FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'd like to learn why P. gypsicola has a reputation as being one of the more challenging pings to grow. It's up there on my wanted list but want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into. Is it very finicky about water, soil mixture, light?

Gypsicola is a tough one since it has a super long summer dormancy where it makes tiny succulent leaves. The hard part is the watering. it has to stay really dry

Hm. I kept Gypsicola really wet during dormancy. I propagated a bunch, and ended up trading the mother away. If you want to have a Gypsicola similar ping, look up P. Medusina x Moctezumae or P. Gypsicola x Moctezumae, which really gives you a nice ping that is less finicky.

Also, doesn't gypsicola do much better with gypsum in the mix? I actually saw one recommendation to grow it in pure gypsum.

evenwind wrote:Also, doesn't gypsicola do much better with gypsum in the mix? I actually saw one recommendation to grow it in pure gypsum.

The fact that a plant can tolerate something in the wild doesn’t necessarily mean it requires it or even benefits from it. From what I’ve heard, adding gypsum doesn’t necessarily make much difference. It may be that that it simply benefits from being able to tolerate that environment when others can’t.


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I was starting to get déjà vu. And yup, we've discussed this before: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/mexic ... 38407.html

Bob Beer wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 7:58 pm

evenwind wrote:Also, doesn't gypsicola do much better with gypsum in the mix? I actually saw one recommendation to grow it in pure gypsum.

The fact that a plant can tolerate something in the wild doesn’t necessarily mean it requires it or even benefits from it. From what I’ve heard, adding gypsum doesn’t necessarily make much difference. It may be that that it simply benefits from being able to tolerate that environment when others can’t.


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Exactly @bob beer. Great point here. All the time, I hear of blasphemy like "put lime in your media" and "put travertine shavings in your media" from some of the big guys, and while the plant can tolerate it, it's not really necessary. Peat/Perlite/Sand is just fine.

As growers, we not only try to mimic the environment of the plant, but create an ideal habitat for it, not things it can tolerate. For example, we do not plant our H. Pulchellas in water just because they can 'tolerate' being submerged, we give them good care.

Also, many natural elements are nearly impossible to impossible to simulate in culture. I cannot make a flowing stream to put my sarrs next to, although they might like it. I think this is one of the issues with Philcoxia culture, since they really are so picky for those conditions.

DesertLlama wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 6:33 am I'd like to learn why P. gypsicola has a reputation as being one of the more challenging pings to grow. It's up there on my wanted list but want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into. Is it very finicky about water, soil mixture, light?

Honestly, it's not very hard to grow. No really. Read the care guides, if you have any problems with conflicting info in the various care guides err on the side of caution and remember that gypsicola is not very forgiving if you try to break the rules so don't break the rules.

Thanks everyone for the advice. So it seems like the most challenging aspect of growing gypsicola is its dormancy. Otherwise it has general mexican butterwort care? Is this one of the pings that needs bone dry dormancy conditions like macrophylla? I have my other pings (Aphrodite, gigantea x moranensis) growing in a 2:1:1 mix of perlite, peat, and sand. Would gypsicola appreciate a more airy, all-mineral mix?

hungry carnivores wrote: Exactly @bob beer. Great point here. All the time, I hear of blasphemy like "put lime in your media" and "put travertine shavings in your media" from some of the big guys, and while the plant can tolerate it, it's not really necessary. Peat/Perlite/Sand is just fine.

Well, I’m not sure I’d call it “blasphemy.” You can’t have blasphemy without ban orthodoxy, and it’s so easy to fall into that trap. The only way to know if adding like or gypsum will help or not, is to do it and see. And I know people who’ve had really good results with lime. I just sometimes roll my eyes when I see someone have success with a particular thing and claim that it’s absolutely necessary, without considering other variables too.

Personally I’d love to have the space to grow different species side by side in a variety of substrates and see which do best. After all, specialty growers of all kinds of plants, who do have the room, do this to get the biggest and best, and we benefit from all that work. I know of one very knowledgeable grower who’s having such good results growing pings in pure perlite that he’s considering switching completely. 5 years ago I would not have thought I’d be growing seeds in flats of pure cactus and succulent soil. I wouldn’t have thought I’d see Sarracenias growing beautifully in pure crushed pumice.

All I can say for sure about substrates is (once again, my experience) is that when I had random plants go down with brown heart, they were in mixes that contained a large proportion of quartz sand, and held water in a way that it looked visibly wet. I guess the surface tension was just that way. Maybe that made it easier for nematodes to thrive and/or get around, or (probably more likely) for the Fusarium spores to spread more easily via tray water. So whatever else I do, I generally try for a mix that conducts water but also provides some air flow.


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Yeah! Actually one of my favorite pings to calibrate medias with is P. Agnata. It's pretty representative of all mexicans, and propagates like mad. I suggest new growers actually buy capensis or burmanii to purposefully 'kill' before getting new sundews. . I did that, and now I have a pretty good feel for the limits of most sundews. **I'm looking at you, D. Schizandra **. Right now, I'm experimenting with growing U. Reniformis inside of a bromeliad. Seems to be going well.

for my part I always try to get closer to their conditions 'in situ' see here http://www.pinguicula.org/A_world_of_Pi ... card_3.htm.
then I use just pure gypsum with river sand 30/70.
I also try to offer them a seasonality in close conditions 'in situ' (therefore with a wet season and a dry season.)