FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

madrone wrote: ↑Sat Aug 12, 2023 3:50 pm It's not clear to me how 'mandatory' a succulent season is for pings - I couldn't stop them from doing it if I tried. It could be air flow I guess ... what kind of media do you use?

I started with 25% LFSM + 75% perlite, but after experiencing losses, I am gradually removing the LFSM until it is almost entirely perlite.

elaineo wrote:removing the LFSM until it is almost entirely perlite.

I don't know about full-perlite, but I am a fan of a full all-mineral media. It has worked for me...

I've heard of perlite + lava rock. I sometimes work a turface/aquatic media in (with something more airey like perlite)...so those are options.

I also tray water, and let things dry for a day or so...I will say that drying time will depend on the media of choice, so something to watch.

I think/hope that the methods that you are trying will be beneficial...seems like it is in the right direction. I don't know personally, BUT, I think LFSM can work for some (depending on conditions)!

for all my pings outside from mid-May to mid-October, in the shade, half shade or morning sun, watering every 15 days.

from mid October to mid May, for the temperate always outside, for the others in my garage, with a temperature above 5°C, good light, dry or just humid mineral substrate for all the limestones and rather acidic draining for the others

as 'in situ' the pings need a dormancy, a hybernacle for the temperate ones, a reduction in leaf surface for the others, even sometimes a complete disappearance for the annual ones.

in fact it is a story of temperature, for the temperate the hybernacle allows them to spend the winter without damage for the Mexicans rather to spend the dry season.it also makes it possible to do without prey, after all the winter and when the temperatures are high the prey is often absent

elaineo wrote: ↑Fri Aug 11, 2023 2:55 am @Lain, can you share your sulfur application method with me too? Also, I am curious whether you grow your tropical pings outdoors or inside. Mine always seem to chug along for about a year, then become tired of living.

Sorry I'm late in replying! For larger patches of mold away from pings I take fine aquarium tweezers and just drop small amounts of sulfur directly on the mold in dry form then I take a syringe with a 23ga needle and drip some distilled water directly on it to dissolve it in. If it's a tiny spot by the pings then I mix it into liquid form and use same type of syringe and drip it directly onto the mold. If you want to know the other experimental stuff I use just pm me anytime.

I grow my tropical pings indoors. Took me a while to figure out what conditions they liked around here. Still have some losses I can't for the life of me grow kondoi and laueana x emarginata for some reason. I have them in a room with little to no natural air flow so I use this for some airflow. Room temperature fluctuates between 65 degrees to 89 degrees depending on the season. 63% to 80% humidity They are placed on racks with 2 4k led shoplights hanging above spacing between top of pots and lights is a little under 12". I don't do tray watering I use fine tip squeeze bottle to top water around the pings every 2-5 days.

They don't go through consistent succulent phase. They all go at random times some have yet to experience it and some have been in succulent phase for over 6 months.

As for potting they are all in 3 inch pots with their own liners on top of a boot tray so they don't fall through the rack or off the edge. I line the bottom of all pots with sphagnum moss. They are all in different types of media at the moment depending on what I had when they arrived. Let's see.. mix one has 30% pumice, 30% perlite, 25% sand, 15% peat. Mix two has 70% perlite, 10% sand, 10% pumice, 10% peat. Mix three has 45% perlite, 45% turface, 10% peat. Planning on trying full mineral mixes soon. Oh and I sterilize the peat prior to using it.

Probably more info than you ever wanted to know, haha. I'll send you some pings as soon as I figure out how to get some consistent strikes.

Thank you for the detailed information, @Lain! If you grow your pings indoors all year round, do you need to feed them? Same question for @madrone and @jeff ... Do they need to be fed? I guess they don't get any nutrients from mineral substrate.

Recently had a small outbreak of a variety of gnats so they've been getting fed that way but prior to that most have grown fine with no feeding.. slow but fine. I've given some smaller pots some droplets of diluted maxsea and schultz cactus but I can't say whether it made much of a difference.

@elaineo, mine mostly forage for themselves, but maybe every 4-6 weeks (or so) during the grow season, I'll mix up some maxsea, grab a fine syringe and give them a drip or a puddle on a few leaves. The dose depends on the size of the plants - I have some doozies that could take a teaspoon of the stuff on a leaf and not flinch. But most are small, and just get a droplet here or there - about the size of a fungus gnat. Of course during the succulent season, they are on their own with whatever they can photosynthesize!

for me
as all my pings are outside (from May to October for the Mexican ones and always for my temperate ones) they feed themselves as in nature.
in winter: my temperates are in hibernacula, my Mexicans with succulent leaves, so no possibility of taking prey, no need to feed them