FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Some time back I purchased a very small gypsicola. It died shortly thereafter, and I was very disappointed. I had it growing in an excellent all-mineral mix that I get from an online vendor. Every other Pinguicula I've tried in the stuff flourishes in it. I'm currently keeping around 25- 30 different species in the same mix and theyre all doing great in it. Recently I spoke with a grower who claims to grow both gypsicola and moctezumae, and he is supposedly using egg shells and crushed coral for his medium. Can anyone verify through first hand experience that this is good info? I am assuming that there must be a calcium deficiency of some sorts with gypsicola dying off randomly like it does? Perhaps this medium I was told about is what these will do best in? The same grower told me he keeps his moctezumae in it as well and they both thrive in it. I was getting ready to purchase one of these plants and try again, but maybe moctezumae first, and I wanted to have the appropriate medium ready beforehand.

What where the conditions it was in? I just placed my gypsicola on a standard rocky media and they are doing great.

Also, I started using crushed coral, but found out that there isn't really such thing as sustainably harvest coral, so I haven't purchased more. I don't think gypsicola needs any specialized mix, I've seen it growing in everything. Perhaps humidity got too high and the air too stagnant? May have been just poorly grown before you received it.

Benurmanii wrote:What where the conditions it was in? I just placed my gypsicola on a standard rocky media and they are doing great.

Also, I started using crushed coral, but found out that there isn't really such thing as sustainably harvest coral, so I haven't purchased more. I don't think gypsicola needs any specialized mix, I've seen it growing in everything. Perhaps humidity got too high and the air too stagnant? May have been just poorly grown before you received it.

I just kept it on the same shelves growing with all of my other Mexican pings. I keep that soil/all mineral mix fairly damp to wet. The gypsicola was probably a little smaller in diameter than a dime when I received it, and it had little to no root system, so it may have not been ready to travel when it did. But it stayed dewed up okay for about two or three weeks I guess, and then one day it just appeared to dry out. I put a little transparent covering over it for a couple of days to keep the humidity up to see if it'd help, but apparently it was going through a dry phase for some reason, and it was shrinking before I even used the cover. I saw that the cover was not helping so I removed it. Over the course of about a week or two afterwards, I watched the gypsicola disappear daily little by little until I couldnt even find a trace of it anywhere in its pot one day. It just disapeared lol. There did appear to be alot of star moss, or some kind of very small compact and tightly woven moss growing all around it too and maybe it choked it to death who knows lol...i want another one but I want to make sure I have the soil it needs first, and maybe also one that is a little larger or more established before It gets shipped. Today I looked for crushed coral and didnt find any yet. The individual I was talking to on FB was telling me about his usage of the coral and egg shells, and his gypsicolas were amazingly beautiful.

Smaller than a dime is probably too small. May just have not had enough leaf mass to keep it hydrated while putting out roots. Mine were quite small when I received them, rootless, but I think they were a little bigger than a dime.

Here is mine from a week or two ago, if you'd like to see the media I am using.

Nice, looks like perlite, lava rock, and is there pumice in there? Nice plants there

Fishman wrote:Nice, looks like perlite, lava rock, and is there pumice in there? Nice plants there

Thanks. It contains all that you mentioned, including pumice, as well as sand, and vermiculite (for water retention). I wouldn't recommend it for sowing seeds though I sowed some P. lilacina in there and only two popped up, and one didn't make it.

Bonjour

for me this 2 have not the same substrate 'in situ' and the same growing condition

for gypsicola gypsum
for moctezumae calcareous

their need for water is also different

moctezumae behaves like a European temperate of a calcareous medium, with a constant water need even in winter, for gypsicola in winter the substrate must be strictly dry.

jeff