Advise on a few plants

[locko]

I really like these 3 plants and know the basics to grow them but don't really want to buy them and kill them. I had a Drosera Schizandra in my conditions and it is sadly dead so dont want to repeat that heartbreak.

I am thinking of getting a Drosera regia, Pinguicula Gigantea and Utricularia Reniformis would these plants do ok in these conditions.
On a windowsill in a medium size fish tank with a lid on it for high humidity. Temperatures would reach 30C in the peak of summer and about 10C mid winter the windowsill gets about 4 hours direct morning sun. I know the regia may suffer in summer because it likes it cool but would it be ok. Would be really greatful if someone could point me in the direction of some good growing guides for these plants also.

[turkeypig]

I have one p. gigantea and it grows vigorously. I grow it under cool white florescent lights, watering about once a week using the tray system. Same with d. regia. No terrarium for the d. regia or p. gigantea is required. Too much excess humidity may kill d. regia. They are very fussy plants. I only grow nepenthes and heliamphora using windowsills because of my confined growing space. Temperatures: 60 to 75 degrees f. for p. gigantea, my d. regia was doing well but my dog kicked it over. Growing guides: Savage garden for d. regia and the bladderwort. Can't find a guide for p. gigantea so far... Peter D'Amato left it out of the Savage Garden. www.cobraplant.com should help.

[locko]

Thanks heaps I suppose I'll just go for it and see. If they die they die just another 1 to cross off the list.

[matti]

I grow both Drosera regia and Pinguicula gigantea outside on the tray system.

[locko]

Hmmm mabey I should do the same as you matti. Are they in full sun or in the shade could you please tell me more.

[Clint]

From from News and Views to Indoor Growing.

[matti]

, morning sun afternoon shade, easy.

[locko]

Ok thanks.

[locko]

Well decided against getting regia and reniformis was too expensive so am getting two Pinguicula Gigantea. The savage garden actually mentions Gigantea under the heading Pinguicula agnata it says that Pinguicula agnata dosen't form true winter succulents does this mean that Pinguicula Gigantea and agnata doesn't need a dormancy? Could someone please explain the dormancy for mexican pings. From my understanding winter you should dry out the pots and keep them dry through spring until summer Then in summer keep the plants wet until the end of autumn.

[ICPS-bob]

Locko, you might answer your questions by reading
www.pinguicula.org/pages/culture/culture_of_mexican_pinguicula.htm
www.pinguicula.org/pages/plantes/pinguicula_gigantea.htm

[locko]

Thanks for the great links Bob. I have my awnsers.

[locko]

What am I doing wrong I followed the instructions in the links bob provided but the stupid pings still died. The only thing I can think of is it may have gotten a bit hot on some days 35C. They were shaded a little and the soil was kept just damp humidity was probably a little low but there is good airflow in the form of a 1cm gap all around the lid on the fish tank. They looked great when I got them they were about 3cm across with nice healthy roots. At first a few leaves died from the transport and mabey too much direct sun I thought they liked direct morning sun? so I had to shade them. They grew very slowly and didn't do much one of the plants produced 3 leaves the other one didn't do anything. After a few months the ping that produced the new leaves sent out a root and I thought it was a good sign but after the root touched down it went brown. I uprooted both of the pings and the roots were all brown and obviously dead so luckly the leaves weren't dead yet (they would have been in a few more days). Sorry for the rant but i'm pretty annoyed that for some reason pings hate me and die instantly even though many other plants eg my ceph and Aldrovanda do well on the same window. Well here is where I ask what is wrong with my setup I just hope I get some more babies come up from the leaf cuttings. Here's a pic of there home

[Not a Number]

Here's another take on cultivation of Mexican Pinguicula by Joseph Clemens:

carnivorousplant.com/

[locko]

Thanks. I had them sitting in the water before but since the roots rotted I put them up like that. The only difference between the two methods is the amount of water given to the plants and dormancy. The only thing I wasn't doing in both methods was there was a lot less sun given to my plants but thats because of the leaves dying off in the beginning probably because the sun caused the tank to heat up too much. I never fed them because I just got them and I wanted to wait for some new leaves. Are Nematodes common enough that they killed the plants. My soil mix is 1 part coarse sand 1 part perlite 1 part vermiculite 1 part peat moss with some gypsum added. Looks like I wont be trying pings again for a long time.

[wadave]

Hi loko,

It sounds like they got too hot, if the day time temp was 35deg C then the tank may have reached well over 40deg if it was receiving direct sunlight. The only way you will really know is if you get yourself a thermometer that shows you the peak temp reached. Not many plants will survive those kinds of temps in a tank.

I've been successfully growing mexican pings for three years now and the only time I had trouble was when they were exposed to direct sunlight during summer.

I found the leaves burnt very quickly when grown outside in full summer sun so I moved them into a small terrarium where the plants made a full recovery and multiplied prolifically from the surviving leaves.

All of them did well except for one which developed rot and slowly died. It was a hybrid of agnata and hemiepiphytica and for some reason it didn't like the conditions. I think a combination of still air and the pot sitting in water were the major contributors.

In the tank they naturally entered dormancy and came out again on their own time, spending approx 6 months in each state and were flowering very nicely.

From there I placed my pings into the GH, it got to 44 deg C outside the other day and they seem to do just fine. All my plants get over head misting which varies from 1 minute 2-3 times a day in winter all the way up to 10 times during summer days. This means the crowns and leaves are constantly getting wet as they would during rainy/misty days in the wild. I would definately suggest this not occur in a terrarium unless the pots are not sitting in water and there is plenty of air movement.

I grow mine in straight live spag over a layer of 50:50 peat, perlite. Since expanding my collection I intend to experiment with the growing media, depending on the type of ping, in order to see which mix will bring out their best.

I've been fortunate that I've stumbled on something that works for me here but once the conditions are right you should be able to get most species to grow well for you. Try hooking up with a local CP club, if you're not already a member, and ask others what they do.

Once you've got it right, pings really do reward you with a great flower show and lush growth as well as great leaf colours when given lots of light.

Always remember that the way others grow may not always work for you as their climate may vary quite a bit from yours; there will always need to be some experimentation on your part. That's why finding others in your area is very important.

I hope this helps.

Dave.