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Post by Sawchuk on Apr 1, 2008 20:14:53 GMT -5
so as many of you know iv been struggling to care for my giant ceph, problems ranging from not enough light, pest and disease's and probobly many other factors iv overseen. the main factor im sure is its growing enviroment, its place right now is below the window recieveing very lil direct light if not any, with a lil humidity dish which i know isent helping But i think the problem could be worse as it may have root rot or something along those lines. so iv been thinking tryin to decide how i should go about creating a proper enviroment or "warm house" style terrarium thinking i could start form scratch and start gettin the original T4 warm / cool bulbs, as it would allow more space for other plants with similar temp requirements, like many of you have with your shelf setups, with the many diffrent layers of lights OR order or find a predesigned / prebuild HO florescent fixture for plant growth specifically it should look like this homeharvest.com/highoutputfluorescentsnewwave.htmim totally willing to spend some cash on it, i want it 2 fit inside a three tier plant setup?? but is this not a good idea?? i am capable of putting something like this together myself, without ordering ,but i would rather have this around since i build everything itd be nice to have some nice lights and these are the horrific pics i know many of you ceph majors look at my situation and laugh which i cant say im not suprised iv definitely put this one off for 2 long, and i havent been using the forum as i should be, im sure theres been many discussions on how to properly take cutting or make a proper enviro but im unable to find any?? possible misslabled?? any idea's how i should go at this OR maybe a link to a thread were this has already been dicussed, or idea's on light's??a hero right now would be great, my ways arent wokring for this guy at all but he is my only sick plant now, From what i can see anyways common girls youve helped meout with worse before!!!
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Post by Rug on Apr 1, 2008 20:22:02 GMT -5
Well light wise I am currently in the process of purchasing one of those T5 HO 4" 4 bulb fixtures on ebay.com (not .ca). As for a rack... I went to a local grocery store and asked if they had any spare racks that they were gonna throw out and got a decent one. They go thru a ton of that stuff (I used to work at one so I've seen it). Talk to a manager and ask to even buy it. For something they may throw out it may cost u $5 or so. As for the plant..... I have no real advise as i don't have a Ceph yet so sorry for the lack of input.
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Post by jay on Apr 1, 2008 20:27:24 GMT -5
ever try growing it on a south faceing window sill, the plants donot mind cool temps, Plus get it outta that soil, check the root if its white with a bit of pink in it colouration it should be good to go , mix a really light mix of perlite and peat , You really should not grow the thing in LFS Unless you tend to keep thing on the dry side . Ive seen plants do the Lazurous (come back from the dead ) time and time again ,
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Post by lloyd on Apr 1, 2008 22:26:30 GMT -5
I agree with Jay. Lots of light, a light, airy soil mix with good drainage. Don't give up on it. If the roots are completely dead try cuttings. Leaf pulls, stems, etc, just put them in moist vermiculite, lots of light and not too warm. And wait........
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Post by Rick Hillier on Apr 2, 2008 6:00:58 GMT -5
All of my cephs are planted in a 50-50 mix of peat and "white lightning" sand under fairly bright lighting in pots inside of an aquarium with about 1" of water in the bottom. Mine have also begun to have problems as well lately, including the "giant" form I got from Purpman.
The giant's current pitchers seem to be withering, but there is still new growth in the crown. The typicals tend to get balckish in the crown area, but it doesn't look like fungus or mold. I'll try to get some pics of this up tonight.
Strangely, I've noticed that the surface of the media that contains the "white lightning" tends to get somewhat crusty on the surface.
I had one "typical" crown die back, but there was a new shoot coming out from the base, so I pulled it out of the media and found the big thick "main" root , but no other roots besides that one.
I moved it into my adelae tank that is using LFS to see if it recovers.
I think I'll transplant the others into a mix of peat/perlite as recommended and see what happens. I dure hope that they recover.
>>> Rick <<<
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Post by vraev on Apr 2, 2008 7:02:07 GMT -5
well....exactly as the guys said..... at this point....I would say unpot it, carefully get the leaf cutting from it....andthe leaf SHOULD HAVE some of the white corm attached to it. Hopefully its still white. Then, you place it in live sphagnum and hope for the best for around 3 weeks to maybe a few months. It takes its own freaking time to either strike or not. GO for a light media guys. I found that heavy media doesn't work for me. I guess you gotta find out what exactly works in your conditions. its the safest way to go with a ceph. Yup! cephs don't mind the cold. LMAO! My room is freezing at probably 30F as I left the fan on in the window bringing outside air in to cool my nepenthes enclousure. I AM at ultra highland temps right now....and its cold. lol! however, the plants like it....so I don't mind freezing myself.
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Post by Syble on Apr 2, 2008 8:02:09 GMT -5
LOLHA Vraev! A true plant slave haha. As for the ceph, I'm beginning to think that the giant form is a fair bit more sensitive then the typicals... Mine plain old dosen't like me.... best I can say, it grows a bit then dies back to only a couple leaves... Thought Like rick, the sand i'm using is causing some kind of crust, so I'm dreading haveing to transplant 10 cephs, 2 neps and 15 sundews... Other then the crust the others aren't showing distress.. but the cephs are the longer they're kept in it. If you're making a stand I like sunshine and plant/aquarium bulbs, they get the job done and don't cost a fortune... remember in a twin or 4 light fixture you can mix and match bulbs. Sib
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Post by vraev on Apr 2, 2008 8:45:03 GMT -5
it depends on how big you want the grow stand as well. If you like want a 4 foot by 3 foot area of grow area....you have probably get a 4 tube t8 or T5 if you are rich. lol! if you want to do a stand setup, then you need individual 2 tube lights for each rack. So! it is based on your choice. lol syb! temps were down to like 50F or even 40's in the enclousure. Right up the alley for my king and talang. Hope they slept like babies. lol!
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Post by gregory on Apr 2, 2008 15:31:29 GMT -5
I grow mine in LFS in a 6 inch plastic pot, BUT I make sure there is no standing water of any kind in the saucer under the pot, after watering it. I water it only once a week. Over the years I found very often the less you do to your plants, the better they seem to do. I guess some might call it benign neglect (although mine is based usually more on a lack of time). Greg
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Post by vraev on Apr 2, 2008 16:33:52 GMT -5
true! But I notice its always hard to neglect a plant when you get it. After a period of like a month or two, your plant gets adjust to you and you get adjusted to the plant and believe that you finally have obtained the plant and then you start neglecting it. I notice that with myself. Inititally I used to be sooo worried. Well...it was mostly during the summer months when temps used to go up to 95F in my nep enclousure and even for the ceph. Thats when the growth tip literally burnt. I always feel winter is the best growing season for indoor growers. My plants seem to do amazing in winter.
Don't sweat it Sawchuck. As I said before. don't worry too much if you loose the plant. try your best mate. Just try to learn from this experience. try salvaging whatever you can. use a media like mine: 50% peat | 50% perlite a few orchid bark chips... (its not exactly mine...as mine is a lot drier.... 40% peat, 40% perlite 20 % orchid bark.). Dry is better than wet with cephs. sphagnum was great for jay and purpman and the others here who have luck wiht it. I don't....so its best to learn what works in your conditions.
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Post by jay on Apr 2, 2008 16:35:08 GMT -5
Rick it sounds like your keeping your plants too wet , the plants don't like to be waterlogged , and is the water your useing tap,R.O or rain? a little mineral build up is normal
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Post by Sawchuk on Apr 2, 2008 20:10:53 GMT -5
hmmm iv purchased all neccesary equipment except lights for the setup, and im planning a good soil change wiht somehting very lite since my watering techniques are excessive i believe HERE THE PROB IM FACING NOW my lights wont come for a while and i fell i should do somehting now while i still have the single leaf say i remove it form the soil and change it, were should i locate it if i dont have proper lighting?? should i wait till the proper enviro is created 2 change things?? or change then wait for the lights?? HMMM i could hookup my lastyears outdoors T4 warmwhite/coolwhite bulbs in the basement were it remains cooler, just suspend them 8-10 inch above plant and add some pebble trays for humidity since its a dirt ground basement ,allow it 2 remain dryer?? for the time being these ones, there is a bit of reflection, prob weaker lights def not at there prime but it would be temporary for the time being or i could attemp a west / north window i just dunno man o man?? SUGGESTIONS??
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Post by Sawchuk on Apr 2, 2008 20:18:34 GMT -5
iv never succesfully gottin a pulling / cutting to sprout and grow, nor any seeds and im sure its a simple thing im over looking, but thats how its been and its a bit discouraging but this hobby only gives you what you put back in to it yaknow, and i cant deny that my techniques arent the cleanest or most civilzed so i get what im goin for i guess when i dont follow proper procedure lol
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Post by jay on Apr 2, 2008 21:40:12 GMT -5
civilized nah its more trial and error clean is good , and read read read . A excellent book i still use as referance peiatropaulo's book on cp , The only cp book with almost al growing info. Ceph don't need bright light a window sill is great west window , (bright indirect lighting ) a sulphur spray wouldn't hurt either
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Post by Rick Hillier on Apr 3, 2008 6:59:32 GMT -5
Hi Jay,
I generally keep my cephs such that the top of the media is nearly dry, but just underneath, it is moist. They are in pots that are around 5" high and there is typically 1/2" to 3/4" of water in the bottom. Once in a while, I give things a good soaking and have water 1/2 way up the pots, but I don't do it to this particular tank very often.
I don't know if I have mineral buildup in my pots... I do have a blackish crusty stuff forming on top of the media, but I don't know what it would be. I only water with dionized RO water.
I removed the giant ceph from its pot last night (the crown was declining more noticeably each day) and it had a ton of fine roots which looked healthy... and there were two new offshoots forming on the sides of the main "tap root"...
In contrast to that, the typical ceph that I recently dealt with (same media, same pot, same tank), had absolutely no roots on it whatsoever.
This is strange... I hope that I don't lose these plants.
>>> Rick <<<
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