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Help with Pinguicula setup


Fernando Rivadavia

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Hey Dave,

Fresh humid air, huh? That I have in SF, I guess I'd just need to keep the window open more often...

I agree, the mystery Ping has agnata, but not sure what else. At least one part of the mystery has become clearer to me: the strangely uniform purplish-blue flower color.

Looking at some older flower pics on this thread, from 2-3 months ago, I noticed that two things have happened: first, the flowers seem to have gotten darker overall darker. Second, some flowers seem to have lost the white patch at the entrance of the tube.

Look at this pic of P.moranensis "Molango"(?) from mid-July:

PmoranensisMolango2.jpg

The last two flowers on the same plant just died, but they were uniformly purple, there was no white patch. Weird. Could it be the LEDs I installed? You can't really see this in the pic below taken last week, but another interesting thing about this same plant is that it had weirdly incurled leaves back in July, but as you can see below they are now looking nice. I wonder why? Could that have something to do with temperature?

IMGP1092_3216x2412.jpg

P.gigantea and P.X aphrodite flowers also seem to be a bit darker now, comparing to a few weeks ago.

Hmmmm....

Thanks,

Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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  • 4 weeks later...

OK, time for an update.

The wall is doing very well! The watering system is working as I hoped, with the sphagnum panels still being humid when I return from 10 day trips even. For such long work trips, I've been filling the gutter before leaving and drenching the whole wall with a hand spray. In fact, I've been spraying the wall with some of my aquarium water once a week more or less, hoping this will act as a dilute fertilizer (and it's a planted fresh water aquarium which I fertilize every week).

Here's an overview of both sides:

IMG_0472_2219x1374.jpg

IMG_0470_2448x1616.jpg

As you can see, there are more plants and many are larger - although some have shrunk. The LEDs are still on for the same long hours (was it 12? I forget), but natural day length is definitely shorter, and thus several Pings seem to be entering dormancy. I haven't really reduced humidity though and don't plan on it yet.

As an example, look hom my P.X Aphrodite have shrunken in size (and almost all the scape keep wilting!):

IMG_0480_2448x1567.jpg

Almost every day that I am at home, I pluck some leaves off a few Pings and spread them around the wall. As a result, it keeps filling up pretty quickly and there are numerous small plantlets all around, see the pics below:

IMG_0477_2448x1836.jpg

IMG_0475_2448x1836.jpg

With winter leaves it should be easier to pluck leaves off and spread new plantlets. As you can see, several of the same plants are still flowering. The only new flower is another individual of the mystery agnata cross, except this one doesn't have the wrinkly leaves and has a more "normal" flower -- although huge! Se the comparison below with my hand:

IMG_0467_2448x1836.jpg

IMG_0478_2448x1836.jpg

One of my Cephs (the one that's getting more light) seems to be taking off. Every time I see it it looks bigger and with more leaves:

IMG_0471_1888x1507.jpg

But the biggest surprise I had today was this one:

IMG_0474_2151x1348.jpg

A flower scape on one of the epiphytic Utrics!!!! I don't remember if this is U.endresii or U.asplundii, but I hope to find out soon! This will be the first time ever that I get one of these epiphytic Utrics to flower in cultivation. :) Wish me luck!

Best Wishes,

Fernando Rivadavia

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Hi guys,

Will, you must be the most negative CPer on this forum, LOL! :)

Aymeric, I agree! I do have P.moctezumae, here's a pic I just took:

IMG_0481.jpg

What do you think? Leaves look a bit narrow and green, right?

Thanks,

Fernando

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Will, you must be the most negative CPer on this forum, LOL! :)

No ,i am not but i can send you pics from this plants how she looks all the time,by me she not got smaller or lost not so match leafs .

Meaby i am a bit critisch but i have say last time the month november is the most critical month of the year for pings,if it s not work ,you go see this at the end of this month,off course i realy hope it s working but i still have my doubts,i have experiment a bit by myself the last few years and i know how difficult this plants some times are, so i :tu: for you,

cheers Will

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What do you think? Leaves look a bit narrow and green, right?

Yes, leaves should be shorter and the apex obtuse. Concerning the color, they are dark green at home, not a greenish-yellowish color. I don't know a reddish clone in cultivation, or even in their habitat, this point you should better know than me :wink: I will make a picture of etiolated and normal plants.

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Thanks! I think I will try installing some old aquarium lights TODAY! The good news is that there are now **3** Utric flower scapes!!!!

Fernando

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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OK, so I hurriedly hung up some aquarium lights yesterday:

IMG_0494_2448x1836.jpg

IMG_0493_2448x1836.jpg

I'll leave these on for a while, to see if it makes any difference, and while I see if I can find a better (and less makeshift) alternative.

Thanks,

Fernando

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  • 1 month later...

Hello everyone, it's been a month since my last update, so time for a new one! :)

Those ugly aquarium lights shown above have helped bring a little more life to my Pings, even though several have clearly reduced their rosette sizes as winter advances. But at least they seem to look healthier.

Anyway, I just took those ugly lights down today, since my friend Stephen Davis came over this afternoon to help install new LED lights he helped me buy two weeks ago at Home Depot:

MWSnap541.jpg

P12.jpg

2012-11-26_22-34-10_110.jpg

We first considered installing the lights as they were, at a single spot on the ceiling and simply directing each of the 3 lights towards a different part of the Ping wall (I did intend to remove the ugly motion detector, however).

After discussing a few options, we then simply decided it would be best to pull the fixture apart and install the 3 lights at different spots, gluing each to the ceiling with double-sided tape. So we made a list and walked to a nearby hardware store for materials.

Back at home, before taking the fixture apart, we did a quick test to see if the lights were working. Here's me basking in the heavenly glow (and pleasantly surprised at how bright they are):

P11.jpg

And now a few pics of us taking it apart:

IMG_0547_2448x1836.jpg

P14.jpg

IMG_0550_1836x2448.jpg

P13.jpg

We carefully rewired all the lights with electrical wire, tape, and caps:

image.jpeg

Then attached the double-sided tape to one of the LEDs:

P15.jpg

Here's me trying to decide the correct position of the 3 lights:

IMG_4966.jpg

And here's the 1st light being attached to the ceiling:

P16-1.jpg

image4.jpeg

Now positioning the 2nd LED:

IMG_4972.jpg

image1.jpeg

IMG_0552.jpg

Notice in the last pic above how we were able to neatly hide the electrical wire behind the top of the blinds.

OK, two down, one to go... if only I can pry off that damned red film covering the double-sided tape!

P30.jpeg

And finally all 3 LEDs were glued to the ceiling. The only task remaining was to tape the electrical wire to the wall, leading down to the electrical outlet hidden beneath a table, connect it to a timer and it was complete -- faster and easier than I thought it would be!

Here's what the LEDs look like from below and a photo of me taking this pic:

IMG_0556_2448x1836.jpg

xxx.jpeg

Another angle:

image2.jpeg

A side angle (with Steve measuring lumen):

IMG_0557_2448x1836.jpg

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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And finally some pics of the plants under my new LED lights...

IMG_0566_2448x1836.jpg

IMG_0558_2448x1836.jpg

This one is flowering for the first time, I believe it is P.pilosa:

IMG_0560_2448x1836.jpg

And this beauty hasn't stopped producing its stunning large, hairy bluish flowers:

IMG_0559_2329x1574.jpg

Any guesses what it is? I think it's some P.agnata hybrid, just not sure what...

One of my Cephs is growing really well:

IMG_0561_2448x1836.jpg

But the other one was still quite small, so I tried replanting it yesterday. However I just found it nearly completely dehydrated, not sure I can save it...

As for D.schizandra, it is looking better, but still pretty small:

IMG_0562_1924x1366.jpg

U.asplundii(?) now has 4 scapes and several new leaves. One scape has a flower that will hopefully open soon:

IMG_0563_2448x1836.jpg

Another scape has gotten really long, but I'm not sure it will actually produce flowers, there seems to be nothing between the sepals. Cleistogamous flowers maybe? That would be a bummer...

IMG_0565_2448x1836.jpg

Well, that's all folks! I hope you enjoyed this update and thanks to my good friend Steve for all his help!

Fernando Rivadavia

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Thanks guys! ;)

Here are the specs for the LEDs:

MWSnap542.jpg

Thanks for the P.pilosa ID. As for the other plant, there are no spots in the flowers, a smooth color. Furthermore, the flowers are more agnata-ish as well as the leaves.

Thanks,

Fernando

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Nice! The pings are now looking much healthier.

The first one is P. pilosa yes. The second is maybe P. x 'Tina', although I can't see the darker spots (probably due to the photo angle).

Err, isn't that AL#13?

It appears to be some sort of P. gigantea hybrid, not a P. agnata hybrid...

The odd thing is, those hair are pilose, but I really don't think that is a good example of P. pilosa...

If you compare flowers of the true species, they aren't very similar... Perhaps it is P. pilosa * P. gigantea?

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Dave, thanks tons, AL13 it is!!!

I just checked the pics in the CP Photo Finder and this is my strange agnata-like hybrid (as in "agnata complex", including gigantea, pilosa, martinezzi, and ibarrae).

And now to the big question: so what is it AL13? Your suggestion of P. pilosa * P. gigantea makes total sense, I agree this is very likely!

Anybody else?

Thanks!

Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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Great news! I came back from a 4-day business trip yesterday to find that my 1st flower of U.asplundii has opened!!!

I know this is probably not a big deal for most CPers, but for me it's HUGE for a few reasons.

First of all, I had very little hope that it would survive at all on my Ping wall, so I am amazed that multiple plugs not only survived but began flowering so quickly (four scapes already!).

I hadn't really cultivated CPs for nearly 20 years, and back in the early 90's it was quite difficult to find the epiphytic Utrics of Sect.Orchidioides in cultivation. The only one I ever go to try back then (unsuccessfully) was U.alpina. So this is also my first "success" with these amazing Utrics.

This also means that it is my first Sect.Orchidioides flower!! :) Here are the pics:

IMG_0583_zpsb8a784e3.jpg

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And that's not all, there is another 1st on my wall:

IMG_0581_zps4904a757.jpg

Do you see the little flower bud in the center of the rosette? Well this is P.laueana! Although I've been lucky to see P.laueana in the wild (see: http://www.pinguicul...stcard_14_4.htm, and also the same site before flowering here: http://www.pinguicul.../Postcard_5.htm), I'd never grown it before. So this will be my first cultivated flower of P.laueana!! :)

I couldn't be happier with my wall right now!!! :)

All the best,

Fernando Rivadavia

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That's very cool, about your U. asplundii. I think you'll find several other species will do well on your wall too. Don't try U. alpina though, it is too weedy and it will spread through the whole wall and quickly. But other tuberous species tend to act more like orchids and stay in place; or only expand in size during one or two seasons instead of all year long.

There are some clones of P. laueana that don't flower. These are/were in TC and are very wide spread. However, they do not represent normal P. laueana which flower seasonally. I just threw out the last of them from my collection. While they never flowered; while other clones do regularly, they kept growing and dividing. If your plants are not flowering, they could be plants of the TC damaged clone.

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