Cephalotus and charcoal

From: Paul Burkhardt (burkhard@aries.scs.uiuc.edu)
Date: Thu Jul 24 1997 - 09:23:33 PDT


Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 11:23:33 -0500 (CDT)
From: Paul Burkhardt <burkhard@aries.scs.uiuc.edu>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2787$foo@default>
Subject: Cephalotus and charcoal

Hi Laurent Legendre and all,

> I use a mixture of peat (1/4), horticultural sand (1/4), perlite (1/6),
> finely chopped bark (as the one used for orchid growing, 1/6), and
> chopped charcoal (the one you make yourself and not the commercial one
> which contains toxic compounds, 1/6).
> . . . and charcoal makes it closer to its natural
> habitat (the sites I've visited in Australia had a lot of it). . .
> Has anyone else tryed such a mix?

I also use charcoal in my potting mix, not just for cephalotus but for
most of my CPs. I find it much better than perlite in 'opening' the mix as
well as it being rather inconspicuous. Charcoal can also absorb
contaminants, but unless it is 'activated', don't count on it.

I am no expert on cephalotus, and have only one (hi Dean!), but it has
been prospering and producing pitchers profusely. My potting mix is
approximately 4:2:1 peat,sand, and charcoal. It is continuously damp, but
not sitting in water. The humidity is kept very high, and as a result, I
don't need to water it very often.

Paul Burkhardt



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