indoor and outdoor cephs pics

[vraev]

wow...wadave....man! that is pro ceph growing dude. Insane. I can just picture it in my head. It is soo cool.... some people just have that TOUCH. I for one believe that plants have personality and attitudes and some time some plants just really get along with some people. Good job. I hope my ceph accepts my measley conditions and rewards me some growth.

[wadave]

Well here it is:



Newly repotted with nice red colouration.



Ceph growing out of the drain hole.

Dave.

[mobile]

Thanks for posting those wonderful pics Dave. It's fantastic to see cephs in their natural environment. I've never seen cephs growing on a slope before and I'm really tempted to try to emulate this indoors. Your pot grown cephs look fantastic too. It's hard to judge the size of the traps but, going by the size of the pot, they look like they're quite large.

[vraev]

wow man! just magnificent. I would be soo pissed to unpot that ceph. lol! I would have to end up cutting the pot to ensure that I don't damage the ceph. WOW...simply magnificent.

What kind of growing conditions do u give them? what is the media?

thanks,

vraev

[wadave]

Hey Vraev,

I grow my guys in a greenhouse that receives watering from an overhead misting system. I've got an evap cooler set to come on above 20 degC which blows across an ultrasonic humidifyer.

The pots sit directly on the wooden slat shelving and not in trays so the water flows straight through. I use tap water which isn't too hard, aprox 120 - 130ppm.

The soil mix is 50/50 peat perlite or decomposted pine bark perlite.

I repotted all my cephs a few weeks ago but left this one because I want to give the plant growing out the bottom a chance to grow its own roots before I transplant.

Dave.

[cindy]

Wadave, did you cut a rectangular hole in the pot so that the plant can grow out more easily?

Btw, your growing conditions sounds cool...slightly above 20degC?

[vraev]

hmm.... wow..thats a real standard mix. I use it for my VFT's. But i am noticing more and more that it harms old plants which thrust roots deep in. It seems to cause shock traps on my old VFT's but cuttings and seedlings do splendid in the same pot.

[wadave]

Hi Cindy,

Yes, I just made the hole bigger, otherwise the growing plant would most likely have gotten too thick for the drain hole and strangled itself.

20 degC is what I have the thermostatic switch (controls the evap cooler) set to in order to keep the GH temps in a spring range. As summer aproaches I will increase this to 30degC.

Temps here in Western Australia can get over 40 degC in summer but with the evap cooler all my plants manage to do quite well. Plus we get a cooling sea breeze in the afternoons called the "Fremantle doctor" which also helps.

The misting system helps cool things down too. This runs for a minute every hour during the day during summer.

Dave.