Can't tell how my Ceph is doing.

[Roman Tyrant]

So I've had my Ceph for about six months know and it has hardly grown. I can't tell if its doing okay or if its just languishing. I keep it on a sunny windowsill in the open air and water it about twice a week. I haven't seen an adult pitcher yet and all my news pitchers are fairly green looking.

Does it seem to be doing okay?

Day 1:

Today:

 

[petmantis]

Looks healthy, I'd switch to better lighting though if you want more colorful foliage.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Well, bear in mind that this is an insanely slow-growing plant.....
That said, yours looks fine. A bit in need of stronger light perhaps, but healthy.

 

[RL7836]

I haven't seen an adult pitcher yet.

Almost all of the pitchers on your plant are 'adult'. Immature pitchers do not have the ribbed / toothed peristome of the adult. Although somewhat tough to see the peristome - here are some juvenile pitchers.

Cephs are naturally fairly slow-growing plants. If you want faster growth, consider adding nutrients to the pitchers (bugs, fishfood or very weak fertilizer solution). With CPs - 'more' is usually not better so err on the side of less food if you decide to feed them.

 

[hcarlton]

Agreed, these plants are very slow. If you want color, you will need brighter light, though they survive just fine without it. I also have to agree, feeding them in small amounts will help, such as a couple of ants in a pitcher or two every other week.

 

[mass]

I couldn't tell, were you being sarcastic?
The ceph itself looks fantastic health wise. And looks like it's grown quite a bit in the last 6 months.
Only thing I'd change is the humidity factor. Judging from the lack of dew on the drosera, I'd say they could use some sort of clear dome.
With that done you could move the pot outside for some more sun, and color.

That actually gives me a few ideas.

 

[petmantis]

. . . I'd say they could use some sort of clear dome.
With that done you could move the pot outside for some more sun, and color. . .

A clear dome + sunlight could mean you'd end up with a steamed Ceph. Not a good combination, I'm talking from experience.

 

[mass]

Yeah.. didn't think about that. I probably would've found that out the hard way.
Windowsill with a clear dome, safe from the heat outside?

 

[Roman Tyrant]

Actually there is dew on the D. spatulata, it's just not showing up because of the poor quality of the photo/camera. The D. Adela was added last week and is still in shock from the transport so looks fairly ragged right now. I'm hesitant to use a plastic dome because the windowsill gets quite warm (late afternoon sun), and I doubt a Ceph would appreciate the outdoors temperatures in Texas. I guess I imagined the pitchers were supposed to be larger in size but it is just a typical.

I do feed my pitchers bits of freeze dried bloodworm every few weeks.

One other question, does a Ceph require a winter dormancy?

 

[dsrtfox1942]

If your Ceph is on your windowsill, it will automatically get a dormancy by the drop in daylight hours.

 

[petmantis]

That could work, it would be like a small windowsill terrarium. However, it would still be wise to avoid full sun.