Cephalotus follicularis can be fairly easy to propagate. No matter what method you are using damp off fungus could become a problem. Treat with a light dusting of fungicide if necessary.
Cephalotus propagation through root cuttings and division should only be done by experienced growers. It is easy to do but you must understand how to keep them happy first as they are prone to shock. Anyone can do leaf cuttings with cephalotus, very easy to do.
Division
Cephalotus follicularis produces a rhizome and over time may produce more growing points.
Almost always you will have to un-pot the Cephalotus. Once the Cephalotus is out and the bulk of the dirt rinsed from the roots you can divide them up. NEVER SHAKE THE DIRT FREE. Rather tip the pot to slide the soil out then submerge (almost to soil top) in water. The media will then fall free easily. You want to wait until your sure the new growth has some roots of its own. So long as both plants have roots after separation it should go well. Be careful of new roots, they are very delicate. Always soak root areas on all plants in SuperThrive before re-planting. I like to raise the humidity on mine for several weeks to help them settle back in.
Cuttings
ROOT
Cephalotus follicularis leaf and root cuttings work well. Root cuttings will produce a mature plant faster but stresses the mother plant. If you are experienced with cephalotus you should be able to do it just fine. Simply un-pot the plant as for division above. Snip a few pieces of the roots and re-pot the mother plant. You can use 1" - 2" pieces, treat as any other root cutting.
Optionally you can use the thick main root for cuttings. It is the thick main root that generally shoots straight down, smaller roots branch out from this. It's actually the rhizome and will probably result in death to the mother cephalotus. So its best reserved for total plant chopping to produce many plants from one. Again, 1 - 2 inch pieces work fine. Mature plants will be produced fastest from rhizome cuttings. This method is usually reserved for tissue culture cultivation as many plants can be produced from the rhizome and they mature the fastest.
LEAF (easy)
Cephalotus leaf cuttings are very easy to do, anyone can do them without endangering the mother plant. Simply cut a leaf or two off very close to the crown. Dip the end in a rooting agent, I like Rootone but about any will do. Try to use one that has a fungicide mixed in with it. Simply insert the cutting into an acceptable media and keep humid. In several weeks roots will start to grow, several more and the leaves will start.
I prefer using live LFSM for the media. Its a bit of a pain to get started but WELL worth it in the end. Live LFSM works great for cuttings and seeds plus it requires the least amount of maintenance once its established. I start mine in chinese food take out containers, after washing well and sterilizing of course. Hydrate the sphagnum as always but squeeze most of the water back out, not all of it though. Just so long as water doesn't drip from it is good enough. You don't want water to pool on the bottom of the container either. Cover and place in bright light for several weeks, probably a couple months. Avoid direct sunlight and don't let heat build up inside the container.
I place mine under fluorescent bulbs next to my seedlings, generally about 6 inches over it. Once it starts to turn green and grow its ready to use. This is a good item to keep on hand all the time so its ready when you want it. You don't want condensation to build up on the lid. If this happens the container is getting too hot or the lfsm is too wet.
I like to use chinese food take-out containers. The oblong ones like this and the round ones work great. In a pinch a zip lock bag will do. You can cover the bottom or just use half like I did. 3/4" - 1 1/2" layer is fine.
Just snip a leaf or two, carnivorous or not doesn't matter, and insert into your media. Clip it close to the crown but a piece of crown is NOT needed and could damage the mother plant. I generally leave between an 1/8" and a 1/4" sticking off the crown. You can faintly see the lines I put in to show where to cut the cephalotus leaf at. In the larger pic the lines are much easier to pick out.
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You want the cephalotus leaf stuck down in the media but you want the underside of the leaf in contact too. One reason lfsm works excellent. I generally soak the cuttings in SuperThrive for 10 minutes, shake off the excess then dip the end in Rootone before insertion into media. Optionally you can dab the end in water, shake off excess, then dip in a rooting agent. The water helps the powder stick to the cutting.
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And in a couple months roots will sprout. Once roots have formed much like pictured here you can pot em up. Make sure to acclimate it to its growing area and be extremely careful of the tiny roots. I like to leave mine in longer but its not needed. I'll leave these in about another four weeks giving them 12 weeks total. I'll post some potting em up pics when I pot em up.
You can use lfsm that hasn't started to grow yet too. Set up just like above but go ahead and use it without waiting. Before you put the cuttings in it spray it down good with a fungicide, I use Physon20. You don't want to sterilize it because you want it to grow, unless you don't then do. You can keep it after the cuttings come out so it can continue to grow for next time. Live lfsm works great for many things, but it doesn't do well in lower humidity.
If you don't want to use lfsm for whatever reason then use a 50/50 peat/sand mix. Keep damp, not wet.
How to Pot Up Cephalotus Cuttings
Well, it took me longer to get to the cuttings than I expected. Good thing though. It's been 20 weeks total since they were first started. One was rooted in extremely well with good leaf growth. Two had short but OK roots with minimal shoot growth. One had a single short root with no leaf growth and one (the pitcher cutting) had nothing at all yet. The later two went back into the lfsm chamber since they were still green and healthy looking. Patience is the most important factor when working with cephalotus cuttings.
The lfsm has really greened up and is growing well. It can almost overrun the cuttings, most of the time it doesn't matter. You can trim some of the lfsm away from the cuttings if it starts to block out too much light. I rarely mess with it. Carefully remove the cuttings. I use my forceps to part/move lfsm until I locate the roots. Sometimes the cuttings can easily be lifted free but often you must cut some of the lfsm to take with them. Be careful, move slow and deliberate to carefully remove them. If you cut a slit to insert them into before hand it makes getting them out a little easier.
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Here you can see what I am referring too. Some are certainly rooted better than others. All should do fine in the end though. I start by soaking them in SuperThrive for 10 - 15 minutes. A lot of people use SuperThrive for a lot of things, this is its best use by far though. You can find SuperThrive sources on the links page. It prevents shock and greatly helps plants settle in. Often the difference between living and not.
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These are the three I'll be working with. The other two will be put back in the propagation chamber. The first one is by far the best. Your goal should be getting them all to look like that before you pot them up for the best survival rate. But the other two are good enough to survive it too if you know what your doing, or at least read this page. ;-)
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I am using kord 4" pots. The media is equal parts peat/perlite/silica sand. I made a hole in the center of the media deep enough to lower the roots into. I use my forcep handle but a spoon handle works just as well. I like to pull the media up and out to create a mound to use to fill the hole. Pictured ~ The hole was made, the plant inserted, then the hole was gently backfilled. Just knock some into the hole and what it is it is. You do not want to stress the roots, we'll get it covered good in the next step. You do NOT want to pack the media down around the roots or you will break them.
Next mound some of the media up around the plant, gently covering it higher than you normally would. I've covered the new leaves with the mound, its deeper/higher than it looks. You just want to create a mound of media you can wash around. Again, I use my forceps to push and lift the media where I want it. The key is gentle.
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Now use some water to wash the media around, gently. The water will fill the hole and settle the media well around the roots and plant. I use a small pump up sprayer but anything that will give you a slow gentle flow will work. The water will wash the media down into the hole. Just wash it around some to get everything looking good. Pictured ~ Gently watered some, media washed into hole and the new leaves are starting to poke out.
Keep watering and washing the media around until it stops settling down. You can wash it around to get more or less media around the cutting. Pictured ~ Cephalotus cutting potted up and complete.
You want the roots and base of the new leaves covered. Allow to drain well.
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Since I used a 4" pot I can use a 4" water saucer to cover it with. This will keep it nice and humid to help the cephalotus settle into its new home. After a week or so I'll start to slide the lid off to one side to allow some airflow. Every couple of days the gap will be increased to slowly lower the humidity to the growing area. Keep in bright light but avoid direct sunshine and anything else that can cause heat to build up. Keep the media damp and nothing more, do NOT stand in water all the time. Do NOT let it dry out either. Standing the pot in an inch of water for 15 or 20 minutes once a day works well. Allow to drain well afterwords.
4 weeks after potting.
click for bigger pic I edge the humidity dome off to one side to begin acclamation.
click for bigger pic Pitcher formation has started. You can see the small nubs on the right.
Seeds
Cephalotus seeds need a cold wet stratification. They must not freeze, a refrigerator works well. GA3 can be used instead. Cephalotus seed does not store well. The seed must be fresh for you to get good results. If you can't plant it immediately then store in the fridge for up to a couple months, but no more. If your purchasing seed it should be no more than a couple weeks old.
Sow the seed on any acceptable cephalotus media. You can sow many in a propagation tray and remove as they sprout. Or put one or two in a 4" pot to keep from having to move them soon. If you start them in a 4" or larger pot you can leave them there for a couple years before having to transplant. Just keep them damp and keep the temps below 85°F or so. In several weeks to a few months they should sprout. Treat the cephalotus seeds with a fungicide periodically if needed.
