RE: Cephalotus

From: BREWER_CHARLES@ecomail.damneck.navy.mil
Date: Wed Sep 02 1998 - 12:11:46 PDT


Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 15:11:46 -0400
From: BREWER_CHARLES@ecomail.damneck.navy.mil
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2877$foo@default>
Subject: RE: Cephalotus

Hi All,

1)Do different varieties of Cephalotus exist?
 Yes, I currently have three different varieties.
2)If so ,how? (bearing in mind that the plant comes from the same area)
 This may be true, but the fact is that all plants are not considered
 equal even
the tc plants show some variations.
 I have three different clones. One clone has two ribs on both sides of
 each
pitcher, another clone that only produces inch size pitchers and a clone
that produces two inch or better pitchers. It originally came from a
well known CPer by the name of John Hummer. There is also a clone that
produces three inch pitchers...no I don't have it yet, but I an trying
to find someone that will trade or sell me one. Any offers??.

>Are self-pollinated Cephalotus seeds fertile? Loads of seeds have been
produced but I don't know whether I should bother harvesting them or
not.
 If I were you, I would consider cutting off the flower. The darn plant
 grow so
slow in the first place that you waste a good part of a growing season
looking at an ugly flower stalk. The flower really isn't impressive in
the first place. Even is you were successful in producing seeds, it
would take so long to produce plants from seeds. I would not waste my
time but concentrate on producing plants from leaf cuttings.

Is it the flowering that has affected it?
 Most likely the flower is draining the plant of it's energy. In the
 future, consider watering the plant from the top down, allowing water
 to
run through the soil. Avoid the water tray method. Sure you can use
water trays, but there seems to be more trouble with the water tray
method then not. To compensate for this, mist often, and allow the
plant to dry off before sundown. Plant the Ceph in a large pot and
allow it to grow, Cephs hate to be uprooted or moved and will produce
their biggest pitchers if allow to grow undisturbed for a couple of
years. Use a course soil mix allowing good drainage. I have tried
using all kinds of different soil mixes and I can truly say that the
results are about the same, but a good airy mix seems to work the best
producing the biggest pitchers. Another thing to watch for is air
movement. Cephs need some air movement and the key word here is some,
but not alot. None is better then some in my opinion. Pitchers dry out
quickly and once they do, you just have to wait for more to grow. When
you repot your plant make sure that you still have some water in the
pitchers. If not, add a few drops.
                                  Just from friendly advice for you.
                                               Charles



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