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Cephalotus growing on some Driftwood

Just thought I'd share a picture of a little different way I'm growing these guys. There are currently 3 plants on that wall, all are growing. Two of them were from divisions, the other one was from a picture cutting. I'm 1 of 3 for picture cuttings on that wall. So maybe not the best way to do picture cutting. The oldest one is about 6 months old, so I can't offer any long term experiences but they are doing great so far.

Some background info on the tank. Its an 18" cube paludarium with 4 20W T5 6.5K bulbs, and there is one very large piece of driftwood in there. A small pump moves water to the top of the driftwood in 8 places and keeps most of the driftwood evenly wet. The Cephalotus are hanging about 8" from the lights on the side of the driftwood, it looks very natural.

Sorry about the glare off the traps, I could not get the lighting to play nicely. More practice needed I guess.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38338419@N00/3161634056/" title="Cephalotus by Smeag, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/3161634056_4f7bcb7cdd_b.jpg" width="1024" height="685" alt="Cephalotus" /></a>
 
That's an interesting way to grow Cephalotus. The moss seems to be very happy.
 
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That's very neat. I hope they do well for you!
 
thats exactly what I wanted to do myself. :D nice to see someone else trying it out. :) I was going to try it with an adult Cephalotus. :p
 
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Very interesting. Do you have a picture of the whole set up?
 
Interesting... I am thinking of doing a similar thing with my Pinguicula...
I found it interesting, but did you know if you have moss growing all over the log, and put the log in a tray of water so the bottom-most moss is in the water tray, that the moss will soak it up, passing it onto to other moss up the log and so the moss doesn't dry out and the plants can get their water from the moss? I'm doing it on a rock I'm attempting to grow Pinguicula on - so far the leaf pullings have not sprouted but the rock stays wet in the brightest of weather without so much as a misting :)
 
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This is really very interesting, but wouldnt it be abit too wet??
Can kindly post a full shot picture of the set up??
thks
 
Interesting... I am thinking of doing a similar thing with my Pinguicula...
I found it interesting, but did you know if you have moss growing all over the log, and put the log in a tray of water so the bottom-most moss is in the water tray, that the moss will soak it up, passing it onto to other moss up the log and so the moss doesn't dry out and the plants can get their water from the moss? I'm doing it on a rock I'm attempting to grow Pinguicula on - so far the leaf pullings have not sprouted but the rock stays wet in the brightest of weather without so much as a misting :)

Yeah. It's called a 'wick'. :)
 
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  • #10
I'll see if I can get a full shot later today, its watering day so who knows.

As for root rot.....water does not cause root rot...read up on hydroponics some. Lack or excess of some gases contibute to it, a prime cause of this is the medium breaking down creating these gases. I'm no expert on this but I've read a bit about orchids in hydroponics. Same basic issue, the wet is not the problem its lack of gas exchange in the rootzone, that is causing the orchid world there with hydroponics. They are fixing it by using inert materials. After all that is what I am doing here, I'm trying to grow a Cephalotus hydroponically :-)).

The 3 Cephalotus are sitting on very wet driftwood and actively growing like that for months. Waking up one morning and finding they suddenly died from one too many days in the water just doesn't make sense to me.

The plants/CPs/orchids/african violets/random stuff I've grown "wet" or completely in water have either just up and died very quickly, tried to grow higher and send out root into the air zone, or adapter and keep on growing. I've never had one grow for months then die from some random cause.

Just my 2 cents and feel free to ignore me, but I think alot the the random Cephalotus deaths are not caused by too much water, I think its poor airflow in the medium which leads to root rot (see orchid boards/hydroponics board for info on that). One of the benifits to growing CPs/violets/orchids/emersed aquatics/subemerged aquatics is that they cross over very nicely. I've read alot of information on aquatic forums that made me tweak my CP growing some. Anyway I'm rambling....sorry about that.
 
  • #11
Interesting... I am thinking of doing a similar thing with my Pinguicula...
I found it interesting, but did you know if you have moss growing all over the log, and put the log in a tray of water so the bottom-most moss is in the water tray, that the moss will soak it up, passing it onto to other moss up the log and so the moss doesn't dry out and the plants can get their water from the moss? I'm doing it on a rock I'm attempting to grow Pinguicula on - so far the leaf pullings have not sprouted but the rock stays wet in the brightest of weather without so much as a misting :)

A much easier method is simply to use a piece of driftwood and sit the base of the wood in the water. It will wick up the wood very nicely. You just need to make sure its aquarium safe driftwood so there are no nasty chemicals or excessive breakdown of the wood.
 
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  • #12
Thanks for sharing your setup - it'll be interesting to see how they grow & adapt to these conditions ...
 
  • #13
The sad truth is.....this is 1 of many tanks.......This one is my killifish tank, I set one up like this a few years ago in Japan and the fish seemed to do really well, so I recreated it. I have about a dozen Cephalotus in various areas......yes I have a problem!
 
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  • #14
Not the best picture but it should give you the general idea.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38338419@N00/3168105560/" title="DSC_0384 by Smeag, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/3168105560_9261208397_b.jpg" width="1024" height="997" alt="DSC_0384" /></a>
 
  • #16
Wow, that's quite a rig. Nice job!
~Joe
 
  • #17
Looks nice, but I'm worried it's a little too wet for the Cephalotus. You better watch out to see if it rots or anything.
 
  • #18
Looks nice, but I'm worried it's a little too wet for the Cephalotus. You better watch out to see if it rots or anything.


I second that. Despite the gorgeous setup with all your aquatic plants a-la dutch planted aquarium, it may not be the best environment for your Cephalotus. Of course, time will tell. Let us know how it goes. I'm very interested in the ultimate result of this setup.
 
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  • #19
looking fantastic man! I love your setup. Can u please tell me what pots are those in which u grow those orchid like plants that you used the rubber thingy to grow those plants above wateR? It really looks perfect for small neps and orchids which I am suddenly gaining an interest in. ;)

BTW...if u can give suffficient ventilation to those Cephalotus while them getting that running water, I personally would imagine that your plants will thrive. But keep us posted. Hopefully they do fine and u have demonstrated a very unique way of cultivating carnivorous plants.
 
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  • #20
The *pots* are plastic worm feeders.
 
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