Are These Nepenthes, If You Please...

[pearldiver]

A while back I planted some nep seeds, I believe regular x black lip I was told. The pics are not too good as my camera does not do macro well, but what say??

This one is a bit better.

If so, this would be my first success so far in sprouting.

Anybody know what this is?

On this ceph, the leaves and pitchers never seem to gain any appreciable size before they brown and die back. Ideas as to why? The plants here are on the tray system, and probably could use a bit more light. Will address that soon, but don't think humidity is the issue. I believe the rhizome is big enough to support a large plant, can't say what is going on. Piece of new Heli visible in background.

Some new arrivals. Baby ceph.

Already making new leaves. Nsa that is.
New Heli.

Mutt no Lange.

Ventrata I think from Mc.

More significant as it was received as an unrooted cutting and they usually die on me. This one is making new leaves, so I assume it is rooting as well.
This one is pretty cool too.

Just for the heck of it a few pics of Jackie.

The outsiders in part...

Miss Miranda Jones

Deroose alata methinks...

 

[Vbkid]

I don't know how to put this...but you got yourself some babies!

 

[Iwest]

gratz on the germination! also, about the ceph problem, I'm willing to bet that's root rot. I've had the same problem. Looks like your media is super wet/ fairly wet, and cephs roots tend to rot pretty easily. I'd cut back on the amount of water/humidity just a smidge. soil should be slightly moist but probably no more.

 

[pearldiver]

Iwest, I wonder in part about the media as well. One thing I did with several plants in that grow area is add to the top some lsm I got in the mail. Sadly, lots of it perished and sits on the top of a couple of the pots and may be problematic for wicking moisture, be it pulling up too much water or allowing too much to escape?? Just speculating. I though some spagnum would keep the soil in place, sometimes soil mixes with peat move around a lot when you water them. Depending upon how. That is watering from the top from time to time. The large ceph when I received it was nearly all brown, and at least one pitcher got full sized before it browned. Do you think I should repot? The media is what it came in, so I cannot be sure what that is exactly. At one point I removed a lot of the dead leaves/pitchers and found that it hard to do without mucking up the new leaves. As far as watering, it seems that new growth corresponds with more misting and top watering. Could I be getting new top growth and have root rot at the same time? It sounds counter intuitive, but my experience with ceps/helis is limited.

 

[pearldiver]

When I mention peat soil mixes I mostly meant a different tray, the ceph appears to be in a more open rocky mix that at least at the top dries out pretty quickly.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Tray watering is a sure way to kill a Cephalotus for many (but not all) people. If the growing media isn't ideal under those conditions, you get root rot very easily, and that plant looks like it has had its root system rot off.

 

[fullcollapse]

I'm going to agree with the others about your cephalotus. You might be able to keep it in its current media if you take it off the tray and just top water every few days. If it is still too wet, you can repot in something looser.

 

[Iwest]

The problem with putting live sphagnum on a ceph is that live sphagnum needs to be extremely moist to survive and that amount of wetness will kill your cephs. And one little trick I learned for top watering cephs... instead of watering directly over the plant (which leads to root rot much easier) try and water the soil closer to the edges of the pot in a circular fashion so the water gradually seeps to the roots rather than immediately drenching them. Not sure about repotting, I've heard that cephs dont love repotting but I've never actually repotted mine so I don't have any firsthand evidence of that.

 

[pearldiver]

Thanks for the input folks, I am not sure if I will repot, but I probably put something underneath it so it is not actually standing in the water in the tray. Then reduce water and see what happens.

 

[pearldiver]

The ceph is looking better. By the way, I goofed on the nep in the pics above, not jacqueline, but margaretea. Whoops.