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By Fishkeeper
Posts:  781
Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm
#295322
I'm working on a living wall project for a dorm room, build thread here http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts- ... hread.html and I want something on it that'll eat fungus gnats. Pings seem like a good option, but I can't get a very good light. I have a reading lamp that I can fit a 100W LED bulb in, and I got a bulb that puts out 1680 lumens at 5000K, but I'm not sure what would grow well under that.
The living wall will be covered in Hygrolon, a water-wicking plastic mesh, and everything will either be growing in that or in small pockets of substrate surrounded by that. I'm trying to have as little organic material in this as possible, so nothing will break down or provide more gnat houses. I will have little to no control over the temperature of the room, but it's climate-controlled, so temp changes shouldn't be extreme.

Plant requirements:
Not large. 5" across at most, preferably far under that- I need small plants so this won't be overwhelmed.
Will grow under the light above.
Likes wet feet or would grow well in a small pocket of perlite surrounded by wet mesh.
Will happily grow in an inorganic substrate- either Hygrolon (comparable to artificial LFSM) or in perlite.
Either doesn't require winter dormancy, or will undergo winter dormancy on its own with no external changes beyond potentially a minor temp drop.
Preferably either cheap to buy as a plant or easily grown from seeds

I'm thinking of P. primuliflora, though their invasive tendencies give me a bit of pause. I want something that'll visibly grow, and babies would be great, but I'm not so sure about planting a weed on such a small space.
Are there any actual epiphytes that would like this setup? I could plant them in some live sphagnum.

And would there be any way to fertilize the wall without hurting the pings? Maybe if I put the fertilizer (as a liquid) away from the pings and then rinsed the area around the pings to be sure it wasn't anywhere near them?
By Huntsmanshorn
Posts:  947
Joined:  Wed Sep 03, 2014 6:32 am
#295362
Try some Mexi Pings. I would think agnata would work and there are others that don't do the winter growth thing also their light requirements are fairly modest.
By Benurmanii
Posts:  2000
Joined:  Fri Aug 07, 2015 4:34 pm
#295382
There is only one truly epiphytic Ping in cultivation as far as I know, and it is extremely rare. I don't think P. primuliflora would do well on a wall, as in my experience, it likes to sit in a dense mix with lots of water, and won't do too well (at least initially) in a really open mix. Common Mexican Pinguicula are probably your best bet.
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#295386
I don't know, a mexican ping might do ok if it has water trickling through or is at least kept moist. I don't know what their minimum light requirements are though.
By Fishkeeper
Posts:  781
Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm
#295394
This should be really moist. The base of the Hygrolon will be sitting in water, and Hygrolon wicks water well enough that it stays almost wet to the touch.

I think I'm gonna try a P. Primuliflora, and I'll pack it into a portion of the structure that has plenty of Hygrolon for the roots to get into- it isn't all just single sheets of the stuff.
By Fishkeeper
Posts:  781
Joined:  Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:59 pm
#327167
To anyone who finds this during research, I used a P. emarginata, and it did really well until my chronic fatigue flared up and everything dried out. It was in the Hygrolon equivalent of a 5mm layer of sphagnum, its roots kept constantly damp, and it flowered nonstop and grew quickly.

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