My temperate Pinguicula garden

[epbb]

Following Kisscool's Pinguicula wall, here is my temperate Pinguicula grown at home in large big boxes. The yellow/white ear sticks are used to spot the youngest minute plants

Left side : 9 large circular boxes

right side : 27 rectangular boxes

Here are some shots from today :

Pinguicula dertosensis from Mount Caro, near Tortosa spain

Pinguicula dertosensis from Mount Caro, near Tortosa spain

Pinguicula macroceras from Hayade Valley, Japan.

Pinguicula macroceras from Hayade Valley, Japan.

Pinguicula leptoceras from Grimsel Pass, 2300m, Switzerland (holotype)

Pinguicula antarctica

Pinguicula antarctica

Pinguicula corsica (Col Of Vergio, Corsica Island)

Pinguicula corsica (Col Of Vergio, Corsica Island)

Pinguicula corsica f. pallidula

Pinguicula vulgaris f. bicolor among Eriophorum

Pinguicula macroceras subsp. nortensis

Pinguicula macroceras subsp. nortensis

Pinguicula longifolia subsp. caussensis

Pinguicula longifolia subsp. caussensis

Pinguicula vulgaris from Col of Balme, Chamonix, France

Pinguicula vulgaris from Col of Balme, Chamonix, France

Pinguicula grandiflora var. rosea

[m.a.x]

Fantastic setup, nice ping!!!

[frangelo]

Very very beatiful compliments

[Kevin Tonnerre]

Nice bird-protection! :-P

...And of course impressive collection of plants.

[Sebulon]

Good job! Those pots look like they had been dug straighth from the wild, very natural looking.

Greetings,

Jarkko

[Zlatokrt]

Great plants and good looking (and also good working) setup

[LoopyLee]

They all look absolutely brilliant.. Very natural looking..

[Daniel O.]

Nice to see a part of your collection.

Really a great natural look you have created there, looks very good.

About P. antarctica, are you growing them all the year outside, even during winter and if yes, what temperatures do you have during this time?

Best regards,

Dani

[epbb]

Nice to see a part of your collection.

Really a great natural look you have created there, looks very good.

About P. antarctica, are you growing them all the year outside, even during winter and if yes, what temperatures do you have during this time?

Best regards,

Dani

Hi Dani,

If you give me your secret to grow US southeast Pinguicula, I will give mine for growing Pinguicula antarctica and P. chilensis....

I have a chance to have a small garden in front of my house forbidden to my 3 children because of the road and people passing by (world is full of mad people). Hence the temperate pinguicula garden I am lucky to have and also a very comprehensive Wife...

The mix is 60% sphagnum peat moss, 30% vermiculite and 10% sand. Some garden grasses are used to increase wetness around the plants. This is what you can see as a natural looking landscape all artificial.

I get one plant and all came from seedlings done artificilially at home in pot to prevent loss by heavy rains. It is not in-vitro seedlings, but a friend of mine succeed also in having germination in-vitro with my fresh seeds.

Plants are grown out in full sun from march to late october until temperature are cycling around 0°C, not too far under 0°c as the plants can, like P. lusitanica dry from missing of water. I leave a plant out all year round to see and the plant have frozen reduced to a minute plant that is still minute but still alive. I don't want to try for the others as I want to procude seeds for exchange and production.

When the temperature are too low in my mind, I dig up all the plants, take it inside in my garage under artificial lights and temperature in small pots. Temperature are around 8-10°. Then, back again out around late march depending on tempratures.

On the plants, 2 have flowered this year and more flower are appearing slowly.

Also plants are reproducing from underground stolons as you can see on the closeup picture, another growing point can be seen. I don't do anything to separate the plants. Too dangerous for what I call a rare species in culture. I will see in the next year to experiment. Up to now after flowering, plant die but leave the stolon daugther plant alive. 2 years after seedling is the usual duration of life for my plants home.

By the way, I have a P. chilensis also with the P. antarctica plants. Same way of growing.

[Marcus Vieweg]

Hi Eric,

this garden is just unbelievable! Fantastic looking plants in a wonderfull arrangement.

I'm searching for words....

Thank you for sharing. Absolutely stunning!

Regards Marcus

[jimscott]

Nice, elaborate setup!

[epbb]

Marcus,

The cat litter come from supermarket AUCHAN, but I found the same in CARREFOUR too. It is usual natural cat litter. Price is around 4€ per 10 kg. I use the one without perfume (maybe plants will like lavendar but not sure...)

Composition is :

Attapulgite : 73 %

Dolomite 10%

Opale 10 %

Calcite 7%

pH = 8.5

size of the nominal granular : 0.5 - 6mm

picture of the pack here :

Cat litter used in my temperate Pinguicula garden.

[Stefan P]

Really, beautiful pings! They all look lovely

[dudo klasovity]

Beautiful piece of nature you have created in your backgarden, it looks like the plants love it (and look accordingly)

They are coloured up very nicely, too. How much sun a day do they get in the summer?

[epbb]

Beautiful piece of nature you have created in your backgarden, it looks like the plants love it (and look accordingly)

They are coloured up very nicely, too. How much sun a day do they get in the summer?

I get sun all day (when we have sun in Paris suburbs).

[Zlatokrt]

And don`t they go dormant too soon, when they are on a full sun?

[epbb]

I use thermodynamic : When the sun hit the surface of the boxes, the water get evaporate and it "refrigerate" a little the media. It is like peltier cell effect.

Around beginning of July, the hibernaculum can be seen in the middle of the rosette and all the plants go dormant in august.

That's not excactly the natural cycle but plants are not in their natural landscape even if I try to help in liaring

That's perfect for me. Amazingly, P. macroceras from Japan, teh first to wake up in march have another cycling beginning in august and ending in november. And then go dormant until march. 2 productions of gemmae each year. Not bad...

[Mathias]

Hi epbb,

really impressive success in you care! Great!

I always loose part of my plants or the best flowers to slugs and snails. They come before I can place some poison. Don't you have this problem? What are you doing about it?

How did you fill your buckets for the water reservoir? Only cat litter?

Thanks and happy growing,

Mathias

[epbb]

Hi epbb,

really impressive success in you care! Great!

I always loose part of my plants or the best flowers to slugs and snails. They come before I can place some poison. Don't you have this problem? What are you doing about it?

How did you fill your buckets for the water reservoir? Only cat litter?

Thanks and happy growing,

Mathias

Dear Mathias,

I put empty pot with bottom up. Then, I fill with pine barks until 10cm under the top of the box. A drainage tissue and over it, the mix choosed for the plants : cat litter base mix or sphagnum peat base mix.

For slugs and snails, I use FERRAMOL from Neudorff company that is used in biological culture. It is iron phosphate. The slugs eat it and stop to eat. Slugs died then

See here in german :

Ferramol

[Mantas]

How those boxes don't break in winter coz of frozen water?

[epbb]

If you choose quality plastic box and not first price, you should have no problem. for the rectangular boxes, mine come form company PLASTIQUES EDA, a french company. I still grow the plants in the box you have in the picture 2010 and many box are older.

The round ones are used to prepare mortar for exemple.