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Post by dvg on Feb 25, 2009 15:57:20 GMT -5
I was able to snap a couple of pics of some mexi-pings in dormancy mode today. I just love the geometry of these pings when they are in this mode of suspended growth. The first pic is of P. moranensis "Santa Maria Yucuhitii". This next photo is of P. moranensis, Huixteco, Mexico.
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Post by hackerberry on Feb 25, 2009 16:19:55 GMT -5
Wow, they look really nice even when dormant. Lots of leaves to pluck there. hehe
hb
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Post by dvg on Feb 25, 2009 17:26:23 GMT -5
Thanks hb. I am in the process of taking leaf pullings for some of my pings for backups and trades. Haven't got around to these yet. Lots to do.
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Post by simon on Feb 25, 2009 18:21:58 GMT -5
I'll use this tread to ask my question to the pings expert here on ocps. First of all i received these gorgeous plant from DVG. I've tried to grow them all in the same condition ( maybe that's my mistake , i need to do a lot of reading about pings), and some are going very well And P.cyclosecta don't seem to grow and i was wondering if it was dormant. If so should i water it? Each leaves of my P.moranensis seems to be smaller than the last one... Does it need dormancy? or is it only a transplant shock.
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Post by lloyd on Feb 25, 2009 18:52:35 GMT -5
I don't think 1+3 are dormant looking. The cyclosecta looks more dry than dormant. My cyclosecta is really looking dormant now, with small, tight, flat whorls of leaves. In fact it looks more like a sedum than a ping.
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Post by mabudon on Feb 25, 2009 22:03:59 GMT -5
I agree with Lloyd on all but #3
#1- active growth, looks like
#2- dormant pretty much
#3- I would say it's headed to "sleep" personally, water it less and see if it goes all the way sleepy, but nothing too special required
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Post by dvg on Feb 26, 2009 0:06:29 GMT -5
Simon your top picture of P. x 'Pirouette' is looking fine, and it is dividing into two plants...which usually happens after it flowers. You can divide it up soon. Just make sure the two halves, have roots under them. Your cyclosecta looks like kitty in the doorway, undecided on whether to commit one way or the other. Probably because your conditions are so favorable to it's continued growth, it is having a hard time becoming fully dormant. If you continue to water it, and keep it warm with lots of light, it should continue to grow. If you give it no water and cooler conditions it will go dormant. The moranensis from Hawaiian Botanicals is a bit tricky. I would continue to water it and keep it warm with lots of light also. I don't want to give you bad advice, so weigh what I have to say carefully. I notice you are growing your pings in what appears to be a peat based substrate. That is fine. Mexi-pings are tolerant of a variety of different substrate mediums. I myself use an all mineral based medium with no peat, sphagnum or any organic substances added. I do this because one of the banes of ping growers is crown rot. Crown rot is caused by a fungus. It is believed that this crown rot is able to get a foothold, it's portal of entry, by nematodes eating at the ping's roots. I have found that some of my peat based pings have fallen to crown rot when I let the soil dry out. I think with the soil drying out the nematodes were forced up to the roots, and by eating at them, allowed the crown rot fungus access into the ping. The theory is that an all mineral based soil dissuades nematodes from proliferating in the medium. I also find that my pings either decide to go into dormancy on their own or not. I do not give my pings a typical dry dormancy. They go into and out of dormancy on their own. I still fill their water trays, once they have evaporated, whether they are in dormancy or not. This is not the recommended way to grow Mexi-pings, but so far it has worked for me. Because we all have different growing conditions, each of us has to become an expert of our own grow space. What works well for some of us, might not be the most optimal for others. That's why I am hesitant to offer blanket growing advice for all conditions. And that is why it is good to hear different approaches to growing pings, from each of us. If one approach isn't working, we can try something different, until we find something that works for each of our unique growing conditions.
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Post by mabudon on Feb 26, 2009 0:11:57 GMT -5
haha and yes, 3 posts, 3 different takes
I defer to DVG tho, he has very good "luck" with some of the more tricky species, and I must say Lloyd is also much more methodical than I as well
I was just posting my thoughts, my "easy" Pings seem to grow alright for me with the goofy things I do to them
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Post by dvg on Feb 26, 2009 0:16:40 GMT -5
Like I said Mabs, these Mexi-pings are fairly easy and responsive to a variety of techniques. Also, we all have very different growing conditions. I'm in arid Alberta and have underfloor heat provided with a boiler. Each of us has to find the balance between ourselves, our plants and our conditions, which as luck would have it, most of these species are very easy and forgiving.
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Post by lloyd on Feb 26, 2009 8:46:55 GMT -5
What is the recipe for an all mineral medium? Does it absorb water more readily when dry than the peat-based recipe?
I agree #3 could be going either way. The leaves just look a bit too "moist" and oval for dormancy. Mine gets drier, narrower leaves when it goes dormant.
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Post by simon on Feb 26, 2009 8:47:46 GMT -5
Thanks a lot guys! The substrate i use is perlite, sand ( washed playground sand) and small rocks. Maybe the near window sill winter is what trigger these behaviour.
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Post by dvg on Feb 26, 2009 11:03:22 GMT -5
What is the recipe for an all mineral medium? Does it absorb water more readily when dry than the peat-based recipe? Lloyd, an all mineral mix is simply a mix without any organic components in it...ie. compost, peat, sphagnum. It can be as simple as straight perlite. I mix up a combination of fine perlite, coarse perlite, fine sand, coarse sand, pumice, lava rock, kanuma pumice(pH 5.5), and akadama soil(calcareous clay). This is then topdressed with a thin layer (1/4"-3/8") of coarse silica sand. Because I refill my trays when the water evaporates from them, the medium stays fairly moist most of the time. Peat is notorious for being difficult to re-wet once it has dried out in a pot. Although this mix of mine sounds very dry, the water does wick up in the pot, and the plants do end up with better root systems and are less prone to rot. Because of this wicking effect, moss does end up growing on the surface of the pot. For more information on this type of medium, check out www.pinguicula.org
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Post by fragrantphals on Feb 26, 2009 13:22:37 GMT -5
those are beautiful pics! i love the geometry in the sleeping pings!
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Post by hal on Oct 25, 2009 16:55:28 GMT -5
I have a few pings that seem to be going dormant (gypsicola, ehlersiae, moranensis purple) They're under lights in my basement in a shallow tray of water, and it's about 18 C down there. Can I just take them out of the tray and reduce/stop the watering or will they do better if they're moved somewhere even cooler?
The World of Pinguicula site says 80% humidity during hibernation. I'd say right now they are getting 60% humidity in the trays. The only way I could do 80% is put them in a small terrarium on gravel with some water underneath.
Do they mind lower light during hibernation?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Hal
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Post by jonnybee7 on Oct 25, 2009 22:03:15 GMT -5
That P. moranensis, Huixteco, Mexico, looks amazing! Is it just in dormancy that it turns white like that? Or is that just the camera/lighting?
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