dan
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Post by dan on Jan 12, 2012 23:47:27 GMT
I have been doing a lot of homework on what to pot my Cephalotus in, I want to put it in a display pot in my living room, it will be in a pot, in a terrium.
I know the roots don't like to be disturbed, I have read all 5 pages of info on them on this forum, learned a lot.
I was going to plant them in pure live sphagnum as that's what I use for my nepenthes & sarrs, but the more I read, the more I questioned my decision. It would be hard to control soil moisture, plus sphagnum does break down after a few years. Oh, and I was also worried I could grow sphagnum bigger than I can grow Cephalotus Lol
I tore down my tank (& pot) and filled it with 6 inches of perlite, first time i have ever played with that stuff, the perlite reminded me of one of Phil's post of the Cephalotus Growing in the white sand that I liked.
Now after all that I will make my question easier, will Cephalotus grow in pure perlite ? I might place an inch of fine aquarium gravel on top of the perlite, but the jury is still out on that, I thought I would first listen to what you guys think.
Thanks, Dan
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dan
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Post by dan on Jan 12, 2012 23:52:39 GMT
I want to add that after reading all 5 pages here, along with google searches on the subject, I am more confused as ever on what is an ideal soil for this plant. Yes I read the debates on using drip methods verses tray watering, I will use a drip method. I found the debates between growing them in always wet drip trays fascinating, but I also read in their natural environment it does have drier periods. Just letting you know I have read enough to give myself a good headache Lol I think they might grow in anything, as I read about using sphagnum, using perlite / peat, using sand and even using wood pulp I guess I like the perlite because it looks like Phil's white sand pic in their homeland, also I don't think I would ever need to repot again as supposedly perlite don't degrade like other media would. Anyways an answer to my growing them in pure perlite idea will be welcomed. Dan
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Post by nepenthes99 on Jan 13, 2012 0:39:19 GMT
A terrarium would kill it because it would be too wet. They like a mix of sand, peat, and perlite. Luckily you did not use sphagnum, it would have killed it. If you keep it cool and dry they will grow pretty well. They are really hardy, and mine have been grown outdoors in the summer in central NJ where it gets to 95+ degrees in the day.
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dan
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Post by dan on Jan 13, 2012 0:47:14 GMT
It's not getting planted directly in the terrium, it's going into a large 10 inch pot that has 1/2 inch legs into the terrium, I can remove the top right off the terrium in the summer, in the winter my house humidity drops to 40% so I will play with the lid to keep it at 60%. The reason it's in pot is the terrium does not have a drain and I know that wouldn't be good. In the summer I can remove the pot right out of the terrium. Dan
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Post by peterhewitt on Jan 13, 2012 13:51:27 GMT
A terrarium would kill it because it would be too wet. They like a mix of sand, peat, and perlite. Luckily you did not use sphagnum, it would have killed it. If you keep it cool and dry they will grow pretty well. They are really hardy, and mine have been grown outdoors in the summer in central NJ where it gets to 95+ degrees in the day. I would not advise people that Sphagnum will kill Cephalotus, I have many Cephs growing very well in Sphagnum Moss. They are not too picky about medium in my experience. Watering is more of a critical factor.
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dan
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Post by dan on Jan 13, 2012 15:11:35 GMT
A terrarium would kill it because it would be too wet. They like a mix of sand, peat, and perlite. Luckily you did not use sphagnum, it would have killed it. If you keep it cool and dry they will grow pretty well. They are really hardy, and mine have been grown outdoors in the summer in central NJ where it gets to 95+ degrees in the day. I would not advise people that Sphagnum will kill Cephalotus, I have many Cephs growing very well in Sphagnum Moss. They are not too picky about medium in my experience. Watering is more of a critical factor. That's why I'm asking my question, so much contrasting info out there, I do think they will grow in a wide range of growing medium, but Im still waiting to hear what the guru's think about pure perlite ? I'm thinking about drilling a drain hole in my terrium (a 55 gallon aquarium ) and going with 5 - 6 inches of perlite and 1.5 inches of small ( 1/8 inch) aquarium gravel on top for looks and maybe not using a pot so they could spread over the floor of this setup. I'm thinking this would be a long lasting clean setup with little maintenance, I can play around with glass tops to keep humidity up in the winter and remove them in the summer, even use a computer fan for air movement is needed ( getting into a lot of unnecessary details, but if I don't I will get told it anyways, so I figured I better explain that I understand all that stuff) Now, will cephalotus grow in 5 inches of perlite base and 1.5 inch of very fine gravel (very fine as in almost course sand) and yes the tank will have a drain hole. Dan
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Post by RL7836 on Jan 13, 2012 17:47:32 GMT
I would not advise people that Sphagnum will kill Cephalotus, I have many Cephs growing very well in Sphagnum Moss. They are not too picky about medium in my experience. Watering is more of a critical factor. I agree - I have tried several different mixes & have found that they don't make a huge difference in growth. Mobile has experimented with some unusual mixes - maybe you can get him to share an opinion. A terrarium would kill it because it would be too wet. As with the above comment - not great advice. Many people grow successfully in terrariums. I remember John Hummer bringing in a 10 gal tank full of his HG Cephs at the ICPS Conference held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden -- all very healthy planted directly in media. They are really hardy, and mine have been grown outdoors in the summer in central NJ where it gets to 95+ degrees in the day. While I agree that Cephs are very adaptable, I also have a group of Cephs that I summer outside each year in central NJ. Although the plants grow & flower, they suffer quite a bit in the heat and do not do nearly as well as those I keep inside.
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Post by nepenthes99 on Jan 13, 2012 21:14:41 GMT
Well, I guess I have very unusual cephalotus, mine did not suffer from the heat at all. And interestingly enough they were in full sun for about 6 hours a day.
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Post by coldcoffee on Jan 22, 2012 9:22:31 GMT
Wow, its been a while since I have logged in.... I need to quite working so much While I cannot definitively tell you what cephs like and dont like, I can tell you how I grow mine. Mine are all potted in a pretty airy mix of peat, sand and charcoal (I'll have to get back to you on the exact proportions....). I personally grow mine in a partially open lidded terrarium and they are growing like monsters. I do not use a drip line, I water my cephs about once a week when the soil feels light to me (I nearly let the soil dry out- not bone dry though). One thing you can watch for is when cephs start to dry out, they sometimes close their lids. This is an indication that you need to water them (I try to give them water before they get to this point). You mentioned putting them in your living room (classy, IMO), the biggest concern here to me is making sure they get sufficient light. Red coloring on the pitchers is a good sign that you have achieved this. In summary, here is what I shoot for with Cephs: 1) Give them good lighting 2) Don't fuss too much regarding humidity, try to keep things consistent, I repeat- consistency is good! I try to harden all of my plants off to about 30% RH except for heliamphoras and my ultra highland nepenthes like my N. hamatas and N. jamban (Where I live, ambient RH is around 15%, I have an open lided terrarium which raises that to about 35-40%). Very few of my plants, once hardened off, seem to have a problem with this humidity level. The key here is that any changes should be slow and deliberate(within reason). 3) Soil mixture is good for controlling air and drainage- I shoot for airy. I have 3 cephs- the one that has done the least well is the once with the most dense soil. 4) I do not keep them in a tray. Once the pot starts feeling light, I top water with the pot in a tray, I leave the plant in the tray for a few minutes to soak up the water then I take them out. I do not claim this is the perfect way of doing things, it all depends on your particular environment, plant, and care style. Personally, this has worked super well for me- I only had one screw up so for where I forgot to water one plant. It did survive thought but I lost about half of the pitchers. I still have it today I do live in a Mediterranean climate in CA, USA if that helps give you context as well.
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dan
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Post by dan on Jan 23, 2012 0:39:31 GMT
Thanks for that reply coldcoffee , I still have it in it's original pot / potting mix as I have not felt confident yet on a mix to use, still researching and your post helps. Dan
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