Lack of non-carnivorous leaves

[Brassleaves]

I have a few Cephs in my collection that I have been growing for quite a few months now. I have them in a open terrarium growing next to my Mexican Pings and they are as happy as can be! The only thing is all of them are only growing carnivorous leaves. When I first got them there were at leave two or three non-carnivorous leaves per plant. I pulled them all and planted them and all but two took. Now I have nothing to do more pullings with. I recently started feeding them on advise from some more experienced growers. Are they only growing carnivorous leaves because I wasn't feeding them and they had a need for nutrients? I know some Sarras will put up non or carnivorous leaves based on the nutrient levels in their system, could this be the same affect? Now that they are getting nutrients through their pitchers can I expect to see some non-carnivorous leaves?

[gardenofeden]

it is normally a seasonal thing. For me, non-carnivorous are usually spring and carnivorous mid-late summer.

[cindy]

Hi Adam,

I grow my plants in lowland tropical conditions. They rarely produce leaves for me as the photoperiod is constant throughout the year i.e. 12 hours.

[sarracenialover]

Yeah, as the previous posters said, those leaves all have to do with the seasonal changes. When the weather is cool and the sun is low, then the plants start using less energy on their carnivorous leaves and instead produce those non carnivorous leaves, probably to increase surface area for photosynthetic activities. In cindy's case, her plants grow in conditions which there is little variation of termperature or light so the plants rarely produce those leaves and continue to grow. Hope this clarifies a few things.

[unstuckintime]

Is this in any ways unhealthy for the plants? Do they need a "dormancy," or can they do well without one?

[Brassleaves]

Honestly, I think the drop in my house temp along with shortening light hours will give a perfect dormancy. Summer temps are about 75-80 (I keep them in the non-airconditioned room). Winter temps are 60-65. With this species I think it's more about flowering than getting a "rest" for the plant.

[petesredtraps]

Cephalotus don't go dormant as such, they just slow down a bit. You don't have to use non-carnivorous leaves to produce cuttings, you can use the pitchers also. apparantly fairly new ones are best, as with a leaf pulling ,when you take it try to get just a little of the stalk aswell.
Here's all the info you need www.aqph26.dsl.pipex.com/cephalotusfolliu.html

[sarracenialover]

Well, some people say that they don't go into dormancy and just slow down their growth while others say it goes dormant. I prefer a medium line where the plant is lightly dormant, or a "rest" as some would say. I believe that the plant does not require dormany while it is young, but as it gets bigger I would give it some rest as this would give the plant a boost for the next season. but the plants can be grown throughtout the year.