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New Cephalotus cuttings / pullings: propagation and potting


CephFan

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Evening All,

I have put this on FB but I thought I would post it here as it is easier to search for later if anyone is interested.

 

I put seven pitcher cuttings (or 'pullings' if you prefer... I don't care!) into live sphagnum in the early summer and had left them there without any intervention other than occasional peering in. No rooting gel or anything additional other than rainwater.

 

I use small food containers which then sit in steady temperatures under some not too intense LED lights
gallery_8721_835_871757.jpg

 

Plenty of new growth in there when I took the lid off today
gallery_8721_835_79224.jpg

 

I picked off the sphagnum and all seven pitchers had new growth
gallery_8721_835_203772.jpg

 

Now to potting up. I am NOT saying this is the 'right' way to do it nor am I claiming to be an expert but it works for me. I use perforated pond pots and mound the compost in the middle.
gallery_8721_835_1142182.jpg

 

I then carefully plant the new plantlet with the roots carefully dropped into a hole made with a dibber.
gallery_8721_835_374645.jpg

 

Finally I put some lime-free gravel (crushed granite in this case) around the mound which helps stabilise it while watering and also looks nice.
gallery_8721_835_1043446.jpg

 

So seven pitchers become seven new plants labelled and ready for the greenhouse.
gallery_8721_835_291829.jpg

 

Cheers,
Steve

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I put seven pitcher cuttings into live sphagnum in the early summer and had left them there 

 

Cheers Steve for the great job u have done!  :tu:

 

Just for the protocol - maybe u should add under what temps u root them.  Because if I put cuttings for rooting in early summer in my climate in Bulgaria, my success will be 0% and dead cuttings in no time due to my hot temps. :yes:

Edited by dimitar
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Hi Dimitar,

Yes that's a fair point.

Temperature - I generally have the cuttings in their closed boxes in the shed (which has 2" / 5cm of glass fibre insulation so fairly stable).

These are lit by low power white LED lights which produce a little warmth but not much and are controlled by a timer.

I have an electronic thermometer module (£3 from eBay) with a remote probe in the closed container the whole lot are in and the temp seems to stay at around 20-24C during the day (falling a little at night.

The key seems to be not too intense (temp or lighting) and steady conditions.

Cheers

Steve

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100% success rate, that's an impressive result, thanks for pics Steve, first good shots of pitcher pullings I've seen rather than leaf.

I lost a couple of rooted leaf pulls after I transferred from sphagnum to peat, it may have been coincidence but now I keep the roots in a sphagnum ball and then plant that into the peat.

Have you had any losses in the past after transfer?

Nice work

Cheers Chris

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Mine wern't in a sealed container, just a plastic cup filled with sphagnum and the leaves pushed in around the sides.

There shouldn't have been any humidity issues in my case which made me think the " shock " was from the rapid change of medium.

I just try and keep things as steady and stable as I can but still with limited success.

Some of my " runt " pullings that I thought wouldn't make it have done really well the last couple of months whereas a very prolific pulling I had high hopes for has all but shrivelled to nothing.

A very frustrating plant at times but I guess that's what makes it so rewarding when they thrive.

Cheers Chris

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Well DT301 it doesn't seem to matter too much in terms of getting roots and shoots forming. However in general the bigger the cutting, the stronger the new plant will be, at least initially. However a small leaf and plant should grown on just as well in time.

Cheers

Steve

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Well DT301 it doesn't seem to matter too much in terms of getting roots and shoots forming. However in general the bigger the cutting, the stronger the new plant will be, at least initially. However a small leaf and plant should grown on just as well in time.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks Steve, is there a certain way of pulling the pitchers off the plant up or down ?

image.jpeg

Edited by Deltatango301
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Hi DT301, sorry I missed your post in the Xmas rush.

'Down'' is best but done at the join at the petiole or stalk and the stem. Hold the leaf/pitcher and then use a match stick or similar to push at the join to try to get a small 'heel' of stem of the plant.

Cheers,

Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Hi DT,

I would drain that excess water off there, it is not needed if the moss is damp. The time it takes depends on the cuttings. It can easily be 8 weeks. It won't do any harm to have a look after say 6 weeks to see if there are any signs of roots. Just tease one out and check it, if there is nothing happening then leave it for a couple more weeks.

Cheers

Steve

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Good luck mate, it will be good to see what success rate you get.

I knocked a hummers pitcher of recently and had a go with that but it turned black and died off in a matter of days...

All the while your leaves or pitchers are green there's a good chance they'll strike.

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I spotted that Pets at Home sell live Sphagnum moss for reptiles and other uses.

It isn't exactly inexpensive (£7) but it seems to be very good.

The moss I bought was a red variety.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I tried it at the seventh of March. I took every broken bit into the box. I watered it with rainwater and a trace of borax into the water.

There were a few crowns included which already grew some 1 cm long roots after 3 weeks. None yet grew roots from leafs and pitchers, as far I could see.

 

The Sphagnum is quite loose so looking without disturbing is not very difficult.

 

I could already harvest two times Sphagnum which is growing like mad and lost 4 pitchers which had been a little bit damaged during picking, like no lid or a bit crushed.

 

It is not necessary that you have a long stem on the pitchers, like everybody says.

I found this in another forum

http://ocps.proboards.com/thread/1041/root-ceph-pitcher

 

I took even pitchers adult or juvenile or without any stem just for an experiment, before I found this example. One still alive, has even a hole instead of a stem.

 

 

Thank you very much for the tip, this is a break through for me.

Edited by partisangardener
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