Some Advice Please

[Brian Borysowich]

Hi Folks, my cephs sprout new pitchers & leaves, grow for a bit, then yellow and die off. Growing indoors under LEDs, medium intensity, 12/12 cycle. Humidity +75%. Temps 20-25 C. Media is LFS / Perlite. Kept moist, top watered, good drainage. Lots of air circulation. Open to suggestions, thanks.

 

[WillyCKH]

Usually when I see this I'd gently unpot mine, give it a wash around the roots, remove dead leaves and repot in fresh soil mix.

 

[cpgeek]

I'm having a similar problem with most of my plants. Similar conditions to yours under leds except temps are between 12 to 16 °C and no LFS in the mix (just as a top dressing).

I was told by an experienced ceph grower that my plants are dormant and its normal for them to lose most or all foliage while in this phase. They should rebound with vigorous growth once temps increase in my case.

In your case, I'm not so sure this is what's happening since your temps and photo period are not low enough to have induced dormancy IMHO. I would lower the humidity to 40-50%, as established cephs do not require greater humidity, which in fact can cause fungus or rot issues. I would also carefully repot as Willy said into a well draining mix (2:2:1 peat/perlite/silica sand), deep pot (>13 cm tall) and keep the substrate moist but not saturated. Good luck.

 

[ANTSPlantation]

I can relate a lot, I had a cephalotus that shipped all the way from poland to canada and the shipping process took almost 2 months for unknown reasons, it arrived half dead with all of the crowns dead, I managed to save it. What I think might had happened is root rot. Root rot on cephalotus is caused by constant wet humid conditions, overly wet soils, and same amount of light received throughout the year. When root rot occurs, the plant drops a lot of the leaves or even the crown/growth point. Like what @WillyCKH said, I recommend a repot into a fresh mix with good drainage and carefully care for the plants until recovery.