FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Discuss Sarracenia, Heliamphora, Darlingtonia, Cephalotus plant care here

Moderator: Matt

By Kep5461
Posts:  2
Joined:  Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:45 am
#385785
I received my young, potted XXL clump in May. I am getting a lot of vigorous leaf growth but the traps do not seem to be developing. Is this normal? Anything I can do to promote trap growth? Thank you.
Attachments:
image.jpg
image.jpg (1.91 MiB) Viewed 2389 times
User avatar
By Shadowtski
Location: 
Posts:  4719
Joined:  Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:19 am
#385786
Cephs are a slow growing plant. They take months to acclimate instead of weeks. The fact that photosynthetic leaves are growing is a good sign. After it feels at home and happy again, it will start growing new pitchers.

Just give it good CP conditions and sit back.
Just my 02¢ worth.
Good growing,
Mike
Nepenthes0260 liked this
User avatar
By Apollyon
Location: 
Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#385787
Agreed. My cephs grow in "bursts" of sorts. When I got mine originally, I kept them domed in high humidity and they didn't make a lot of moves. Months passed by. I picked up an eden black from a user here and heard they grew this impressive plant in normal room conditions so I decided to follow suit with the plant. I fertilized it with Maxsea 1/2 tsp per gallon once a week very light and it sat for about 3 weeks I think but then it began to grow. Matt (the admin of this forum) was telling me about how he was experimenting with filling the pitchers with a similar kind of solution and I thought it sounded good so I tried myself.

I filled the pitchers with solution rather frequently, as unlike the surface, the inside of the pitchers are much more resistant to that kind of treatment and if one does die, it just terminates the pitcher. Much safer. Anyway, after another couple weeks the thing just went crazy. It started with 5 pitchers and it was up to growing 20ish within weeks IIRC. I loved the response so I went for broke and moved all my cephs into the open (no acclimation) and let them get settled in. Filled those pitchers as well and my Hummer's Giants which had sat pathetically small followed suit and started turning them out. Took longer to get over the shock but the overall response was better. These days they're all doing well.

Fertilizing is risky business but filling the pitchers is a much safer approach. I use 1/2 tsp Maxsea per gallon and fill them up when I have time. Since your plant is small, i'd fill them with a small syringe and try to fill the ones I could from different points on the plant. If you're vigilant about it and the lighting is good, you may be surprised. It's not for everyone but I personally felt like it was a gamechanger. Some do osmocote pellets (just one per pitcher). I never did that because I felt it was too concentrated but some go that route. Good luck!

As Shadowtski said though, it's a fairly slow grower and takes some time but it growing leaves means it is growing and is likely to start making some moves soon. CPs need some kind of nutrient source in order to vigorously grow which it doesn't get indoors. Worms and the like are a safe approach. For me, I have too many to do stuff like that unless it's a very special plant. If you're able to crush some worms into power and add a small amount of water, that could be a safe alternative. When the plant does start growing in earnest though, it's going to fly. IIRC, mine also turned out new photo leaves before it began to put out larger pitchers

If you're interested, check out my thread post375416.html#p375416 where I tracked the progress of my EB. It was around the time I discovered my approach.
By Kep5461
Posts:  2
Joined:  Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:45 am
#386254
Thank you both. I’ll give it more time to acclimate. May do some fertilizing next summer. I’m in no hurry. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t inhibiting it’s growth. Thanks again.
User avatar
By NightRaider
Location: 
Posts:  418
Joined:  Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:01 am
#386256
Apollyon wrote:Matt (the admin of this forum) was telling me about how he was experimenting with filling the pitchers with a similar kind of solution and I thought it sounded good so I tried myself.
Not to go off topic or anything but that's actually some really great information there considering I wasn't even looking for it. I'd heard of that being tried on sarrs before obviously with seemingly undeniable results and will likely attempt it on some of mine in the next few weeks, but I hadn't even thought about trying it with cephs. I'm just finishing up a terrarium that I've considered trying a ceph in pending the humidity after I get it up and running for a few days, so I'm glad I'm seeing that this is an option now rather than after finally getting one and then letting it potentially sputter along for months.

Piese originale Ford S-Max 2015-2020 alegerea pi[…]

https://www.pieseford.ro/piese-auto-ford-s-max-20[…]

If you are going to use peat/perlite just slip pot[…]

Hello!

Welcome

Chilly in LA…

I've got a friend in Harvey, but that looks like […]

1 year old cape!

My cape is being evil. It died back when I did I[…]

The Sphagnum Yacht

We all love cotton...blue jeans, t-shirts, underwe[…]

I counted 21 in this one. Both are flavas that I g[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!