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Ceph leaf cutting questionsI did a search on the

elgecko

I've got a magic window!
I did a search on the forums here on ceph leaf cuttings, but not finding what I'm looking for.
I want to know how and what you guys did that has had the most success for your cuttings.
I have tried a few and think that they have failed. The main thing that I notice on my cuttings is that after 2-3 weeks, the color from the leaf starts to turn yellow and then brown. The very base of the leaf that is cover by the soil is still green. Do you still get plants forming from the leaves like this, or was this a failure?
 
I've only tried it twice at the same time. Both leaves I put in the the same pot as my medium plant is in a 5" pot as there was room. The pot was 50/50 peat sand. one leave died after about 3 weeks but the other survived and produced a new plantlet after 2-3 months. From there I transplanted the cutting after a couple of months and is looking well.

The leaf that survived was green for the 2-3 months whereas the one that died shriveled up after a couple of weeks.
 
Hi Elgecko -

I did the "Charles Brewer" method (maybe do an internet search for that) for Ceph cuttings - where you soak the cuttings in Superthrive solution, then in a fungicide. After that you dip the end in liquid rooting hormone. I think that's the biggest difference for me. I tried several times using powdered rooting agent, and they all died. After dipping in the liquid rooting agent, I placed the cuttings on a small (quarter sized) mound of live chopped sphagnum moss sitting on the soil surface. I covered the ends of the cuttings slightly with the sphagnum. Then the pots were placed in a sealed container to maintain humidity.

After 1 month I peeked and noticed roots had formed. After 2 months I had tiny leaves forming. I have noticed a difference between the leaf and pitcher cuttings. The ones from pitchers seem more robust with several leaves forming. The leaf cuttings had few and very small leaves - yet right away formed tiny traps first that are maybe 1/16th of an inch long.

I hope this information helps. Again, the big trick for me was using the liquid rooting hormone.

WildBill
 
Hi all:

I have posted at least 10 threads on leaf cuttings. It's a shame nobody could find them. Here on this forum and on the cpuk forum. Please check again. Charles Brewer is a friend of mine and He is IT when it comes to rooting cephalotus. His life and passion are this plant.

Gus
 
I answered the question for myself. I checked the brown and dried up leaf. The base was still green. I decided to pull it up and take a look at it. There is a small root starting at the base.
smile.gif

I guess I just got a little worried when it started to brown, but should have known better. VFT leaves always brown and dry up for me, yet produce plants.
 
Dear all:

A cephalotus cutting, when it turns yellow, with or without root, it'll still die. I still don't know why.

If your cutting remains yellow but still roots and produce another leaf, please take a photo of it, because i have never seen one before.

Agustin
 
smile.gif
yup, the old leaf usually gives up it's stored nutrients to build little roots and new leaves. That is why you see them shrivel up and die away. To have one not do that seems odd to me, but I guess if your cutting was large enough it wouldn't have to totally drain the old tissue to grow new. Of course, at the delicate stage of no green, just little root ball, all plantlets are extra suseptable to pest attacks like fungi, which may explain the losses some people experience in smaller cuttings that loose their parent leaf.
 
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