Re: Cephalotus lighting

Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)
Thu, 2 Feb 1995 19:47:45 +0000

> I read somewhere (I think in Marcel Lecoufle's book) that developing
> Cephalotus plants need to be kept in partial shade. I have a very
> young Cephalotus with two tiny traps and two tiny leaves on it in my
> terrarium. It sits approximately 1-1/2 feet under two wide spectrum
> fluorescent lights without shading. The two leaves I mentioned are
> new since I got it (around Dec. 15th), so it seems to be doing well.
> Does anyone think I should shade it a bit with foliage from other
> plants (epiphytes or something) or should I leave it as is since the
> light it is getting is much weaker than direct sun?

I can't speak from huge experience, but my two plants are doing fine
in full sun - mind you, full sun in a British greenhouse might not
be as intense as full sun in other places :-). They are gradually
getting bigger, with traps now 1.5 inches (4cm) from top to bottom.
>From what I read, this is quite a respectable size. The traps get
quite red on the sunward side (until I turn the plants round), so
I guess that too much sun might cause excessive redness.

I notice that the traps seem to secrete a liquid on their toothed
lip. It looks quite enticing, but does not seem to be sticky. Do
these plants ever catch anything? I have never found anything in
the old traps.

The two older ones have now been joined be a 1994 seedling, but
it is still very small after its first year.

-- 
Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)