FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello friends,

I got two pings coming in tomorrow from Rainbow Carnivorous Plants and I thought I'd go through the stuff I have and the information I gathered about growing pings to make sure I got everything straight.

Supplies

I've got a bag of the California Carnivores Pinguicula Soil Mix and several 4.5in diameter x 3in depth pots as well as some 6in diameter x 5in depth.

I've got plenty of water that's 0-1ppm with my ZeroWater tank. May just need to get a counter top water distiller in the future (buying the ZeroWater filters is a bit annoying).

I have bloodworms and I also got the Schultz succulent fertilizer that Cal-Carn says they apply to the leaves of their pings (I guess they do a eyedropper?).

Environment

I have a room humidifier that keeps things in the 60-80% around the plants and it's usually 70-72 degrees Fahrenheit in my apartment. I could up the airflow using some CPU fans and a 4-pin to AC/DC power connector, but it I've never really had issues with mold unless things are too wet.

The grow lights I have are kinda cheap, but they seem to work for the plants that are/have been under them (everyone gets nicer coloring and doesn't have to reach for the light). Eventually I'll have a IKEA grow cabinet, which can help bump up the temperature some, they'll have higher quality grow lights, the shelving will have holes and the CPU fans will keep the airflow nice.

General Care

Watering

Something in my gut tells me that top watering is the way to go. The soil from Cal-Carn looks like it'd be pretty loose and wouldn't wick up as much water if I did the tray method. However the humidity from the humidifier and not as high temps will help keep moisture in the medium, too, so it could get too moist if I'm not careful. Brown heart disease is obviously a concern, but I don't know if it's more common from top watering or the tray method.

Feeding

Obviously just re-hydrated bloodworms will do fine. I guess soaking them in the diluted Schultz fertilizer might be an extra nutritious snack, because I'm not 100% sure how Cal-Carn applies it to the leaves of their pings.

Dormancy

This is the tricky one. I guess I could start putting them outside once it starts getting colder, or I could put them in some shade and hold back water. This is something I'm not 100% sure on.

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Hopefully I seem prepared! Let me know if you have any advice/tips.

first of all know what the species are, because between a temperate, a Mexican hybrid, a Mexican calcareous, a Mexican other
crop conditions are different

jeff wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 9:28 am first of all know what the species are, because between a temperate, a Mexican hybrid, a Mexican calcareous, a Mexican other
crop conditions are different

I have two Mexican pings. P. "Aphrodite" and P. gigantea red.

They're actually doing pretty well so far, they're making new leaves and the Aphrodite came with a flower that it's actually keeping and perking up!

Pings don't need humidity that high. They do fine with average household humidity.

P.gigantea is a limestone specie - P.x 'Aphrodite' an hybrid ( agnata x moctezumae).

Can you take them outside in the shade?

for watering use the capillarity method ; the plant by this method simply uses the water it needs, it avoids rotting of the collar.
use if it is possible just rain water

the ideal for these plants is that they take their prey themselves

for the dormancy of Mexican pings in general, keep them dry or slightly humid from October to May, resume watering from May to October.
these 2 species do not have a particular period of dormancy

Good advice from Jeff as always. Your set-up sounds fine. As others have said, don't worry about humidity too much (unless yours is super low). I also prefer the tray method for watering.

Welcome to the (addictive) world of pings!

Hey guys, just thought I'd update y'all.

Both pings are doing great. Both are getting rid of old leaves and making new ones, he P. 'Aphrodite' actually made a second flower and is growing a tiny offshoot, and the P. gigantea red's leaves are turning a nice pinkish red.

I started doing the tray method, but I thought I'd try top watering with a skinny eyedropper every now and then and they both seem to be doing fine. It's around 60% humidity during the day and 80% at night and the top shelf in the cabinet gets up to a smidge above 80 degrees Fahrenheit sometimes, so I haven't needed to water a ton. I'll probably just go back to doing the tray method, making sure to clean out the trays every so often to prevent any potential bacteria build up.

No signs of any issues, at first I thought the plants getting rid of some of their old leaves was potentially browning heart, but it's just the normal process of aging leaves. There also wasn't any browning near or on the crowns and the old leaves aren't suddenly "disappearing."

So overall, yay!

The one thing that was annoying is the double-sided tape on one of the grow lights gave out and smacked the poor pings some, so some leaves look a little funky but it hasn't happened since I added new and more double sided tape.