9 replies to this topic

[iminei]

Hi there guys,

well, summer is rolling on and despite fears this spring as to the health of my CP's after the dreadful winter we had, they are flourishing!
My outside Sarracena Flava is starting to looki past its best, as is usual, but has had a good season and exceeded my hopes.
The greenhouse plants are still at their, slightly overgrown, yes I know in must get in there and prune, best.The question i have for you concerns my hardy pings.
I had a very good show this year, plenty of flowers and lush foliage and now there are just the leaves left..
So here comes the questions;
How long should i keep them going?
should i collect up the leaves or wait til they all die back?
i've never really bothered before they have just...done their stuff but am keen not to lose any this year as i hope the display will be better next  year.
so over to you experts!!!

Edited by iminei, 12 August 2011 - 15:08 PM.

[iminei]

Update

the shame of my neglect spurred me on today and all my lovely CPs are now pruned and primped and looking glorious but i still need your help with my pings!!

[iminei]

Update

the shame of my neglect spurred me on today and all my lovely CPs are now pruned and primped and looking glorious but i still need your help with my pings!!

[Dianne Salter]

Hi   Your hardy pings will do fine if you just leave them alone.  They don't need their leaves removing as they will die back over the next few weeks/months.  We leave ours alone and we also leave ours outside so that they get a good dormancy.  They re appear every year withour fail!!!

Dianne

[jesse]

iminei, on 12 August 2011 - 09:56 AM, said:

The question i have for you concerns my hardy pings.

Any species names?

iminei, on 12 August 2011 - 09:56 AM, said:

How long should i keep them going?

I have P. grandiflora and P. macroceras ssp. nortensis outside in my mini-bogs.
I keep them going until the winter ends, then take the buds from my mini-bog in February/March, remove the numerous gemmae around the winter hibernacula, reimplant the hibernacula and scatter the gemmae where I like to grow new plants.

iminei, on 12 August 2011 - 09:56 AM, said:

should i collect up the leaves or wait til they all die back?

What do you want with the leaves? The leaves contain the energy of the plant. While the summer leaves die back, the plant withdraws the energy from the summer leaves and puts the energy into a strong winter hibernaculum.

If you tear out the leaves before they are completely thin and dry, you steal much of the energy from the plant, that otherwise would go into tihe hibernaculum. If the hibernaculum is weak and small, the plant will not flower the next season.

[jimscott]

I think i misunderstood the type of pings you have. Jesse has excellent and appropriate advice.

[iminei]

Sorry, i did not explain myself very well with the leaves thing; at the moment they live in the water trays around the pots of sarracennas etc and my worry is they get either far too wet or far too dry as the trays are regularlt drying out in the summer heat...not such a problem for the sarras who have a surplus of moisture in their soil
im thinking maybe to remove them to their own tray so the water level can be more monitored, and i guess im wondering how wet/dry they can be at this stage in the year?

[jesse]

iminei, on 13 August 2011 - 07:44 AM, said:

im wondering how wet/dry they can be at this stage in the year?

This is what I have experienced with my P. grandiflora and P. macroceras ssp. nortensis:
The substrate for hardy Pinguicula must be moist to wet all the year round. Never dry (as with Mexican Pinguicula).

But be aware: Other than typical bog plants Pinguicula does not like standing in stagnant water and anaerobic substrate. Pinguicula like oxygen rich substrate and water. So you better use big (high) pots with little water in the tray and sometimes dry tray (not dry substrate), and not small pots with relative high water levels in the tray. Standing water should be kept at a minimum, but pouring rain (very oxygen rich!) is no problem for weeks. Drying out of the substrate must be prevented.

And the second half-year is a very bad time for repotting hardy Pinguicula. Hardy Pinguicula have a very determined life cycle through the year. The root system for the growing season is fully established when the seed pods are ripe, nearly no roots will grow in the second half-year, so most of a root disturbance after early July can not be catched up by the plant in the same year. Repotting in July or later will probably lead to very early forming winter hibernacula in this year, and/or less or none growing of gemmae at the bottom of the winter hibernaculum (which could be used for reproduction if you have them).

[iminei]

So you better use big (high) pots

uh oh! my pings live in moss growing in the water trays...oops!
i did put some in a nice heart shaped dish with some peat underneath but have transferred them when their glory days were over as the dish was just that, a china dish with no drainage holes to display them indoors.

dont talk to me about mexican pings, i cant get on with them at all. my friend Matt gave me a nice one this spring which has just shrunk and shrunk...i am probably, no strike that most definately keping it too wet...but im a Cp girl and thats all i really know (pass the buck, pass the buck, pass the buck)

i currently have lots and lots of little plantlets in leaf through the moss as well as the large flowering plants in leaf, but no flowers or stalks left (that i can see)

im really wondering how and when i can get them to hibernacula stage...
in the past, when i had just a few, i just left them in the moss to overwinter and they seemed to get through, but this years display made me aware and more concerned to conserve and develop what i have.

Edited by iminei, 13 August 2011 - 17:14 PM.

[iminei]

ok, i have just been down to check out the state of the pings, (they're right at the back of the water trays under the upper shelving) and yes there are stalks, so i assume seed heads in the moss, but here is the rough layout for you to understand the situation better. apologies for the lack of finesse in the photography stakes.

Edited by iminei, 13 August 2011 - 17:45 PM.