Post by wireman on Jul 7, 2013 14:02:47 GMT -5
This is very diverse genus. Plants range from tiny to massive, and incredibly easy to very difficult to grow. Here's my experience.
Potting: Small pots are preferred, and the shallower the better. Pinguicula have very, very shallow roots. Plastic or ceramic will work. Some can even be grown on porous rocks!
Media: Airy. I use a mixture of peat, sand, perlite, and laterite. I don't really pay attention to ratios. Moisture retsntion is a must, though.
Water: Typical CP water, clean. They don't need as much as other CPs and prefer to dry out a little bit in between waterings.
Light: the brighter the better. I grow mine under two 1800 lumen CFLs.
Temperatures: Mexican Pings come from high elevations, so they need cooler temps. 70-80 F is a good comfort zone.
Growth Phases: Here's where things get tricky. Mexican has 2 seasons; Wet and Dry. During the wet season Pinguicula make sticky carnivorous leaves. During the dry season they form shorter succulent leaves that store water. Pinguicula will perform their best if they are allowed to cycle throuvh these seasons. Here's how Isimulate these changes.
Wet Season: 70-80 F temps and a light cycle of 12-14 hours. Keep their media moist, but not sopping wet. They are feeding at this time and need to store up energy for the dry season. Feed liberally with lightweight foods during this time.
Dry Season: 45-50 F temps and a light cycle of 7.5 hours. Allow the media to completelt dry out. They will begin forming smaller leaves at this time. I trigger mine into this grown phase by putting them outside around late September to let the decreasing day lengths naturally trigger the Winter growth phase. Reduce watering at this time. Once night temps fall below 45 F I move them to my basement, under less powerful lights and set the timer to stay on for 7.5 hourz a day. They can be ignored until late March, when they become carnivorous again.
This seasonal change is necessary to induce flowering, which is very impressive and highly recommended. Their blooms are gorgeous!
Growing From Seed: I have never done this before, but it's identical to tropical Drosera. Just drop the seeds on moist media and go.
Potting: Small pots are preferred, and the shallower the better. Pinguicula have very, very shallow roots. Plastic or ceramic will work. Some can even be grown on porous rocks!
Media: Airy. I use a mixture of peat, sand, perlite, and laterite. I don't really pay attention to ratios. Moisture retsntion is a must, though.
Water: Typical CP water, clean. They don't need as much as other CPs and prefer to dry out a little bit in between waterings.
Light: the brighter the better. I grow mine under two 1800 lumen CFLs.
Temperatures: Mexican Pings come from high elevations, so they need cooler temps. 70-80 F is a good comfort zone.
Growth Phases: Here's where things get tricky. Mexican has 2 seasons; Wet and Dry. During the wet season Pinguicula make sticky carnivorous leaves. During the dry season they form shorter succulent leaves that store water. Pinguicula will perform their best if they are allowed to cycle throuvh these seasons. Here's how Isimulate these changes.
Wet Season: 70-80 F temps and a light cycle of 12-14 hours. Keep their media moist, but not sopping wet. They are feeding at this time and need to store up energy for the dry season. Feed liberally with lightweight foods during this time.
Dry Season: 45-50 F temps and a light cycle of 7.5 hours. Allow the media to completelt dry out. They will begin forming smaller leaves at this time. I trigger mine into this grown phase by putting them outside around late September to let the decreasing day lengths naturally trigger the Winter growth phase. Reduce watering at this time. Once night temps fall below 45 F I move them to my basement, under less powerful lights and set the timer to stay on for 7.5 hourz a day. They can be ignored until late March, when they become carnivorous again.
This seasonal change is necessary to induce flowering, which is very impressive and highly recommended. Their blooms are gorgeous!
Growing From Seed: I have never done this before, but it's identical to tropical Drosera. Just drop the seeds on moist media and go.