I'm getting my first Cephalotus!

I have a nice empty tank set up in front of a window that gets an eastern exposure.

I forgot whether I am getting a straight species Cephalotus follicularis or a cultivar. Oops.

Do I need supplemental lighting? If so, I have a gooseneck lamp and could stick about any bulb in there. I also have other fixtures that can accommodate other bulbs.

So, what type of medium for my new baby?

Should it be sitting in water or elevated above the water for humidity?

Any dormancy requirements on this Ceph?

Give me the low down and the skinny on how to grow my very first Ceph.

Hey Lauren,

The ceph you are getting is a 'Hummer's Giant' cultivar, very nice plant indeed.

I have no experience with growing them with natural light so I cannot really help you there. I would just make sure if it gets direct light that they tank does not over heat that would be the biggest mistake you could make. I actually grow my largest plant on a nightstand with a gooseneck lamp w/ a 23 watt CFL daylight spectrum bulb that does great.

I grow them both ways sitting in a small tray of water and above the water w/ only over head watering and have not noticed any differences. I do make sure the water dries up for a couple of days before filling up again unlike my sarr trays that stay permenatly wet. I just grow them slightly drier then sarrs.

I grow them in a peat/sand mix just heavier on the sand then what you would mix up for sarrs.

No dormancy is neccessary.

The hardest part is that they grow slowly, other then that I have had no problems. Also the pitchers seem to die w/o fail if the fluids get poured out, so I will mark the box as to which side to keep up but more then likly it will get tipped around a few times so most of the pitchers may die off at first. Dont worry more will grow.

Ahhh, they don't need a tank. That's fine because I can use the tank for the Byblis liniflora or was it B. filifolia? I can't remember which seed I will be trying of Byblis.

How many hours of light do you give your Cephs?

1:1 on the peat and sand?

Do you use regular rain water in the pitchers or do you add a few drops of 2% milk every now and then.

Hi Lauren :)

Quick question....what does adding 2% milk do?

Eric

2% milk may not do anything for a Ceph. Adding rain water to Nep pitchers extends their life and evidently one must add rain water to Ceph pitchers or they are gonners. We take eyedroppers and add a few drops of 2% milk to our Nep pitchers. We also add pin head crickets and freeze dried blood worms. It's all a source of nutrtion for the plants. I have some friends who go around lifting up pop machines to collect any cock roaches they find that are attracted to the syrup to feed their Nep pitchers but that's pushing it for me.

We'll have to wait for Wolf to answer what he feeds Cephs, if anything.

Well I am a little weird I went to the pet store and found freeze-dried flies especially for my cephs. They are small so I can fit into the pitchers, I usually put some into a small dish and add a little water to hydrate them and then put into the mature pitchers. For the inmature, or small mature pitchers I use freeze-dried bloodworms, I mix them with some water and smash it all up and then use an eye-dropper to suck up the bloodworm water liquid and squirt into pitchers.

Thanks Lauren....

I've got a 20 gal. plastic pot that I just made into a bog....now I've got to get some CP's for it.

Eric

OOOH. LUCKY!