Hi got this from "http://www.acps.org.au/articles/Cephalotus.htm" "Humidity & Temperature: Cephalotus produces larger pitchers when grown in conditions of high humidity but also grows well with lower humidity. A temperature range between 5°C to 35°C is reasonable with the best growth occurring at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C. Lids close on hot dry days as it is the plants natural mechanism to counter moisture loss under conditions of low humidity. It is not something to be concerned about provided the soil is kept moist. Moving plants to an area of higher humidity will cause the lids to open again." They recon that the plant does fine under both higher and lower humidity and that it is the hot dry days that cause traps to close. mmmmm hopefully I wont hit any brick walls that will stop me from trying one. Cheers Sheldon

Hello HaXuan, your pots look great. I once collected succulents. But over the year they don't look as good as your so I slowly gave them to friends. You are the first Vietnamese I know in this web site. I am also very new to the site, but because I like plants so I often check in to learn few things about expert gardener.

Gardenlady: Thank you for your compliment. I'm not an expert of succulents, but from my own experience, these plants do need very bright light and some direct morning sun to bring out their colors. Currently, I leave this "fountain" on my porch which gets morning sun until 10am and bright light rest of the day. I made this arrangement out of two separate pieces of ceremic - an "urn" as top and a flat dish as the base. Each has a drainage hole. Also, I use very porous soiless mix with added perlite and vermiculite. So far I water thoroughly once a week and mist in between (when I'm around). But I guess once a week deep watering would be enough. (The vermiculite is to help retain some moisture during the week I'm not here.) To make this "fountain", I turned a little plastic pot (4") upside down and placed it in the middle of the flat bowl, covering the drainage hole. But I have made a few cuts on the side of the plastic pot already so as to make sure excess water can get through it down into the drainage hole of the flat bowl. I also placed many gravels around the plastic pot before filling the flat bowl with potting mix so that the mix wouldn't clog the drainage cuttage. Then I placed the "urn" on top of that plastic pot. The "urn" was filled with many gravels in the bottom to ensure stability as well as to reduce the volume of potting mix. Next I filled the flat bowl with the soiless potting mix I made, making the soil sloping toward the rim of the bowl. I watered the mix well. After that I planted the echeverias and sempervivium and sedums. I tried to make sure they looked naturally. Finally I mulched with pine barks, accented with a few pebbles. My intention was to remove the barks once the sedums spread and cover the surface. It took me about more than an hour to finish. I hope my explanation can help you if you want something similar. greenman: oh ah... that little fella looks so cute! I want one! Xuan

That's good to hear about the burning Toronado. We have a similar climate as you over here in the Kansas City area. We flanked our driveway/house with one on each side. I think they should frame the house nicely as I plan to trim them up to hopefully keep them more like street trees. Yesterday I planted 10 of the species seedlings ordered from Welker's Grove nursery along a small stream in our backyard. Looking forward to seeing what all of these trees look like in 10-15 years and beyond if we're still here. Either way, someone will get to enjoy them. I'll put chicken wire and mulch around them to protect through the winter and first year of growth. Wish I knew where to find a nursery that carried small Gold Rush trees. I only seem to be able to find them online or in our local nursery in larger sizes. These species seedlings are $5 each and arrived in great shape from Welker's Grove.