Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:01:03 +0100 From: Phil Wilson <cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1130$foo@default> Subject: Re: Cephalotus flower
Albert,
> This spring, after a feeding of live crickets and being moved to a
> brighter
>spot in my greenhouse, my cephalotus which I got last year from
>California Carnivores ( thanks, Peter.. ) decided to give me a flower.
> Now, following the conventional wisdom that Flower Removal ==
> Stronger Plant,
>and in search of material for nefarious TC experiments, I have removed
>the flower stalk, but this brings up some interesting theoretical
>questions.
> Has anyone had any experience with getting cephalotus to set seed?
> Are they
>self fertile? Is it dangerous to let a fairly small ceph ( maybe 6-7
>small traps ) flower?
I have not found that allowing Cephalotus to flower makes any difference
to the growth of the plant. However, the flowers are nothing special so
unless you want seed you may as well remove them.
Cephalotus is self fertile. You will probably find that any small
insects present will do the pollination work for you but if you want to
make sure simply run a soft brush over the flowers two or three times
(over the duration of the flower scape). When the seeds are ripe they
appear as brown tufts from the old flower head.
Sow the seed onto some standard CP soil mix and wait. Germination can
take up to several months. You can speed things up by covering the pots
of seed with a piece of glass.
Regards,
Phil Wilson
Email: cp@pwilson.demon.co.uk
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