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ltecato

March of the Pinguiculas

ltecato
15 years ago

Hi all. I've been hearing consistently that the pings sold in the nurseries in the death cubes are almost always P. primuliflora. That may be true elsewhere, but around here I suspect it is not. I've bought at least four or five pings from nurseries that don't look like the photos of primuliflora that I have seen. I've been wondering if maybe they were in fact the Mexican P. moranensis (sp?), so I did a little reading and found out that my pings were acting more like P. mor. than P. prim.

For one thing, they seem to really want a lot of humidity. The ones that I've kept in a mini-terrarium always seem healthier than those I leave outside and uncovered. I always keep the outside ones in standing water and mist them daily with distilled water as well.

Secondly, I read that P. mor. will often revert to its emergency dormant state at the drop of a hat. That's exactly what mine have been doing.

And my pings did not seem to enjoy being outside in winter here in SoCal Zone 9/10. The ones I brought inside in the enclosed container stayed perky all winter, but when I put them back outside and took the top off the terrarium, they shrank back up. Also for what it's worth, inside the terrarium with the top on it, the leaves stand up. When I take the top off and the humidity goes down, the leaves lie flat on the soil.

But anyway, a picture's worth... The plants on the left are the ones I suspect are P. mor. The one on the right I bought on eBay and the seller IDs it as P. prim. You tell me.

{{gwi:564245}}

And here's what the pings in the terrarium look like:

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Comments (8)

  • hunterkiller03
    15 years ago

    Just a few questions.

    The one at the bottom photo came in a "cubes are death", an acrylic cube container? Or were they inside a small 3 inch pot covered with a cup for a dome? Because these are from Gubler's and they have sold P. x 'Pirouette' (a P. moranensis x P. ehlersiae hybrid) last year and again this spring.

    This is my P. x 'Pirouette'. I keep mine out of any terrarium, I allowed it to harden in my room in lower humidity (very low humidity).
    {{gwi:547096}}

    The left on the top photo looks a lot like P. x 'Titan' and did this came in a large 4 inch pot with a plastic bag/sock?
    {{gwi:564247}}

    The middle one, I'm not sure. Usually P. morenansis have rounded leaves, not oblong.
    This is a P. morenansis.
    {{gwi:564248}}

    But the middle one does look a lot like mine, this unidentified ping I have.
    {{gwi:564249}}

    I think it may be P. potosiensis, it looks so similar but I won't be sure until it flowers. But it just went dormant and I will allow it to go dormant. It's that time of year since winter is just starting.

    One thing, forcing them to grow is bad for your pings, the need to go dormant. If they insist of going dormant, that because they really require it. I grow them inside my room without terrarium and simply keep their media moist. I don't water them often because unlike most CP, they don't like their media waterlog or their roots will rot.

    Another thing, P. primuliflora like sphagnum moss but not Mexican pings, they grow in a different mix with high drainage. They like to grow in shale like soil I make my mix of 1 part peat moss, one part perlite, 1 part sand, 1 part vermiculite, and 1 part pumice. Mexican ping like some minerals in their soil. There are simpler mix but this is the mix that works for me.

    Now, what kind of moss are you using? It doesn't look like long fiber sphagnum moss, it looks a lot like the generic moss that's call basket moss or green moss. How long have you had each plant on the top photo?

  • ltecato
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi HK. In the top photo, the small one in the middle is one of my oldest. I started buying them in late 2006. Most came in round plastic pots with plastic domes or cups on top of them. The ping on the left I bought about a month ago, and it did come in an acrylic tube from Gublers. The P. prim. on the right just arrived last week in the mail.

    And yes, I'm just using any LFS I happen to find. Some of it starts out looking greenish. All the ones on top are sitting in this LFS. And I keep all the pings very wet.

    By the way, that LFS smells horrible when it gets wet! At least it draws plenty of flies for the sars and vfts to eat.

    In the terrarium, the soil is so old I can't recall what was in it. I'm thinking a mix of peat moss, LFS and perlite.

    Based on what you say, maybe I need to get my Gublers-type pings into a much grittier soil. I was under the impression that pings need to be constantly water-logged.

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago

    The one off to the right does look like P. primuliflora.

  • ltecato
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Update: My possibly-Mexican pings look a lot better now that I now longer keep them in standing water. I looked at the label on the bag of LFS I've been using and was horrified to see that it's apparently just meant for ornamental purposes or lining hanging baskets. I needed some more media immediately but the best I could do is the powdery peat moss, which I'm mixing with sizable amounts of perlite or pumice. It's not Miracle Gro, so it doesn't come with fertilizer added.

  • hunterkiller03
    15 years ago

    Good thing you found that out, the moss on the pic didn't look at all like LFSP. Many people lost their CPs because they bought that ornamental moss by mistake. To make it worse, some store clerks have even made claims that it is long fiber sphagnum moss. That explains the strange smell.

    The mix is simple but should work. That's the mix Gubler use to grow their mexican ping clones. Mexican pings are hardy plants. So you should do all right.

    Good Luck! ;~)

  • mcantrell
    15 years ago

    Hm, looks like it to me, at least the stuff I buy (which is also sold by California Carnivores). Does anyone have any pictures of real LFSP, both live and dead?

  • hunterkiller03
    15 years ago

    California Carnivore sell trusted pre-mixes. So they can be trusted what you buy from them, or Sarracenia Northwest. You can try them for supplies.

    But here's a link to pics of LFSP:
    www.freewebs.com/bluetarantulainfo/acrylic%20setup2%203%20layers.jpg

    And live sphagnum moss:
    www.essencesonline.com/SphagnumMoss-big.jpg

  • petiolaris
    15 years ago

    {{gwi:564250}}

    {{gwi:564251}}

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