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How do you do yours? Ceph leaf pulling


Hannahraptor

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Thought it might be useful to start a topic dedicated to the variety of successful approaches to getting new cephs from leaf pullings. Feel free to add your photos and basic background info (let me know if I've missed anything)

Most of my success has come from growing in the following conditions (grow houses moved for photos).

UK - Midlands

In a mini grow house

Media - either a layer of peat, then perlite with sphagnum on top or peat and perlite. The first option has 95 - 100% success. The latter is more like 90% success.

South East facing windowsill with grow house shaded (book or similar standing in the window sill between the grow house and window)

I take the pullings anytime between Feb and October

Use both types of leaf

The grow house sits in an outer tray (black tray) with water a centimetre deep but the green inner container (has holes in base), which sits just above the water.

Clear lid left on with vents open.

No specific temperature controls, just whatever the house is with no heating on.

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Edited by Multimammat
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I am on a learning curve but I've used small pots (chilli sauce / mint sauce from the takeaway) with a hole melted into the bottom with a soldering iron. Then I've filled the pots with live sphagnum and poked the end of the leaf pulling into the sphagnum. Then I've put the pots in a propagator in partly shaded sun getting up to about 37c.

It's worked well. Got a few sprouting leaves.

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I started out by placing my leaf pullings in sphagnum but found that sometimes the developing roots got damaged when transplanting them in to peat. I now just put them directly in to peat and they take just as well. Having said that I have some that have been in peat since the end of last year and although the leaves still look fine there is no sign of growth yet.

Dave

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One of my leaf pulling experiments is to make up a compost mixture and form a depression in the compost in the plantpot using something about an inch in diameter. I reckon less than an inch would be OK as well. Then I've filled the depression with live Sphagnum for the leaf to be placed in. This means it won't need to be disturbed when it sprouts.

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I grow my plants in the south of Italy, very near To north Africa... The climate Is very hot (minimum 5 degrees-maximum 40 degrees) and dry conditions... I put in every period of the year the leaves of cephalotus in pure sphagnum in a plastic box, than I cover with kitchen film. I put all in a north-facing windowswill, out of the house, when never arrive direct sun.. 100% of success (only three leaves)... The bigger one, after one year, Is putting the first adult pitcher... Now I'm trying To do a leaf pulling in pure sand...

A curious thing: with the same method is forming a root one of four juvenile pither of heliamphora heterodoxa per minor (25% success) ;-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm down in Kent and just thought I'd add my methods ( this time ).....

I've tried several different methods but I find planting the leaves directly into sphagnum is the easiest, mainly just because it stays moist longer and you really don't want your leaves to dry out.

So around may time I found a couple of fast food ice cream containers I'd saved, I filled them with sphagnum and set about my plants with the tweezers......

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I didn't count how many from each plant but I had more losses than strikes as per..... As always I had more success with the ' typical' clones than with any named varieties.

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I ended up with 5 typical ( two leaves looked dead but had roots so we'll see if they survive ....

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I was really chuffed with a ' genuine' hummer I bought early on in the year, it had a lovely wide midrib and was an established plant, unfortunately when I got it it was suffering from a mildew/ fungus issue. I treated it with copper fungicide but it remained, unwisely I gave it another stronger dose and then this....

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I'm not sure if it was the fungicide or the fact it was a very hot wkend and the plant was near the top of my unit and it overheated, luckily a pulling I took just before has struck nicely and a couple more ' dead' leaf pulls had a root so will keep fingers crossed.

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I planted all the leaves into their own pots today, roots in sphagnum ball then planted into 50/50 peat and perlite so will see if they survive the transplant. Luckily the dead looking ' hummer' looks to be pulling through too....

image_zpscw7xekng.jpeg

Edited by Blocky71
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  • 3 weeks later...

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