FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

hi there!! was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on growing Pings. this is my first one, and I'm not sure what to do. I think it might be suffering from the dreaded root rot; here's the back story:

It was sent to me by someone with a couple of flytraps. I believe it's a P.Primuliflora (judging by pics I've researched of them) and when I got it, I noticed there were fungus gnat larvae in the cup. so I repotted it into standard CP mix (noticed the roots were whitish) and kept it WET on advice from the sender. a month in, and it seemed like it was doing fine until direct sun accidentally hit it one day for I don't know how long when it was outside in the big greenhouse, and the leaves shriveled. so, I gently unpotted it, and noticed that the roots were kinda tan-colored and softish, and the leaves were still kinda shriveled but still green. repotted into new media with a little more perlite added (cause I read they like airier media), and put a top on it with holes punched in it for air and to keep the humidity up (on advice from another source). the leaves stiffened back up, and it even put out a new one lol. so last night I left it uncovered for air thinking it was fine, and this morning the leaves were soft again! top went back on, and now the remaining leaves are stiff and dewy again. so I guess my question is...even though it's still putting out new healthy leaves, if it is root rot, will the plant grow new roots? I had almost the same thing happen to a flytrap seedling (I was transplanting it and the root snapped off at the rhizome!) so I kept that covered and it regrew a root in about a month. it's currently doing fine. just hoping I'm not gonna lose my first Ping

thanks in advance!!

Keep pings on damp soil, not wet as they are prone to rot which kills so many pings. they like filtered light as apposed to direct (morning or evening night is best)
Your plant will be fine but dont flood it. It should survive

thanks for replying!! I've taken it out of water so it doesn't get any wetter. I hope it'll be okay; I'm still leaving the top on so it doesn't dry out...how long should I keep that on you think? I've moved it outside into a shady area in the greenhouse with my Nep seedlings so it'll still get air movement and light, but not direct light. I was thinking too that the fact it's still putting out leaves is a good sign. hopefully the root rot won't progress any further and it'll bounce back

I've been told that temperate pings can be kept in water trays like Sarracenia, it's the Mexican ones you have to worry about rotting. P. primuliflora definitely doesn't like too much direct sunlight though mine lasted about a month out there before it really started looking sad. Just a week or two in less light brought some nice purple color to the leaves though.

so, then I should leave it in water? I was just concerned because of how the roots looked...getting kinda confused lol

P. primuliflora is a warm temperate Pinguicula (more info can be found here) and prefers to be kept moist, not being allowed to dry out; in their natural environment, this particular species can undergo brief periods of flooding without ill-effect. Indirect sunlight is typically best for these guys, as they are usually found in shaded areas in the wild.

maybe I was keeping it too wet? as in 24/7 sitting in water. which would be waterlogged, not moist. should I treat it similar to my flytraps but different?

In terms of moisture, you may find that keeping the P. primuliflora similarly to your fly traps is just what it calls for. I had issues with this plant, but it really isn't that difficult to care for, just takes a little fiddling. I've seen some contradicting data on people who have successfully raised this plant as well, which doesn't help, but a good, reliable source is pinguicula.org; their P. primuliflora page is here.

Grey wrote:In terms of moisture, you may find that keeping the P. primuliflora similarly to your fly traps is just what it calls for. I had issues with this plant, but it really isn't that difficult to care for, just takes a little fiddling. I've seen some contradicting data on people who have successfully raised this plant as well, which doesn't help, but a good, reliable source is pinguicula.org; their P. primuliflora page is here.

ah...so I probably should have kept it like it was; moist but not sitting in water. cause you run a risk of rot in flytraps too if they sit in water 24/7, especially in small pots. guess it's a crapshoot in a way; it may or may not happen :-/ I'll go take a look at the website lol...