FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So, I had a Cephalotus that was doing really well for me but I had to go out of town for a week and it died. I overwatered it, hoping that it would have enough water to make it but I came back and it was dry and went rapidly down hill. How have you handled going out of town and keeping these monsters going? Any home made automatic water-ers?

A couple of things I have done in the past:

1. Big, light colored pot with a good amount of peat in the mix. Big pot takes a long time to dry out, light colored means it does not get as hot, and thus dry out as quickly, peat heavy mix soaks up lots of water and holds onto it.

2.Good sized, relatively deep tray. Holds lots of water and takes a long time to dry out.

3. Bag a plant or put it in a terrarium with a glass top. No way it drys out in a week or even two. Longer than that and you might have other problems.

The first one is only good if you go away a lot and so can be prepared well ahead of time. The second one is ok but if your home is very dry or you're gone for a longer time, then you might still have a problem. The final one works great but do not, under any circumstances, leave the plant in a sunny window while you are gone.

Yes, one of the advantages of bog plants is that you can’t really “overpot” them in general because they appreciate the constant moisture. Which is not to say that you can’t get the soil too wet.

I have housemates who can handle dumping some water into my Ping trays a couple of times a week. But with more water-sensitive things like Nepenthes and Cephalotus, I usually lodge them with someone else who knows what they’re doing if I’m going to be gone for more than a week. And of course, with the express willingness to return the favor!



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4. Bob's answer. Very easy. Might be the way to go if you have any responsible and trustworthy friends/family.

I once had a ceph get killed when I went on vacation, so I use the "overpotted" method. The pot is much larger than needed and I used a 50/50 peat and red lava rock mix. I can soak it and it's good for about a week.