FlyTrapCare Forums

Hello CP fans,

I’m curious if anyone has had luck keeping a Cephalotus outdoors in the summer month. I only have one, a C. follicularis “Daniela”, that is not real happy with me. I think part of the problem could be a lack of temperature drop at night. The plant lives on a sunny window sill with a Nep, Ping & 2 Sundews that are doing great.

I’m in the Pacific Northwest & our day/nights are roughly mid 80s to high 50s.

Anyways, poor thing is down to no pitchers, 1 good looking leaf & 2 tiny leaves that I hope start growing. Clearly, Cephalotus is too advanced for me.

Any advice would be appreciated.

How long have you had it? Also it looks like you repotted it if you got from California carnivores?

I live in eastern Washington, and my cephs hate it outdoors. All their lids go droopy to prevent their digestive juices from evaporating and their pitchers get soft.

salty wrote:How long have you had it? Also it looks like you repotted it if you got from California carnivores?

I’ve had it for 6-7 months. You have a great eye; I did recently repot it. I used mostly the blend from Cal Carn but added some perlite. Mostly, the planting matrix was really packed & crowded with spaghnam moss. It has never been a happy plant.

Which direction does that window face and do you leave those blinds down most of the time? Also what is your watering routine like for it? Also what temperature is your house usually?

salty wrote:Which direction does that window face and do you leave those blinds down most of the time? Also what is your watering routine like for it? Also what temperature is your house usually?

The window is east facing, lots of morning/afternoon sun. The plants also have a supplemental grow light too for overcast days etc. The blinds are opened to direct the sun onto the plants. I’ve been watering the Ceph like I do my Pings (only a couple cm of water is their tray, let it soak up/evaporate and let go without water for 2-3 days. The house is generally 70-75 degrees. The temp is what I’m thinking is the Cephs issue right now.

I’ve been keeping carnivorous plants for many years but newer to cephalotus so I’ll give my opinion but hopefully someone that knows them well chimes in.
I don’t believe the temperature is the issue. Mine have been growing fine with temps steady from 73-79. I believe the temperature drops are really only needed if the day temps are pushing upper 80s 90s.
I think you would be shocked how much those open blinds are really cutting back the amount of light. Light through a window is already at the low end now introduce the blinds which are blocking a good percentage. I use a par meter but you may be able to use a lux meter which is cheap to see the difference in light levels. Good luck

salty wrote:I’ve been keeping carnivorous plants for many years but newer to cephalotus so I’ll give my opinion but hopefully someone that knows them well chimes in.
I don’t believe the temperature is the issue. Mine have been growing fine with temps steady from 73-79. I believe the temperature drops are really only needed if the day temps are pushing upper 80s 90s.
I think you would be shocked how much those open blinds are really cutting back the amount of light. Light through a window is already at the low end now introduce the blinds which are blocking a good percentage. I use a par meter but you may be able to use a lux meter which is cheap to see the difference in light levels. Good luck

Thank you for the input. I can try pulling the blinds up completely. I have a small terarium but I figured, like my Nep, it wouldn’t appreciate the lack of a temp drop. I hope the little Ceph pulls through.

I just want to say i bought one form California Carnivores also. Its planting medium isn't really that good but I have not repotted it. I noticed that mine hasn't grown too much. I would just suggest you get as much light as you can like people have said.