FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi again!

I just noticed today that my ping started to have these little black dots on its leaves. Have you guys ever encountered these before? Is it some sort of fungal infection?

Here is the picture of the ping. Some of the lower leaves just has dirt on it, but the fresher new ones definitely have the dots. I couldn't scrape it off.

My pings are currently being hosted in a 10 gallon aquarium/terrarium. Soil is 1/2 peat and 1/2 sand. It's currently being lighted by 2 x t8 fluorescent tubes. Temperature ranges from 70 to 85 F. Humidity is at around 35-45 %

If you have any idea what this is and if you can help, please reply~ This is the 2nd ping of mine that has the same problem

I'm no ping expert, but they look like dead bugs

They could possibly be minute, dead insects -- such as spring tails, which can become rife in terrariums and are harmless (beneficial for the soil, actually). The light, temperature and humidity in the terrarium sounds fine, and the soil mixture will be fine and dandy as long as the plant isn't over-watered. How often do you water it? The edges of the leaves look like they have a bit of damage, but that could be a number of things so I don't think it's something to worry about.

The plant, all in all, looks good. Can I be at all awkward and ask if you are at all possible to get a closer shot? I totally get that it's really difficult with many Mexican pings because they are quite small plants, but if it is at all possible to get a clear, closer photo of the leaves then that would be awesome. Otherwise, we'll figure it out, may just take a little longer.

Here's the bigger pic of the ping. Pls. excuse the size. It doesn't seem to be moving though... the dots. Nor does it look oblongish spring tail.

There was a time that I didn't water it as much because it was having maybe transplant shock (thus the brown leaf) so I placed it on a ziplock to hopefully acclimatize it to it's new home. The moisture in the bag kept the soil wet.

Hopefully the pictures are clearer to see. (the bottom part brownish thing is definitely dirt, the big black dot thing on the right is probably a fungus gnat that it caught.)

1. Of course they're not moving! They're digested!
2.Looks like little ants

Sakaaaaa wrote:1. Of course they're not moving! They're digested!
2.Looks like little ants

oh LOL yea, haha i didn't think about that. But shouldn't they be scrape-able though? I mean if they are insects or ants, I should be able to scrape them off the leaves... right?

Maybe SOME of them are ants. I dont know, a side view would be helpful

Thank you for the closer photo, it does help. What is the diameter of the plant? If we can get an idea of its size then it'll put the dots in perspective. It's probably either little bits of soil that the plant is trying to digest or insect husks (which is why it won't scrape off). I've had the same thing happen, especially if I've moved the plant or pot around.

When you say the soil is wet, do you mean literally? Mexican Pinguicula are rather prone to rot so it's important to let them dry out a bit between waterings and keep them damp, except during their winter dry period when they can go much longer without water. The centre of the rosette looks like it has healthy new growth there though, so that's really good!

The size of the plant is as big as a quarter. No bigger than that. I make the soil pretty moist but not wet, the bottom part of the pot doesn't drip any water. I normally wait until the top soil changes slightly light brown in color, signaling that the moisture on top is getting dry before placing new water. I really hope its just insect husks, does the insect husk harm the plant if I leave it there?

Thank you! the dying leaves on the bottom was worrying me a bit but since there's new growth on the crown, I just try to ignore it.

Thanks for that! I'd say it's more likely to be soil speckling, one of my P. 'Weser' plants has it right now, though not as much as yours. Here's a photo:- Mine is on my windowsill rather than in a terrarium, so you may find that this is partly contributing to the sheer number of speckles. I wouldn't say it's an issue, I've gotten mine completely smothered in dirt during repotting but they always bounce back and the soil eventually disappears from the leaves. My plant is probably a similar size to yours (admittedly, we don't have quarters in England so I did a quick lookup to make sure I got the measurement right hehe), perhaps a little bit bigger.

With regards to water, if you're comfortable with it it may be a good idea to let the soil dry out a little bit more between each watering, especially as the plant is in a terrarium as the water will likely not be evaporating quite as fast as it otherwise would. They can go months without water so an extra couple of days shouldn't do any harm.

Grey wrote: Mine is on my windowsill rather than in a terrarium, so you may find that this is partly contributing to the sheer number of speckles. I wouldn't say it's an issue, I've gotten mine completely smothered in dirt during repotting but they always bounce back and the soil eventually disappears from the leaves. My plant is probably a similar size to yours (admittedly, we don't have quarters in England so I did a quick lookup to make sure I got the measurement right hehe), perhaps a little bit bigger.

With regards to water, if you're comfortable with it it may be a good idea to let the soil dry out a little bit more between each watering, especially as the plant is in a terrarium as the water will likely not be evaporating quite as fast as it otherwise would. They can go months without water so an extra couple of days shouldn't do any harm.

Thank you! Our pings looks about almost the same size, I'll try your advice and see watch out on my Weser for a couple of days. Have you had scorching problems with your ping though? I'm not entirely sure if mine is getting brownish on the edges of the leaves because the temp is getting too hot for it inside the aquarium.

You are most welcome, Kaila, and I'm sorry for the delay. I was away this weekend and have only really had the opportunity to catch up on things today.

I don't think the brown edging is due to heat because these plants can handle pretty high temperatures (up to 45°C (113°F) if night temps are cool), though I suppose it could possibly be scorching if the leaves themselves have gotten damp and are in bright light, but I'm not entirely sure as I've not used artificial lights. I think scorching is more likely if they have natural sunlight because that has different "components" and effects to artificial light.

How is it looking today?

Hello Grey!

It seems like you might be right, it might be soil speckling on the ping. I took a picture and compared it later that day just to make sure that the dots aren't moving. Weser is looking good right now despite how sloooooow it grows. *lol*

That's great to read, I'm really glad that you're feeling more peaceful about it. It can be frustrating when something looks not quite right but we don't know. Some pings can grow a bit slowly but they do pick up during the summer months. My P. 'Weser' is putting out carnivorous leaves a little slowly too. It helps that they're tinted pink.

I know what you mean. The P. moranensis seems to be growing so much faster than P. weser. I do hope mine also turns out pink leaves but so far just melon green ones which is cute also by itself