160 replies to this topic

[napoleonbonaparte]

Imagine something like this in your room full of pings http://www.backtonat...springrock.html , without the fish of course. Only problem would be with light.

[Joseph Clemens]

The dripping wall is a very nice idea. I'm sure it will work if you have lots of room and just a few plants. By few, I mean, less than several hundred.  I hope to someday set one up to see how plants will perform in such a simulated natural environment.

Meantime I have this Pinguicula cultivating "habit", that requires me to keep many hundreds of plants and to continuously propagate them, creating thousands of them and to seek out those I am not presently growing. Even now I cannot entirely keep up with the chores which this "habit" has created. Though it is a labor of love, my other responsibilities sometimes experience overlap conflict and vice versa.

[napoleonbonaparte]

Yes I was thinking a few plants- but my main concern would be- what about light. Pings look gr8 when they are coloured. And since they would be far away from the lights they would remain green. Some "deep penetrating" light should be used.

[Joseph Clemens]

napoleonbonaparte said:

Yes I was thinking a few plants- but my main concern would be- what about light. Pings look gr8 when they are coloured. And since they would be far away from the lights they would remain green. Some "deep penetrating" light should be used.

Yes, perhaps a High Pressure Sodium (HPS) or Metal Halide (MH) lamp of medium to high wattage, or a combination might do a good job of illuminating the wall.

[napoleonbonaparte]

I know pings should be grown closer to the neons, but what is the distance, is 40 cm too far?

[Joseph Clemens]

napoleonbonaparte said:

I know pings should be grown closer to the neons, but what is the distance, is 40 cm too far?

For me that would be, yes -- 40 cm (15.75 inches) is way too far. Most of mine are within 5.5 inches (14 cm). Many are much closer even than that to the fluorescent lights.

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello everyone,

Here's an update on this >5 year project. My Pinguicula wall has finally become a reality thanks to my friends Stephen Davis, Edward Read and Megan Andersen.

After lots of planning, discussing, & buying materials, we all got together last Sunday May 20, 2012, at Stephen's house in San Jose, CA. Ed & Megan came from Los Angeles and I drove down from San Francisco. We began at 10am, worked until around 6pm, then took everything to S.Francisco and mounted the Pinguicula wall along a concrete beam I have facing a window at my place, finishing around 11pm.

See below some great pics taken by Megan to record the whole saga.

Step 1: Cut the "eggcrate" to the right size


Step 2: Cut the plastic sheet which will go behind the Ping panels... well, you'll see this later


Step 3: Cut the gutter, where the Ping panels will eventually sit inside and which will hold water, as well as the wooden beans to which the gutter will be attached


Step 4: Make sure gutter and wood beams are same length


Step 5: Paint the beams


Step 6: Cut the bird netting which will hold the sphagnum over the eggcrate


Step 7: Prepare the Ping soil - I mixed unknown amounts or perlite, vermiculite, peat and "water crystals" (tiny pellets that absorb tons of water and become a gel)


Step 8: Layer wet long-fiber Chilean sphagnum over eggcrate


Step 9: And now the most time-consuming part of the process, sewing the bird netting to the eggcrate with fishing line to hold the sphagnum in place


Step 10: Sew back and forth, side to side, and all around the edges


Step 11: When done, flip it over carefully


Step 12: Spread Ping soil smoothly over the eggcrate


Step 13: Cover soil with a new layer of sphagnum

Step 14: And begin sewing the other side all over again


Step 15: After 1st panel is finished, repeat it all for a 2nd panel


Step 16: Endless sewing


Step 17: Finally, both panels are finished!


Step 18: Load everything in Stephen’s van


Step 19: Lay everything out on the floor of my apartment and drill holes to attach wooden beams together


Step 20: Call for pizza, stop to eat, and go to hardware store to buy missing parts & pieces

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia, 25 May 2012 - 14:44 PM.

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Step 21: Raise the wood beams and hold them there




Step 22: Drill the wood into the walls


Step 23: You think it’ll hold?


Step 24: Attach the gutter to the wood




Step 25: Raise the (heavy) sphagnum panel with the plastic sheet on the back (to protect the wall)


Step 26: Place first sphagnum panel inside gutter


Step 27: Tie it down – after all, don’t forget S.Francisco has frequent earthquakes!


Step 28: Place 2nd panel


Step 29: And we’re ready for the 1st Ping! All hands together!




Step 30: The proud owner and his Ping wall


Step 31: Safety improvements added today


Next step: Although some sunlight light comes through the window, it is not enough for the Pings. I need to attach lights to the ceiling. I’m considering an LED strip of some sort. I recently bought an LED fixture for my aquarium and am very happy with it. Any suggestions regarding cheap strips and what color LEDs? I probably don’t need too much more light. It seems hydroponic lights may be a good option. Interesting to see what a mixture hydroponic LEDs seem to be: blue, red, orange and white.

Ah! I also need to finish planting all the Pings Ed & Stephen gave me and wait for them to grow and flourish so I can post updates. Wish me luck!! :)


THANKS TONS TO STEPHEN, ED & MEGAN FOR YOUR HELP!!


Best Wishes,
Fernando Rivadavia


P.S.  Here's a pic taken over a year ago at Ed's house in LA where we were trying to find out what was the best wicking material for my future Ping wall. Each sock was stuffed with either sphagnum, perlite, crushed marble, or... I can't remember what the others were. The tips of the stuffed socks were dipped in water with some dye, I forget what also. But after several hours, sphagnum was the clear winner.

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia, 25 May 2012 - 09:05 AM.

[radmegan]

It's been waaaaay too long since I last logged into CPUK! Thanks for forcing me to do so Fernando! And I'm so glad you were pleased enough with the results to post the pictures here! What will you have us build on our next visit?

xoxo
Megan

[epbb]

Hi Fernando,

Very impressive set up. No doubts that when one have seen Pinguicula in habitat he can't forget it.  

Cheers

Eric

[jimscott]

radmegan, on 25 May 2012 - 14:27 PM, said:

It's been waaaaay too long since I last logged into CPUK! Thanks for forcing me to do so Fernando! And I'm so glad you were pleased enough with the results to post the pictures here! What will you have us build on our next visit?

xoxo
Megan

Hi Megan.... and I forgot the guy's name...

[ada]

A very neat and tidy set up. Don't wait so long to update us on how the plants grow.
ada

[gardenofeden]

interesting setup there Fernando!
(and welcome back Megan!)

[jimfoxy]

Wowsers! You sure the ceiling will be ok with the increased humidity? Good luck.

[Daniel O.]

Nice looking setup Fernando.
Do you also grow Drosera?

Greetings from Bulgaria,
Dani

BTW, the last few days we have had also a lot of earthquakes here.

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Hello CP folk,

Megan: Next time I'll have you build me a Ping castle!

Eric: Although Juerg Steiger's Ping wall was the inspiration, my travels in Mexico were definitely the main motivating factor behind this set up, after seeing so many amazing natural Ping walls in the wild.

Jim: I don't know how it'll affect the ceiling in the little nook, but I'm definitely hoping humidity will be higher there!

Dani: I have a hard time sticking to any one theme/ thing, so I'm very tempted to try D.adelae / prolifera/ schizandra, due to their lower light needs.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I can't wait to have the wall covered in Pings!! :)


Fernando

[Martin Hingst]

Great project  - and looks like you had much fun this day :-)

So - now good luck for the results, plenty pings and less earthquakes  ;-)

Martin

[Zlatokrt]

Looks great! Cant wait for some pics of fully covered wall
Adam

[kisscool_38]

Really nice setup! Congrats. Hoping to see pictures of your wall with plently of Pings.

Regards

Aymeric

[jimfoxy]

Fernando, I think your next step is to stuff some pillows full of sphagnum so that you can actually sleep with your pings!