>> From: "John Phillips" <phillips@LIBRARY.UCSF.EDU>
>>
>>
>> It now grows like crazy, blooms twice a year and has several crowns.
>> I would also recommend using a tall 6-8 inch pot, they like room to
>> grow. After you repot, remember to syringe some water into the traps
>> to prevent dehydration. And they like a little 1/4 to 1/2 strength
>> Miracid or orchid fertilizer syringed into their traps. Hope this
>> helps,
>
>
>Wow John, your Ceph sounds great. I got mine in a more peat than sand
>mix but I think thats got to change now. As alittle quirk though, I'm
>going to try diatoms instead of sand. Also, I've never had much luck
>with fertilizing them.. I'se used the same fertilizer that the rest of
>my CP get => I give it Heliamphora but if I put some in a Cephalotus
>pitcher, in a few days it's dead.
>
>What do you think? Has the soil I'm growing them in pushed them to the
>edge and the fertilizer just finishes them off, the pitcher I mean,
>haven't lost any whole plants in few years.
>
>Dave Evans
Dave, Do you dilute your fertilzer? I only use it at 1/4 to 1/2
strength and usually syringe just a little into the largest and
therefore most accessible traps. (I've had very good luck with orchid
fertilizer.) But I've also misted the non-trap leaves before without
any problems. The largest factor has been the dome I put over the pot.
It's made from a translucent 1 gal. plastic jug and the plant is very
happy sitting inside getting direct sun from 1 or 2pm onward. The temps
inside the dome are too hot for the sphagnum moss, but my Cephalotus
loves it. The traps live longer too.
I don't know if the death of your traps would be related more to the
soil
or humidity or the general health of your plant. Wouldn't the use of
diatoms make your soil alkaline? Does Cephalotus grow in alkaline
soils? John Phillips Email: phillips@library.ucsf.edu Information
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