Cephalotus questions

[Hamata95]

Hi
I just ordered a Cephalotus and I'm wondering if I should water it when it gets here? and does a south facing window get to much light? Thanks for your answers

[peterhewitt]

Yes, you should certainly water it. I only water mine from the top, or in a shallow tray letting the media absorb all the water in the tray. I have never had issues with rot.
A south facing window is fine in the long run, but it depends on how the plant was growing where it came from. If the plant is green, it will need some time to adjust to a lot of sun. If it is red it will proabably be OK. Cephalotus can be grown in both slightly shaded conditions and full sun.

[paulbarden]

One thing I would add to Peter's good advice: the plant has been at least two days in total darkness in transit, with high humidity no doubt. So, putting it straight into blazing full sun is probably not the best idea: it should be acclimated over several days to get used to intense light. If you place it in your south facing window, tape a piece of newsprint or any standard white paper to the glass to filter the light. (many options for reducing/diffusing sunlight; choose what works for you) this way you reduce the risk of shocking the plant at a crucial stage. Provide good humidity as well, if possible. Night temps into the fifties will also help reduce stress to the plant.
Good luck! It's not a difficult species as long as you make a real effort to emulate it's natural conditions. sensuendo.tumblr.com/post/10643654915/cephalotus-september

[Hamata95]

Thanks for your wonderful advice ;D I ordered the plant from sarracenia northwest the picture that they said represented there plants was pretty red so I will see when it gets here how accurate the photo was. When it gets here I will do what you guys said to acclimate it drop my temps. thanks again for answering my question.
I will post a photo on here when I have it.

[Hamata95]

my cephalotus came here's a pic

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[fredg]

Sept 28, 2011 13:41:53 GMT peterhewitt said:

I only water mine from the top, or in a shallow tray letting the media absorb all the water in the tray. I have never had issues with rot.

I stand my Cephalotus pots in water.
I have never had issues with rot.

[Hamata95]

I have had my ceph for a few days now and it is doing awesome. The plant seems to be dormant right now, I do my best to keep it cooler and the soil moist and enough sun. I hope I can get it to look like the ones in the photos on the ICPS website.

[peterhewitt]

Cephalotus does not go dormant, it just grows quite slowly. In winter it will stop making traps and produce small leaves instead.
Fred, I know many people do sit there plants in a tray without issues, but some who try it suffer from Rot problems. I'm sure there are factors involved that are not understood. i just recommend my watering regime to new growers to minimise the risk.

[joegriffin]

I do the tray method, but put about 2 cm of water at most and do not water until the water has been gone for several days.
I would top water if I was more diligent. Top watering keeps the mix fresher.
Hamata95-what's your compost there? Looks more like a Nepenthes mix than what most people use.

Cheers,

Joe

[Hamata95]

I'm not sure it had that mix when I got it from Sarrcenia northwest they mailed it in that pot seen in the photo.

[coldcoffee]

I'll just chime in. I agree with peter regarding watering. Personally I only use a watering tray if the soil has gone too dry and drainage seems a bit too fast for my comfort- in which case I do not leave the pot in there, I just leave it long enough to allow water to soak into the soil. The tray method seems to work for some people, most that I am aware of which use the tray method allow the tray to completely dry out for a few days between waterings. (Like Joe mentioned). I personally am not aware of anyone successfully growing them using a constant wet tray method. But then again, I do not know everyone

I water by pot weight. As soon as I can tell the water is running low I generally top water until the soil is nice and moist. Usually I end up watering the smaller cephs about once every few days and the lager one about once every week.

I have yet to have a problem with rot- in fact my hummers giant is now kicking out much larger pitchers The only issue I had was accidently forgetting to water one of my typical form cephs. The soil went bone dry by the time I caught it and I almost lost the plant. Luckily I caught it just in time. I lost about half the leaves and pitchers but it recovered and I noticed new growth today when I was in my grow room

[Hamata95]

Thanks for all your help. My ceph has started to take off in growth it seems to be growing quite fast even though that they are just flat leaves, other then that it is a little bigger compared to when I first got it which was a couple of weeks ago, it might be normal, but I'm amazed how fast its growing since it's fall and there is less sun compared to summer.

I'm wondering would it be against the rules if I posted another photo on this thread? so if any one wanted to compare the growth by the photo.

[Aidan]

There's no restriction on posting photos.

[fredg]

Oct 13, 2011 6:55:32 GMT @coldcoffee said:

I personally am not aware of anyone successfully growing them using a constant wet tray method.

icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cephalotus&action=display&thread=3068&page=2

Try that

[gardenofeden]

my plants all sit permanently in water, albeit in very tall pots. Summers levels are about 5cm (2"). In winter water is reduced so that the trays only have a thin film of water in the base.