Question
Hey i currently grow N. ventricosa alba on a south facing window in my home and it thrives.  I live in N. Ireland where it is mostly overcast and humid.

I bought a Cephalotus back in February and placed it on this windowsill but it really suffered from overheating during the day and the nighttime temps didnt drop low enough.  As a consequence it died back quite a bit and i was forced to move it to my east facing garage windowsill until it recovered. Although it is much cooler in the garage there just isn't enough light for the Cephalotus and i want to move it back onto the windowsill.

To complicate matters more i have also just bought an N. mikei which i want to cultivate on this very same windowsill!

Ive found that by keeping the window open a crack (~2.5cm) and placing the plants right up against it the cool humid air blows across them and i can now achieve daytime temps of 20-26C and 55-65% RH and nighttime temps of 15-18C with 65-80% RH.  This seems to be much more suitable. I can still get spikes during the day of 30C and 45% RH when the sun shines tho...

What im curious about is the affect the breeze will have on the Cephalotus and N. mikei.  In the past i remember the cephalotus pitcher lids dropping at even the hint of a breeze:/! If this setup has obvious flaws please tell me- Ive read in other posts that you guys have grown a Cephaotus on a windowsill, what sort of treatment did it recieve? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Many thanks, Mark

Answer
Hi Mark,

From your overall description the south window should be just fine for your Cephalotus.  Was the plant previously in a very humid environment or in a terrarium?  It sounds more like it needs to be hardened off.  Since they are small plants you can place a clear cup over it, then gradually open the cup up more until it can take regular humidity better.  Do this in a north window, or somewhere will it will be bright, but not sunny as not to cook your plant.  Your humidity levels are fairly high anyway, so it shouldn't take too long to do this.

I currently have a Cephalotus in a south-facing kitchen window, and the window is open all the time during the summer.  It's warmer hear than in Ireland, but we share a similar maritime climate.  I have it in a 4 inch plastic pot that sits in a larger ceramic pot that acts as its water dish.  I water it before it gets too dry, but it doesn't sit in water continually.  Only a little water is allowed to be in the bottom.  Cephalotus is very prone to root-rot.

Overall is sounds like the plant just needs to be hardened off to lower humidity.  The window breezes should be of no consequence in your climate.


Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com