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Cephalotus problems, possibly root rot?


Baboonum

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Hi forum! 

I'm kinda new here, but have been lurking around for awhile. Sorry for a really long first post, haha!

I recently aquiered 7 cephs from a gentlemen who seem to have taken good care of them, they were all in good shape upon arrival.

My problems started the following morning when i saw a colour change in the largest specimen. It had gone a dull-ish colour and the back of the pitchers looked purplish!? From there the plant went to brown and i eventually cut away all wilted pitchers and a portion of the stem to where i could see white inside, instead of dead tissue. I have since just let it mind its own business thinking it may just have been stressed from the journey here from England (i live in Sweden).

Though, the same thing have continued happening with the others aswell over the last month since their arrival.

It starts of with the larger pitchers withering then the whole plant follows rather quickly. Even though it was happily putting out newgrowth up until right before the collapse.

One of the collapsed plants i went ahead and sacrificed right after its demise to be able to examine its roots (and satisfy my curiosity). When cutting away the almost dead pitchers i noticed the center of the stem had a brown/black colour to it? I kept cutting until this black colour went away and the rest of the roots downwards from there seemed ok, fresh white fibrous roots and the older ones a burgundy colour. So i made root cuttings of everyrhing that seemed healthy.

The other plants that have died down (i've got one healthy looking plant left atm) i've just cut away the dead tissue and left them be for now. The parts that are still above soil level still has a brownish colour to them. If it were root rot wouldn't it just have disintegraded? Or atleast turned black?

Could this be the cephs adjusting, and that they'll eventually come back from the roots? What would YOU have done? Dug up another one and inspect what's happening beneith soil level?

The cephs are sitting on my windowsill (south) with the blinds halfway shut to not get as much direct sun while acclimating (is this totally wrong?). They have a sunblaster 24W T5 fixture above them for light, and obviously a fair amount of natural light goes through the halfway shut blinds.

I've kept to watering them when the soil starts looking a bit dry on the absolute surface.

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. Would be a pity to loose em' all. :( It's really frustating seeing youre beloved plants die down for no apparent reason..

 

Thank's in advance!

/Sonny

 

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Thank you!

Let's see if this works!!

 

Ceph - This one is of the crown 2 days after noticeable declining started.

Ceph 2 - And this one is a shot of the roots after unpotting that same plant.

Seems to be black spreading from the crown downwards? Anyways, the part of the roots still brown were salvaged and potted up in live sphag.

Could this be an issue of crown rot?

5 hours ago, Harro said:

Welcome,

is it possible to post some pictures ?

Harro

Edited by Baboonum
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Hi,

it is hard to say what causes this trouble. I grew Ceph. for many years. In summertime they are in a tray with a steady waterlevel of about 2-3 cm. In the winter I spay them. The substrat  is only wet then.

30222786jz.jpg

30222787gt.jpg

 

My substrat consists of mainly lime free sand of different grain size, perlite and a bit of peat (about 10%) and Seramis. More and more here in Germany using this substrat.

30222797lq.jpg

 

If I had the problem you have I would repot the plants in a different substrat and use maybe smooties Cups or something else like that. You can see it at the pics.

Make a hole and bottem and place them in water. From bottem the water gets to the substrat. With the hole in the top you have nough huminity to avoid that even big pitchers get dry or gets rotten.

30222924fa.jpg

30222926nf.jpg

30222928hf.jpg

30222929oh.jpg

 


 

 

 

Edited by Harro
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1 hour ago, Harro said:

Hi,

it is hard to say what causes this trouble. I grew Ceph. for many years. In summertime they are in a tray with a steady waterlevel of about 2-3 cm. In the winter I spay them. The substrat  is only wet then.

30222786jz.jpg

30222787gt.jpg

 

My substrat consists of mainly lime free sand of different grain size, perlite and a bit of peat (about 10%) and Seramis. More and more here in Germany using this substrat.

30222797lq.jpg

 

If I had the problem you have I would repot the plants in a different substrat and use maybe smooties Cups or something else like that. You can see it at the pics.

Make a hole and bottem and place them in water. From bottem the water gets to the substrat. With the hole in the top you have nough huminity to avoid that even big pitchers get dry or gets rotten.

30222924fa.jpg

30222926nf.jpg

30222928hf.jpg

30222929oh.jpg

 


 

 

 

Thank you very much for your reply!

So you think my rot issue could actually be caused by the media beeing to dry? I have only ever let it slightly dry, i mean like, it's one step down from wet so always moist.

I tried increasing humidity by using little cups on top of a couple of them when i noticed the wilting, didn't seem to do much at the time though. But i might have been to late.

But if i have got it correctly you mean cephs can handle standing in a tray of water in high humidity? Provided of course the media consists of a free draining airy mix?

Funny! I thought they preffered a slightly drier soil than other cps, and that the somewhat stagnant air in a cup would in combination with traywatering be like inviting fungus and mould, from what i've read about cephs. But again, this is my first try at growing them and so i don't have any prior experience with them, only what i've read.

In conclusion i shall purchase a bunch of new ones and try different watering regimes! Many thanks for taking the time to answer and providing pictures!

 

/Sonny

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Sorry to hear all is not well with your Cephs Baboonum.

From what you've said I think you've done as much as you can , removing the dead material and hoping for re growth from the roots.

I've had a few Cephs die back for no obvious reason but they've all grown back from the roots, albeit it's a long time till they get back to their original size.....

Cephs are prone to getting stressed, it could be a reaction to their being posted, did they come potted ? . I wouldn't of expected every plant to go downhill at the same time though.... 

It might be worth finding out if the seller grew them outdoors, sometimes a drastic change to their environment can promote ' sulking' and issues. 

I've never been concerned about humidity , all my plants just sit in trays of water that I allow to dry out for a couple of days before topping up... 

Good luck mate.

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Oh, there is a misunderstanding. I use these cups only for rooting Cheph. rhizomes and in connexction if you repot. All the other are without  it . So what I have heard about Ceph, in Australia. They always groe near or beside swams or very wet areas.

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4 hours ago, Blocky71 said:

Sorry to hear all is not well with your Cephs Baboonum.

From what you've said I think you've done as much as you can , removing the dead material and hoping for re growth from the roots.

I've had a few Cephs die back for no obvious reason but they've all grown back from the roots, albeit it's a long time till they get back to their original size.....

Cephs are prone to getting stressed, it could be a reaction to their being posted, did they come potted ? . I wouldn't of expected every plant to go downhill at the same time though.... 

It might be worth finding out if the seller grew them outdoors, sometimes a drastic change to their environment can promote ' sulking' and issues. 

I've never been concerned about humidity , all my plants just sit in trays of water that I allow to dry out for a couple of days before topping up... 

Good luck mate.

Thanks! And yeah, it's probably as stressful for me as it is for the plants (well almost, i haven't witherd... yet.).

Good to hear! Guess it's a bit of a waiting game now then. 

The parts salvaged (a few root cuttings and a couple of leaves) are still looking nice and healthy.

They came potted. Though with a few voids (for lack of a better word) in the soil, mainly on the edges. Guess it compacted during shipping due to being handled carelessly. I can imagine the Swedish Post Office playing ball with the package, putting it in some kind of pressure chamber and finally letting it pass through a cows digestion system, or something similar. Not that the package was damaged, but i'm sure they managed to do this anyway, if i know them right..

That' a good point, i have sent a message and am awaiting response on how he keep his. As i said every ceph looked nice and healthy upon arrival, so something in my environment must have triggered this. Possibly they were more prone to fungal attack and such after being stressed from the shipment?

Good to know about your watering technique, seems to be alot of different opinions on this when it comes to cephs.

Thank's again!

/Sonny

2 hours ago, Harro said:

Oh, there is a misunderstanding. I use these cups only for rooting Cheph. rhizomes and in connexction if you repot. All the other are without  it . So what I have heard about Ceph, in Australia. They always groe near or beside swams or very wet areas.

Ah I see! That seems like a good idea! Do you think it would be beneficial for the cut back cephs to have a cup over the pot, and that it could help/spred up regrowth?

Good point! I'll be sure to test out this watering technique, seems to be working wonderfully for you, your cephs looks nice, happy and healthy! :)

Thank's!

/Sonny

Edited by Baboonum
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