- Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:41 am
#359045
I can't really say I've noticed any difference in growth rate between the different lightings. Yes, there will be periods of times when the cephalotus doesn't seem to be doing anything for months on end, but then all of a sudden it is followed by a period of rapid growth. My theory in what is happening is, during the slow foliage growth, the plant is busy growing the rhizome and roots system... once the balance tips to one side where the root system can support a bigger plant, that is when you see what seems to be vigorous growth. This balance was sort of confirmed when I divided the plant. When I first started keeping cephalotus, I've always questioned what was the trigger or how does the plant know to produce either juvenile or adult pitchers. I've seen many people's leaf or pitcher cutting start producing juvenile pitchers but when dividing a plant, the plant starts producing both juvenile and adult pitchers. This is the same thing I experienced with my divisions. 7 of the 8 divisions started putting out adult pitchers. Only 1 started with juveniles. After the plants have a number of adult pitchers, they then started producing juvenile pitchers again from the same growth points. I think this is a way the plant is trying to balance the root system with the foliage that is above ground. I think juvenile pitchers are produced as a shortcut to have something good enough to capture light and prey while the root system still can't fully support or able to produce more adult pitchers. Once the root system catches up, the plant will only produce adult pitchers from there on out unless the roots are disturbed.