Cephalotus leaves, rhizomes and roots

[Poppy]

Hello Everyone

I have been growing Cephalotus in the UK for over 25 years now but still no expert. I have done some Googling and there is often debate over what bit of the plant is which. For the purpose of this post I am referring to both leaves and traps as leaves. I have taken leaf cuttings in the past which you can do without disturbing the mother plant so much. I get around a 80-90% strike rate. However due to now living in a flat I don't have much windowsill room I don't take leaf cuttings anymore.

I have a mother plant that I have had for ages and she was in a 4 inch (10 cm) and she is now in a 7 inch pot (18 cm).  I take cuttings when I repot. I mainly take crown divisions which I remove from the outer rim of the plant. Now when I say crown I mean a rosette of leaves attached to a structure that is creamy white to brown (which I shall call a rhizome) that is usually below the potting medium. Now sometimes this "rhizome" in a bigger plant can be dark brown and sometimes a bit hairy and partly above the potting medium. In both the cases the cutting may have roots, or may not. When I say "roots" I am referring to the thinner parts of the plant below the "rhizomes" usually the same colour. Now then I have this year in January I had 8 crown divisions all of which have taken and a few have put out some new growth.

As a few bits fell off I tried to take three "root" cuttings and put them horizontally in a pot covered by a centimetre of potting medium. All three have struck and have popped small leaves above the surface. I now wish I had taken pictures but here is one I found that I think make my ramblings clearer, it is on the website below. On this website it talks about root cuttings but it then refers to them as rhizome cuttings interestingly.

https://carnivorousplantresource.com/the-plants/australian-pitcher-plant/

Any thoughts? I would appreciate any suggestions but a botanical slant would be good.

Keep yourselves safe and happy growing

 

Peace Adam

Edited April 2, 2020 by Poppy
grammer