Cephalotus from YG (MAHA)

[plantlover]

Very cute plants. So dissapointed. Can't find any CP(other than typical VFT and miranda and ventrata) in Cameron Highland. No ceph or ping in Cactus Valley.

[Tarence]

LFS in air-con room where it is cool, then it is fine. But like I told Tarence, if the temperature remains 28C and above then start worrying. The roots rot very quickly and once that happens, nothing you do can save the plant.


Cindy dear, think you need to explain more clearly the sentence above.

LFS in aircon room is ok bcoz...........water evaporates faster in aircon or the roots are cool in aircon.....?

outdoors, it gets too hot so the roots would be affected & rot ?

would using peat / sand assist outdoors ? most of us grow our cephs outdoors with the exception of david and mebbe edmund if he gets experimental........

[David]

Originally Posted by malowie

two years back i was in cactus valley and bought one pot of cephalotus... when i brought it down to pj, it died. the whole thing turned yellow even though i provided it partial shade.

so, hopefully you guys with much younger cephalotus can get them growing properly!

My hope is always in seeing Cindy from Singapore grow her ceph. It can be done.

[Cindy]

Higher temperatures seems to encourage the bacteria/fungus/virus to thrive and cause root rot.

When grown outdoors, try and keep the pot from direct sunlight. During summer in Australia, the plants all die down to nothing and regenerate from the rhizomes during autumn. So unless you are prepared for the top growth to go botak...then try to keep the plants cooler in our weather especially during the hot months. But with the recent rain, I think "summer" is over.

Peat/sand, LFS/perlite would both be fine outdoors. But if under the rain, the more loose the media is, the better. Pine bark is good for larger plants because the drainage is better. LFS/perlite has to be used loosely i.e. when potting up the plant, don't compact the media. I use coarse sand which is 3-4mm per grain.

Another tip about watering, for clumps like yours, don't water the Cephs. Water the media and don't let the water don't touch the plants. Otherwise, when water is caught inbetween the pitchers, fungus can grow very quickly in warm conditions.

I have all my established plants on mounds of media. So even when I top water my Cephs, the water runs off very quickly and does not accummulate at the centre of the plants.

Don't let my Neps see this...my fav CPs are Sarracenia and Ceph. And if I can afford it, the next would have to be a Darlingtonia.

[Tarence]

folks, i think we may have to protect our new cephs from rain in case it rots.

for my case, since i am using multi tier rack, i will place my ceph below a sheet of glass placed on the higher rack level. at least until it stabilises. watering, as suggested by cindy, will also be cautiously done to prevent rot.

[Cindy]

Just to add in case there is any misunderstanding...

Cephs love water. Just that the water needs to be constantly moving and not stagnant. If they are watered daily and the water flushes through their pots, they are very happy.

So the media needs to be quick draining if the plant is left outdoors under the rain. But during the dry season, mealybugs are quick to attack the rhizomes if the Cephs are kept too dry. Well, I learnt it the hard way and lost some plants recently.

[David]

Originally Posted by Cindy

Cephs love water. Just that the water needs to be constantly moving and not stagnant. If they are watered daily and the water flushes through their pots, they are very happy.

Cindy,

Do you think it will work if we grow ceph hydrophonically. I saw this system in a nursery in cameron highlands where they grow vegetables. Maybe build something like this but add ceph media in there.

Here's a diagram that I've done up in word doc. WHat do you think? can work ahhh...

Hydropinic system.doc

[Cindy]

Maybe aeroponics too?

The problem is, we don't have excess "trash" plants to try. Each Ceph is so precious. I even save any leaf that I accidently break off the plant while removing dead pitchers. I have got a few ****es this way.

[caseyhoo]

If im not wrong, my ceph is producing new pitcher shoot and pitcher is still small. I will consider 'temporary' keep them survive if pitcher is forming successfully.

Now, it is siting in the most cooler place in my garden. (same place where I germinate my gammae and sundew seeds).

I think the others way to cool down the pot and media is put the pot to the others same size pot. Air between pots will act like a jacket to media.

My ceph LFS still wet since I got it from Tarence. And I never water them yet.

[caseyhoo]

CloseUp of Ceph