FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have a ceph that is planted in a mix of silica, sphagnum and perlite. I know I am not supposed to mess with the roots of this plant but I am concerned about possible root rot. Can I use the powder and sprinkle on top of soil mix to prevent root rot?

Not sure what the powder means but your mix sounds fine. Increase media aeration and no standing water should be a good start at rot prevention.

Thank you @Nocturne, for initiating this thread, and folks for chiming in. @Hollyhock - you're purple/black is stunning!

Complete ceph newbie here, but here's a story in four pics.

Last fall @Apollyon surprised me with a generous Hummer's Giant in a trade we did. We'd talked about a typical because I just wanted to get experience, and honestly was a little nervous about trying one. But, in typical Apollyon-style, he levelled up.

Here it is on arrival - healthy beauty! Note, that pitcher in the upper-right, it will appear in the coming photos. I think it was grumpy about moving away from its previous lush life, because it has never opened. Here it is in mid-May (7-months later). Note - Mr. Grumpy in the lower left, and a FLOWER! mid-plant. 5-6 weeks later, here we are (today) - I was NOT really prepared for this - yes, it actually comes up 3/4 of the way on a truck tire/hubcap. And there's Grumpy pants next to the latest pitcher: I really just let the flower grow out of curiosity, but I was also worried about taxing the plant, so I took some leaf cuttings to let my learning journey continue. The plant is planted mostly in sphag (I think) and I pour rain water through the pot until the 'tray' is full, then I let the tray dry for a day or two, and repeat. I also check on the pitchers, and try and keep water in them (even if I'm not watering the plant). It gets fed betta fish pellets ~1x/month and only on the mature pitchers.

Sorry, I was at work and forgot the name of it. Is it safe to use this at the bas of the plant or must it be used directly on roots? https://www.amazon.com/BONIDE-PRODUCT-S ... 3656&psc=1

madrone wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 1:20 am I really just let the flower grow out of curiosity, but I was also worried about taxing the plant, so I took some leaf cuttings to let my learning journey continue.

If the plant is healthy, flowering should not be detrimental to its health. (And yours appears to be very happy & healthy.

andynorth wrote:Sorry, I was at work and forgot the name of it. Is it safe to use this at the bas of the plant or must it be used directly on roots? https://www.amazon.com/BONIDE-PRODUCT-S ... 3656&psc=1

Have no idea but I would recommend moisture and substrate quality control instead of relying on chems unless its easily transmissible. Always a chance to chem burn your plant so I would research ingredient then start with tiny dose.

DragonsEye wrote:If the plant is healthy, flowering should not be detrimental to its health

I've read differing things on this. I may not be thinking about this holistically, but it seems like there is a balance of energy, and if more is going to flowering/seed development, less may be going to growing/plant development? In any case, this is a plant I am still getting familiar with, and so, I don't fully trust myself to notice signs of decline before they become a one-way street. I may be on the 'specially-wary' footing as I've also read cephs can tank without notice.

That, of course, doesn't mean I'm not happy to hear said plant may be looking happy and healthy. I should get so lucky!

BE clone in coco coir/perlite mix is putting out some decent sized pitchers, but no signs of flowers. The EB is looking grumpy from all the energy thats going into the nearly foot long flower stalk. Gave supplemental osmocote into pitcher. Its still getting taller by the day so hopefully wont need a ladder to work on pollination. Individual flower bud is becoming more distinct.

These two are growing side by side in the same mix. The one on the left gets almost black under the Yescom lights.

Panman wrote:These two are growing side by side in the same mix. The one on the left gets almost black under the Yescom lights.

Very rich pigments! Are those some specific cultivar?

Nope, just typicals.

Those are definitely something special!

Which Osmocote do you use? Can it be used on other carnivorous plants also or just cephs?

@Panman - wow, those are lovely!

andynorth wrote:Which Osmocote do you use? Can it be used on other carnivorous plants also or just cephs?

I use the 15-9-12 variant. It works well with Nepenthes amd sarracenias too. I feed 1-2 pellet to ceph each time. Won’t recommend it to drosera (except regia) and flytraps.