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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 14, 2014 8:58:55 GMT -5
How long does Ceph roots get? How long will the roots get in the first year and for both questions how long does it take?
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Post by hal on Jun 14, 2014 9:52:12 GMT -5
How long does Ceph roots get? How long will the roots get in the first year and for both questions how long does it take? 1. As long as they need to 2. As long as they need to 3. As long as it takes There are no firm answers to your questions. The best anyone could say is that the roots might be 3-6 times the length of the biggest pitcher, sometimes more. Google some photos of unpotted cephs to get an idea. But yours will depend on pot depth, watering regimen and the plants themselves.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 14, 2014 10:34:42 GMT -5
ok, now they are in 4.5 inches deep plastic pot 5 inches wide is that fine for a while? they were top watered to get the media mostly moist now they are watered y tray water is added when the tray dries
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 19, 2014 8:33:37 GMT -5
Are these slow growing plants all I seen mine do was raise a pitcher off the surface Its a plantlet but is showing about 3/8 inch pitchers but has not increased in size.the last time I looked at it there is what looks like a pitcher mouth starting ! So do these grow slow?
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Post by cory on Jun 19, 2014 9:59:48 GMT -5
Ceph's do grow quite slow. How long have you been growing it? Here's an example of a time frame When I got it and a year and 1/2 or so later Attachments:
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 19, 2014 10:03:53 GMT -5
Mine is still a plantlet showing really small pitchers I had it in peat almost 2 weeks I thought I did something wrong In that time it raised a pitcher then looked like it was stopped and dying so I panicked its expensive and I wanna get to adult if it does die
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Post by cory on Jun 19, 2014 12:29:37 GMT -5
Cephalotus in my experience does take a break from time to time. Mine will stop growing or grow at a slower pace for awhile then seemingly explode with new growth. I don't think your doing anything wrong. My smaller divisions form little fuzzy beginning of pitchers but it takes awhile for them to actually inflate.
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Post by vraev on Jun 20, 2014 6:44:43 GMT -5
How big of a pot can U give them? The tougher they become..and U need to periodically let them dry... the roots go very deep and even out of the drainage holes of a 6-7" square pot. At the same time, in a 3" tall pot. Now below is a 4" square net pot. Below is a 2.5" or 3" square pot from a local hydroponic store. Note: these are old pictures... plants pictured are either dead or broken up and re-propagated into smaller individuals.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 20, 2014 8:23:47 GMT -5
Right now because at the time I was out of pots they are in a 4.5 inch deep pot until they grow then I have a 8 inch pot with a drain hole in the bottom and fits in my watering trays Like your first pic I have one stained with peat is this going to kill or harm the plant? when do I need to let them dry?
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Post by vraev on Jun 20, 2014 10:32:11 GMT -5
I would say that depending on the size of the pot, a 4.5" pot is enough to grow a ceph for at least a couple of years. Again...that depends on rate of growth etc...but I don't think under potting most Cps really impacts it too much. Mostly because the plant generally grows slowly. Also...2y is a good time to refresh media. I would say let it be in that pot for a while. Stained with peat? that was because I removed the plant from the pot and was amazed by the length of roots. I didn't bother washing the soil off like I did in the second pic. when you plant it, the plant will have peat around it (provided u use a peat based media). That won't kill the plant...unless u pot it in pure peat. I use a very light mix for my cephs. To the point that water freely drains the bottom. It contains equal parts peat, perlite and orchid bark, favouring the latter two than the former. Regd letting them dry..thats a cultivation choice. Perhaps a more recommended one. I mean that let the pot dry "slightly" to damp touch before re-watering. I used to go to the extreme here. The media in my first try with cephs was so light that water poured from top would just run out the bottom. This means water retention is very low. Such a plant might need placement in a drainage tray. The roots then grow towards the water. This method is also good to prevent rot. I never ever lost a ceph growing this way. Note..the pic below..how bone dry the media looks. Ofcourse, no matter how dry it is on top, it is definitely damp deeper in the pot. Same plant as above after a while However, this plant was relatively slower than others which grew in higher humidity (open to room air without a cover/but still within a water tray). This below is an example of the latter.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 20, 2014 10:58:38 GMT -5
I used pure spaghnum peat moss,I was told this was ok until I get it in a deeper pot so thats what I used but reading your post am a little skeptical about moving it because I had a sundew and moved it to give it more space to grow and it died on me right know its a seedling with pitchers 3/8 a inch long it was planted 2 weeks thats when I got it into a pot cause I never had one!(store ran out) since then it has raised a pitcher of the surface and I was told its growing and happy! I do have a 8 inch deep pot once it needs transplanting. do you think its going to live? @$60.00 each its not a loss I am prepared to risk.I got 2.
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Post by vraev on Jun 20, 2014 12:13:44 GMT -5
Don't worry too much about it. 100% peat means every time you top water, the soil will compact down. That is very dangerous with these plants. However, you can tweak it by:
1) Decrease amount of times you water 2) Use a skewer to poke holes in the soil.. opening it up. The soil needs to be nice and fluffy.
Also, notice the sheet moss in the last pic. Once that starts to take over, cephs decline because the sheet moss chokes the air holes in the media. That is a concern with pure peat.
Show us a picture of your plants. Perhaps you can try something.. repot one into the media mix that I recommend/use. Leave the other as is. We can then compare how they do.
If both your plants decline, give me a shout and I'll send you a division from my plants.
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 20, 2014 12:26:30 GMT -5
I hardly ever water it,a little in the tray as needed and thats it ,let the roots wick water from the tray I say!I top watered once before planting to get the water in the soil and to cut down on dust from the peat. will do and here is hoping all is well. Perlite with nothing added is like looking for a needle in a field of hay lol!! A friend said he once tried rinsed aquarium gravel as a sub for perlite and said besides the added weight it worked ok!
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Post by vraev on Jun 20, 2014 13:16:24 GMT -5
I actually like perlite for the weight. Trust me, for transport, having light pots is very convenient. I also bought a nice bag of sand in a recent preorder, so first thing to do once I am back home is to cleanup the slime off the surface of my ceph pots (on the peat) and cover it up with sand. I might also finally try what I see a lot of other expert growers do: Use a peat sand mix with a nice 2" layer of sand for top dressing. check this video out for a nice guide on propagation and typically how media/plants should be taken care of. youtu.be/v0VbYl2zGbQ
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Post by Dennis A(cook1973) on Jun 21, 2014 9:50:21 GMT -5
Don't worry too much about it. 100% peat means every time you top water, the soil will compact down. That is very dangerous with these plants. However, you can tweak it by: 1) Decrease amount of times you water 2) Use a skewer to poke holes in the soil.. opening it up. The soil needs to be nice and fluffy. Also, notice the sheet moss in the last pic. Once that starts to take over, cephs decline because the sheet moss chokes the air holes in the media. That is a concern with pure peat. Show us a picture of your plants. Perhaps you can try something.. repot one into the media mix that I recommend/use. Leave the other as is. We can then compare how they do. If both your plants decline, give me a shout and I'll send you a division from my plants.I think its time to give up on the smaller ceph it seems to have gotten smaller and now has white spots on it!( I might plant the smaller ceph in the same pot as the VFT seeds just to see what happens) The bigger one still looks healthy ,the smaller one has a new leaf coming out of the base of the cuttling As a precaution I am gonna get more peat,uproot both and get them in fresh soil and a deeper pot I think,almost sure its 8 inches deep(1 is & the flytrap pot is about 6 inches deep and has its own tray) to see if that might help since I do not move the pots I am going to mix aquarium gravel with the peat for aeration...hope it helps oh after the get uprooted I am putting the cutting on a moist paper towel so the roots are not shocked and kill the cutting If you see something wrong here PM me or if you have a different method I am sowing some VFT seeds s well they were stratified and I had them in pure water sooo....time to retrieve and plant huh? I will get pics uploaded soon but my phone only is 2 Megapixel and are not good quality(maybe if I select a lower resolution setting) I will try so if it a bit hard to see forgive me. [/font][/i][/font]
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