soaked, but media sticks to the bamboo. During my last water (09/25) I didn't drench it, just enough to barely drip out, 90ml each pot and mostly directed right around the clumps.

I know you initially said to remove the clear orchid pots, but I've left them and haven't sprayed them since the one time. We live by the bay so a breeze is quite common. They get wind from 3 directions so I thought it might still help them acclimate as long as I don't mist the pitchers directly. Is there a difference with root moisture and surrounding moisture above ground that affects the lid opening? Only a couple pitchers appear mature so I'll just keep an eye out as they acclimate. Growth does appear to be occurring, there's a noncarni leaf I've kept an eye on and it looks slightly larger than before.

https://imgur.com/gallery/HiG0S
Here are some images to help give you a better idea. The media image is after I added that extra scoop of sand just so you have a sense grittiness. Last photo of the skewers is to gauge their moisture levels. It's kinda difficult to tell that the right one is moist, although as you can see there is media sticking to it. It's been one week since I've watered.

Side note, I have began introducing them to direct sunlight today, right around noon. I gave them and my other CPs 1hr and 20mins. Hope they enjoyed the extra Vitamin D!

Again, I greatly appreciate all your help, schmiggle. These guys need a little more TLC and your input has helped me immensely.