FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Benurmanii wrote:

Grey wrote:Your P. cyclosecta may reach up to 4cm in diameter -- that's roughly the size that mine were (although I do not have a ruler to hand so this is something of a guess ).

Mexican Pinguicula are the one carnivorous plant grouping that really aren't overly fussy about their soil; as long as it's not too acidic and is not waterlogged, they're generally pretty happy with a variety of stuff. It's really exciting to read about the lime making such a difference -- I haven't used this product myself, but I have seen some differences in growth patterns when using a more alkaline soil mixture (including crushed egg shells).

There are increasing reports that people have successfully grown Mexican Pinguicula in standard, high-nutrient potting compost, so there's a lot of room for experimentation here. Thankfully, unless it's water related, Mexican Pings are typically quite recoverable if left in unfavourable conditions.

I have been informed that Mexican pings don't mind salts as much as other CPs, which makes sense considering they grow in calcareous cliffs and hills.

I believe some Mexican pings are pickier about their media, but this is probably just the gypsum species and P. orchidioides.

That was actually a question i was going to have to get answered eventually i think. At first I was of the impression that since these are all Mexican Pings that i am getting, that they all can benefit from the same soil, but i wasnt sure on that one. I see on Cascade Carnivores site that they sell their own "Mexican Ping mix" by the gallon or the quart. So i had assumed they would all like the same stuff... i also notice that some of these mixes have arcilite in it which i have a ton of already so i may do something with that in that respect, just to see how they like it.

As of about a week ago, i decided to pull this guy away from the t8's on the shelf i had it sitting under and into some sunlight for only a couple of hours maybe 2 or 3. Temps hadn't been much over 80F and has been rather pleasant outside so i figured it may help to get some real morning sunlight for a change. I went outside to mow the yard for a bit. When i came back inside to check on it, every bit of the dew that was on the leaves completely melted off and there were slimy puddles of the stuff all around the plant in the soil. Panicky, i immediately put it back under its light and closed the shades on the window. As of yesterday, the plant begin producing dew again and it looks healthy again. Talk about scaring me to death! This little dude does not like sunlight and i dont plan on doing that again lol

Nice plant!
I dont think morning sunlight is harmful at all,if it is at your place,then you can use shade cloth as morning sunlight will help it to get beautiful colours.

Jds wrote:Nice plant!
I dont think morning sunlight is harmful at all,if it is at your place,then you can use shade cloth as morning sunlight will help it to get beautiful colours.

Well i wouldnt have thought that it would've been that sensitive to sunlight myself actually, but it is funny that you mention shadecloth. The window that i have this plant sitting in front of already has shadecloth for all of my more sensitive plants, and that is where it sits under the lighting. I just pulled it from underneath and opened the shades lol. This is in one of my spare rooms in the back that i dont use..I guess maybe i should have left it in the sun longer even with the melted dew. Maybe it eventually would've acclimated...

already has shadecloth

Its weird,as I kept my butterworts in sunlight for more than 2 hours of morning sun,but havent faced any problem like this instead I got some beautiful coloured leaves.
You can check my growlist.

Jds wrote:

already has shadecloth

Its weird,as I kept my butterworts in sunlight for more than 2 hours of morning sun,but havent faced any problem like this instead I got some beautiful coloured leaves.
You can check my growlist.

Wow haha.. its making a really good comeback though as of this morning, i may do it again today but maybe for smaller increments of sunlight until its gets the hang of it

Update on this plant. After i took it away from the soil that i put it in when i received it , (the vermiculite i had it in was turning into a wet mushy, slimy substance), and put it into this all mineral mix, a couple months have gone by now and it appears that all of the large carnivorous leaves are dying off. It is now putting out some very small leaves. The intense dark purplish colors it once had are slowly fading, and more green appears to be coming out now. I havent had a ping transition like this before while in my care, but I believe it is beginning its succulent form. No clue what induced it, as the temps or lighting hasnt changed, it is very weird...Either that or i screwed up royally somewhere lol. I really cut way back on watering now so that it can grow as a succulent. In fact its bone dry now. Anyhow, the first two pics are what it looked like when i got it, the second two is what it looks like now. To take pullings from it is going to take a steady hand, since they much smaller than i had anticipated they would be. What an interesting plant. Really is cool.. I just need to figure when i have the green light to begin the pulling !

I want to start growing Pings now because of those pictures, its beautiful!

Sent from my SM-G935V

I have noticed that cyclosecta has sort of intermediate leaves between the carnivorous and succulent stage. I think it would appreciate being kept a little wetter than the soil looks to me.

Benurmanii wrote:I have noticed that cyclosecta has sort of intermediate leaves between the carnivorous and succulent stage. I think it would appreciate being kept a little wetter than the soil looks to me.

I have read that they do as well. Reason i repotted it was because the soil i made was getting slimy, and thats when i noticed the plant starting to decline in it. I kept it real wet beforehand. In this new soil, i dont see any improvements still, but i can definitely see the little white roots digging around into this new mix that it is in. I believe from what i have seen is that it was time to go succulent and nothing i was going to do would prevent it..I take my syringe about every 4 or 5 days still though and give the roots a good drenching with water. The soil definitely is unlike any ive used before in the sense that it will not work using the tray method. Its mostly rock and seems to reject any moisture. Now i have to try to find when the right time to start plucking leaves is for propagation...

Fishman wrote:

Benurmanii wrote:I have noticed that cyclosecta has sort of intermediate leaves between the carnivorous and succulent stage. I think it would appreciate being kept a little wetter than the soil looks to me.

I have read that they do as well. Reason i repotted it was because the soil i made was getting slimy, and thats when i noticed the plant starting to decline in it. I kept it real wet beforehand. In this new soil, i dont see any improvements still, but i can definitely see the little white roots digging around into this new mix that it is in. I believe from what i have seen is that it was time to go succulent and nothing i was going to do would prevent it..I take my syringe about every 4 or 5 days still though and give the roots a good drenching with water. The soil definitely is unlike any ive used before in the sense that it will not work using the tray method. Its mostly rock and seems to reject any moisture. Now i have to try to find when the right time to start plucking leaves is for propagation...

The leaves seem a bit too dry to me since they seem to still be a bit carnivorous. The true succulent leaves lack a lip and a quite small and oblong. I keep these guys a little moist during the succulent phase anyways, I don't think they mind being a bit wetter than other pings.

Hmm ok. I may try to bump up watering a little more to see what happens. Im must admit, im not really fully experienced with Pings,as i only have about 5 of them and have only been growing them for maybe 4 or 5 months, but i sure do like them! Thanks for the info ill give that a try

The leaves are looking a little dehydrated, although they are definitely transitioning to the succulent state. Benurmanii, as usual, has hit the nail on the head!

I've found that swapping from a mix with organic components to one of a purely mineral composition can take a while to adjust to because they tend not to retain water any where near as well. Perlite can be helpful for this because it does absorb and retain some water but I've often seen people keeping their Mexican Pinguicula sat in dishes of water if they have a mineral-based mix because otherwise their plants dehydrate. It happened to me as well, but the plant has since recovered and is big and beautiful, so you'll do fine!

Thanks yall!
I even thought about adding a bit of perlite to this mix. Another thing i probably need to do especially with this mix, is move it to a much smaller pot where it is closer to the water tray. The pot it is in is about 8in tall. Being so porous and non retentive there's no way to get any moisture to the plant. Maybe if the pot was only 4 or 5 inches tall it would bring the moisture level closer to the roots. I may try to fix that today.

I find a 3inch pot is big enough for a mex ping.

Mark