Australian Pitcher Plant, Albany Pitcher Plant - Cephalotus follicularis

Growing:
"Hummer's Giant"
Typical

 

Light: I grow mine in a 10 gallon terrarium. I updated my lighting and now use 1 - 40 watt 67,000K / 10,000K Sunpaq bulb and 1 - 15 watt Flora Sun bulb. Old lighting was 1 -15 watt Hagen Aqua-Glo bulb and 1 - 15 watt Cool White bulb for over 2 years. I do have one growing on the kitchen table by a south facing sliding glass door.

Soil: I grow mine in a mix of peat moss, long fiber sphagnum, and perlite.

Water: Use rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis. They like to always stay moist, but hate to sit in standing water. This causes their roots to rot. In the winter the soil should be kept a little drier.

Humidity: Cephalotus follicularis should have humidity no less then 50%.

Climate: The best growing conditions for Cephalotus follicularis is between 70°F and 85°F. There is no dormancy required.

 

The Australian Pitcher Plant is native to south-western Australia.

Cephalotus follicularis grow in a rosette arrangement. The pitchers radiate from a central point, along with a number of flat, non-carnivorous leaves. The pitchers start out as little fuzzy knobs at the ends of elongated petioles. They slowly inflate to form the pitcher.

The pitchers secret nectar to lure insects to the opening. Cephalotus follicularis has a white collar around the pitcher opening which is slippery and heavily baited with nectar. When insects try to get this nectar they usually slip and fall into acids and enzymes below, which dissolve the insect. The pitchers then reabsorb the nutrient rich fluid.

Since I grow this plant in a terrarium it does not get any food. I tried a big cricket once and in a few days the pitcher discolored and died. I have used Hikari Betta Bio-Gold Fish Food with no problems, but since I raise mealworms I have tried tiny mealworms. The plants seem to really appreciate the mealworms and I have continued to add mealworms to some pitchers every other month or so.

Propagating these plants can be done a few different ways. The easiest way would be by leaf cuttings. The problem I have with leaf cuttings is that my plants very rarely produce leaves to use to propagate.
Another way is pitcher cuttings. I have had great results with some clones and terrible results with others. I have a clone that I've tried over 20 pitcher cuttings over the past 4 years and every pitcher cutting has failed. I no longer try this plant. LOL. I have another clone that I have taken 8 pitcher cuttings of and every one has struck for me.
The last way I have used to propagate these plants is harder on the plant. That is rhizome cuttings. Usually I have only done this when I have split large plants or repotting plants. I would break pieces of the rhizome around an inch long and pot them up. After the shock of this type of propagation the plants can go into a limbo for several months before they start to grow again.

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