P. moctezumae - some newb questions

[w03]

Well, my P. moctezumae I got from eBay last year isn't looking so good this year. I think it's because I didn't apply dormancy. Last year, it was flowering and had quite a large root system (for a ping at least) and flowered profusely. This year, the leaves have shrunk and the root system from last year has died off, and the plant is growing new roots above the soil surface. However, the plant is still flowering! Also, I wonder if this has to do with the increased/decreased photoperiod in my area (San Diego). Summer seems to have come a bit late.

[w03]

Sorry for double-posting, but as a side question - can any cps be grown in pure perlite?

[Dave Evans]

Probably a whole bunch, but growing plants hydroponically might not give them the most stable evironment...

Don't know what to say about the ping, I managed to kill my couple of plants that I grew from seed...

I think I might have been keeping it too dry.

[jimscott]

I struggle with plain, straight up P. moctezumae as well. The crosses with do marvelously well, though. Cindy, one of our hobbyists, does well with Mexican pings in Perlite. Think Mexico for photoperiod. Your latitude is slightly more temperate.

[w03]

Well, as the photoperiod increases here in San Diego, the ping is starting to look a bit better, greening up a little, and growing. When I first got it, I actually found out that P. moctezumae dislikes inorganic compounds, according to this terraforums thread: www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112460
So, when I recieved my plant, I potted it in pure peat moss. It did fine, no root rot or anything. I recently added new soil up to the aerial (sort of ?) roots and am waiting for it to roots. Oh, and by the way, can pings be grown in 3:1 mixture of perlite and peat, and is there any way to help with the aerial roots that often grow on mexican pings (such as my agnata)? Also, is there any good way (besides TC) to propagate P. moctezumae, as it usually doesn't form dormant leaves for leaf pullings (I've heard that this species can be grown without dormancy, true or false?). Sorry if the questions are somewhat obvious, after all, I am a newb (still growing stuff in bottle terrariums!).

[w03]

Well, I made two holes and connected the bottle terrarium to an air pump, like the kind used for aquariums (sounds crazy doesn't it ). The humidity dropped, and as ventilation increased, the leaf rot stopped. However, the plant's growth has slowed down and it has stopped flowering. Is this a ventilation issue because of humidity that is too low (before it was way too high! - sealed terrarium)?

Eek! another double post! Sorry!

[jimscott]

I'm going to have to repot mine. It is the only ping I have that looks like "death warmed over".

[w03]

Never mind, it died from crown rot. I took a few leaf cuttings however. I think I kept it too hot and too moist.

[jimscott]

My new conditions for it:


We'll see..

[w03]

Good luck with yours, the conditions look really good for pings. Unfortunately, my P. moctezumae cuttings rotted out as well. By the way, how hard is P. laueana?

[jimscott]

It's not the easiest species in the world. I don't know why but hybrids with launea and moctezumae do very well, antithetically to the species.

[w03]

Well, I found a good deal on my regular nursery website for P. laueana, and wanted to know how difficult it was, and now that I have the answer, I wanted to ask if it would do well in a terrarium (2 1 ft. fluorescent bulbs, probably 3 inches from plants, can be raised to 6). I know the basics (water sparingly to avoid root rot, bright light, inorganic media, dormancy in winter, etc.), so would this be enough to keep it happy, or are there more specialized requirements?

[gardenofeden]

I would say laueana is amongst the easiest, but flowers better under natural light when allowed a proper dormancy. Although Pings can cope with an inorganic medium they prefer an organic one with loads of nutrients!

[w03]

Well, it is true that pings prefer organic media, but I wanted to grow them in inorganic media to be sure, as it creates a stronger root system. Here in San Diego there are a lot of heat waves, which can kill pings grown in organic media (which is probably what happened to my moctezumae), because their root systems aren't as strong, so nematodes, fungi, etc. can invade the root systems in the much wetter organic media. I don't really mind the pings growing slower, so I'll stick with inorganics. In any case, I can simply add some peat moss to the inorganic media if the pings are growing too slowly. By the way, I'm not really focused on getting a laueana right now, because as can be seen in my newest thread, I found somewhere to get an emarginata! I hear that it likes organic media (peat/sand/perlite mixes) and prefers warmer temperatures and higher humidity than other pings. Is this true? Also, can it survive the temperature range that I mentioned in my new thread?

By the way, has anyone had any problems with brown heart rot by keeping species such as moctezumae and emarginata wetter than other mexican pings? If there is a heart rot problem, does iron oxide help? Also, I've heard that crushed oyster shell/crushed coral is good for pings.

Thanks.

[ltecato]

I can only say that my Mexican pings, including the moctezumae, have done a lot better since I took them out of pure peat and sphagnum and switched to media that have a lot more gravel, sand and perlite. I water them a lot less than I used to and don't have saucers under the pots to collect the water that flows out the drainage holes.

Now I'm no expert but I have read that some of the Mexican species grow in very rocky settings. One source said that medusina grow in or on gypsum. Another grower told me that the Mexican species need a lot less water than the more-temperate pings. Mine do pretty well in bright shade or filtered sun.