Propagating Cephalotus: crown divisions, stem cuttings and leaf pullings

Why Cephalotus divides so readily

The Albany pitcher plant grows in peaty soils around swamps and along streams in south-western Western Australia ^{[2, 1]}, and it depends heavily on its rhizome. Richard Nunn, writing in CPN from visits to about 20 wild sites, describes plants regrowing quickly from their fleshy rhizome after fire, storing food in it, and producing new growth points; the flush of plants after a fire does not come from seed ^[3]. In cultivation that branching rhizome is what you divide.

The ICPS guide also warns about a normal cycle that can look like decline. Stems die back after flowering and new ones come up at or below the soil surface; plants under constant light do not flower, but their stems still die back, and the plant may look terrible until new growth appears ^[1]. Old, dying stems are one of the reasons to propagate.

Choosing a method

The ICPS propagation page itself consists of a 34-minute video in which the late Jerry Jackson shows how he propagated and grew Cephalotus, and it refers readers to the growing guide for written instructions ^[4]. The steps below follow that guide.

When to propagate

There are two situations in the ICPS guide ^[1]:

• Rescue. A plant may start to collapse because something has gone wrong with its roots or other underground parts, or because its stems are dying of old age. Act as soon as the problem shows.
• Thinning. Large plants that have become too dense can be thinned by taking crown divisions. The ICPS photographs one crowded plant that yielded many divisions.

Crown divisions and stem cuttings, step by step

1. Unpot the plant ^[1].
2. Cut off all the good stems and crowns to use for propagation ^[1].
3. Cut away any rotting or completely black underground parts ^[1].
4. Repot what is left of the parent in fresh soil ^[1].
5. Set the cuttings and divisions in almost pure sand in short pots, standing in a few millimeters of water, with a humidity dome over the tray. This is how the ICPS batch photographed four months later was grown ^[1].
6. Keep every part of every plant at least 5 cm above the highest water level the pot may reach later, to avoid further trouble with rot ^[1].

Strong light helps throughout. The ICPS guide grows Cephalotus under bright white LEDs, about 21 W per square foot (30 cm square) of 3000K light for 14 hours a day, and also lists a south-facing windowsill as the best window ^[1].

Watch for mildew under the dome

Cephalotus is highly susceptible to mildew, and the ICPS reports that whole collections have been lost to fungus attacks; its pictured plants survived only because a fungicide was applied as soon as the mildew appeared ^[1]. Nunn and Vu also point to its susceptibility to rot and fungal attack where ventilation is poor ^[5]. Check covered cuttings often; the terrariums and humidity guide covers ventilation.

What success looks like

The ICPS shows a batch four months after the cuttings went in. One cutting had failed to grow. The largest new plants came from crown divisions of declining plants whose growing tips were still active, while the smaller ones came from stem cuttings and from crowns that had stopped growing from old age ^[1]. As the new pitchers matured, the grower filled them with water and gave each one Osmocote pellet ^[1]. No overall success rate is published for divisions or stem cuttings.

Leaf pullings

Cephalotus leaves can root on their own ^[1].

1. Take a leaf with its petiole intact, preferably with a small amount of stem tissue attached ^[1].
2. Give it the same conditions as crown divisions: almost pure sand, a few millimeters of water, and a humidity dome ^[1].
3. Wait. In the ICPS example, two of the four leaves had produced small plants seven months later ^[1].

The guide describes the method as slower and less certain than divisions, but worthwhile if you have many stray leaves and want many plants ^[1].

Growing on

Once rooted, the plants move to their long-term mix. The ICPS guide treats Cephalotus as a fen plant that dislikes stagnant conditions ^[1]. Its lowest-effort recipe is about 20% peat or chopped long-fibered sphagnum to 80% sand, in tall pots standing in about 1 cm of water, flushed through occasionally to remove salts, with a 1 cm layer of pure sand on top to keep moss down. It warns against following any soil recipe blindly, its own included ^[1]. The ordinary 50:50 peat and sand mix may work at first, but the peat degrades and builds up salts over time ^[1]. See soil and water.

Feeding can start once the pitchers are big enough. In the wild Cephalotus specializes in ants, and the ICPS uses dried bloodworms or Osmocote pellets in the pitchers as substitutes; it also notes that plants have been killed by being fed too much or too soon ^[1]. The feeding guide has more.

A different approach: pure perlite planter boxes

A 2021 CPN article by Richard Nunn and Chiem Nguyen Anh Vu describes a nursery method from Ho Chi Minh City that runs against usual practice ^[5]. Mature clumps are separated into many small pieces, each with a bit of rhizome wrapped in a little live sphagnum, and planted well apart in coarse perlite in 20 cm deep planter boxes. Each box has a water well at the bottom and an overflow hole between 5.5 and 8 cm from the base, and the boxes sit in a highland greenhouse at about 15 °C at night, 27 °C by day and 80% humidity. Perlite holds little water, so the boxes are watered every few days without fail ^[5].

The authors note that most growers use peat-based mixes and that a permanent water well would normally be expected to cause rot. Their aim was a medium that does not break down or go sour, and they present the method as an experiment for others to try, not a foolproof recipe ^[5]. The ICPS guide’s sand-based approach and this perlite one agree on the main point: Cephalotus roots need a clean, open medium that does not stay stagnant ^{[1, 5]}.

Seed, the slow route

Seed is possible but slow. Plants do not flower under a constant light cycle, pollen has to be moved by hand for good pollination, and the seed sits in the tips of hairy achenes that are easily blown away ^[1]. Germination needs about 15 °C for 6 to 10 weeks, and it then takes years for seedlings to produce pitchers large enough to feed ^[1]. The details are in cold stratification.