Cephalotus follicularis

[tom499]

After a long, long time searching I have finally found the plant on the top of my wishlist!

Some of the Aussies will probably recognise this beauty.

I was lucky enough to meet a collector who grows some real specimens of this plant.

Its quite rare over here at the moment as the only tissue culture manufacturer destroyed all theirs due to viral/fungal problems so there only available from private growers, hence go for crazy prices on ebay.

These two are quite small, but should be looking pretty good in a few years.

[zero742]

Fantastic! I can't wait to see their progress. They are beautiful plants. Congrats!!!

[patlee]

OH, WOW!!!! They're so delicate and beautiful at the same time. What do the flowers look like Is the plant going to stay tiny? Good growing

[tom499]

They are grown more for the pitchers they produce:

http://www.compagniadelgiardinaggio....llicularis.jpg

Mine is still producing juvenile ones. Hopefully i can grow mine in enough light (especially in the summer) to give the plants that lovely red colour.

Fully grown plants can make traps of around 2 1/2 inches, and the overall plant themselves can grow to large proportions.

They are multiplied mainly by leaf cuttings as growing from seed is a long process, and plants have been known to simply die for little apparent reason, so its good to have back ups.

[Tobi]

They look great Tom. Love the tecture and eventual color. Keep us posted with the
progress.

[Anton]

They're commonly known as the Albany Pitcher Plant as they originally come from Albany in Western Australia.

[tom499]

yes thats it but dont let Kmarch catch you using common names or they'll be trouble at mill

How commonly are they grown in the native lands? I know they are quite rare in the wild, just small patches in the south west from what I hear. A real shame.

[Anton]

I can't help you I'm afraid, know nothing of them, having enough problems learning about orchids.

Kevin doesn't mind common names, as long as capitalization is correct.

[tom499]

Bit of an update.

First mature pitcher has been made. They're small, about 1.5cm, but are showing the characteristics of a mature pitcher, the most obvious being the lovely row of teeth

[patlee]

It's amazing what Nature can do, isn't it Such detail in such a tiny plant! Thanks for sharing! Great growing

[Ron]

Hi Tom.
They bring back memorys.
About 30 years ago I started growing them and they were rather scarce then
Mericloning has come a long way and now they are freely available.

I had rather a good collect of them when I lived in the ACT.
Sold them all when I moved to the coast.
still miss growing them
they can produce stolen growth also.
Wonderfull minature carnivious plants
Good luck with them
Cheerio
Ron

[tom499]

Yes luckily with new technology they have become more available, though there is only one place that mass produce them, and last year there was an infection and they killed off the whole lot

Mine are from a grower I know, I cant wait for mine to get as big his mature ones.

[jay]

Tom, do you have an update on the Cephs? I have recently begun to grow CP's and have added a Ceph to my wish list.

[tom499]

HUGE apologies for the late reply, I had trouble accessing the site, then went on holiday to New York (which was awesome!!)

I have some new Cephalotus, I'll take photos and make a post in the next day or so

Tom499

[tom499]

Again I apologise for the slow reply, I went to New York day after my A level results so since I've been back I've been sorting out Uni paper work

I've now got 3 Cephalotus, two regular varieties, and a 'Big Boy'. The 'Big Boy' is meant to be produce bigger traps and be more vigorous. It is a small division which has started to grow.

I have been very pleased with their growth rate so far, all putting out new growths. This goes especially for the one I repotted a few months ago (plant with gravel topping) which from the photo the new growth can be see as a green colour.

Using very well washed gravel helps control algae and moss growth on the top of the pots. Moss can strangle up Cephs as they grow quite slowly, and the gravel helps keep the top dry, so its harder for algae and other nasty slimes to grow.

[patticake]

How extremely cool!! I love their little mouths saying "feed me"

Where in NY did you go? The city? I'm about 3 hours north of there. It's nothing like NYC up here.

[jay]

Tom, they look great. I am quite jealous of your Cephs. I hope to add one to my collection this winter. I would love to have one of the 'Giants'. Congrats again, and I look forward to seeing updates.