I agree. Our Ceph was growing great until someone decided to "repot" it...
It hasn't been the same since. Also, it is not uncommon for Ceph's to die
back without any reason - however they will normally grow back from the roots
a la D. capensis. (Oh, you mentioned that further on.)
> Ceph. is called a "slow grower", but I think it depends partially
> on the growing conditions and season.
>
> I recommend the species. It's very neat looking, and it's reasonably
> good about coming back from the roots if you make cultivation mistakes.
> It grows well under lights also, but in Hawaii you may not want to
> do that.
Definitely seems to take a long time to grow well. If you get it to produce
large, healthy pitchers - *don't change any of the growing conditions!!* It
is definitely worthwhile planting them in large pots with good soil and just
letting them grow without repotting. Definitely easier (and I think usually
more attractive/interesting) than Nepenthes ;-) I love those cute, furry
mocasin traps!
>>One of the most interesting features of Cephalotus for me is its
>>transition from juvenile to adult growth. The juvenile pitchers are about
>>1 cm long or less, and instead of having the thickly-ribbed peristome of
>>the mature pitchers, they have only a few small spines. These are
>>produced until the plant is big enough, then, with no transition form
>>whatsoever, the plant suddenly grows an adult pitcher which may be an inch
>>or so long. As the plant ages it will produce larger pitchers, and then
>>start producing other plants around it, eventually forming a clump.
>
> Just the other day I saw an interesting intermediate form of leaf
> which was in between the trap type and the non trap type.
See the old CP book by Lloyd (I think). There are many stages of trap-leaf
transition, as well as trap structure changes between young plants and mature
plants (akin to Darlingtonia in some ways).
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| MOKING IS A HEALTH HAZARD. | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+