FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi there! I wanted to ask if anyone has any soil mixes, that they have positive experiences with? I've got Mexican pings, not sure the species! The guy I got them from throws away all the tags as soon as he gets them!! I've got 4 potted in 50/50 peat moss and perlite, is there any mixes that would retain moisture well without being too soggy? Where I'm at, the weather is pretty moist so I don't want the mist of the marine layer rolling through every morning. It gets quite foggy, like very thick! Its pretty much 60-100% humidity daily, given that id still like to grow them outside, I love the colors they get in sunlight, also with mine, they have put out many more flowers since they have been outside. I've hear they can grow on pumice, would it be a suitable setup if I had a wider then tall container, with a water retaining base layer. As in peat and lfs and perlite, with a layer of either crushed pumice or small pumice stoned on top? The bottom layer to give them the moisture and humidity they would need with the pumice keeping the roots and base of the plants away from the muggyness?id like to have all of my cps in one area so I can keep everything organized haha. If anyone has any feedback on that idea or has any setups that have worked for them outside, please let me know! Thank you!
-josh

Wait for Grey. She is the expert here.

Oh dear LOL! Preeesssssuuuurrrreeeee! I'm happy to help, not sure I'm an expert though.

50:50 peat/perlite will be fine as long as you keep an eye on moisture levels, these guys typically like to be damp, not wet. Pumice is absolutely fine, too, and if you want a moisture retaining layer beneath it that'd work well. I grow my larger Mexican Pinguicula on pure perlite, and will hopefully be transferring them onto a piece of limestone in the near future. (Most of these plants grow on vertical rock faces in their natural habitat!) I'm experimenting with the media of two of my divisions, they are in perlite/silica sand/egg shell.

If I may ask, where about I the world are you from? Ordinarily, I'd advise keeping Mexican Pinguicula indoors, as heavy rainfall could cause issues with rot and temperatures are more suitable inside, but there are some places where you can grow them outside safely, minus the risk of snails and slugs.

If you're in the northern hemisphere, Mexican Pinguicula should have entered their succulent growth state, which is a natural mechanism designed to protect the plants in winter, similar to dormancy for other plants. Personally, I think now is a good time to repot if you plan on doing so because the plants won't suffer as much ill-effect if they are transferred to a medium with less water retention, because they won't have carnivorous leaves to maintain.

It also sounds like you won't need to worry about extra humidity; mine are subject to English windowsill humidity year-round. Not sure if that's any reassurance!

I live on the central coast of California in the u.s. by a town called moss landing, I was actually thinking about growing them in pure perlite but I wasn't sure how! Is it very complicated to keep the moisture correct with pure perlite? I've got plenty of perlite, but I could always take a trip for some pumice, I was also thinking about a big perlite stone, and just putting them all over it like a living stone. If can keep direct rain off, would it be different using pure perlite inside and outside? Sorry for all the questions! I appreciate the quick responses too!!!

I'm not sure how the plants will fair outside in your location, I honestly haven't tried it myself. Hopefully someone else will pop in and help you out, if not I can do some research and see what we can find out.

Growing the plants in perlite is very easy, you just need to make sure you sit the container in some kind of dish and pour the water into the dish; perlite is surprisingly water retentive, as well. It's fine for the perlite to feel dry on the surface between watering, I've not had any issues with that. I usually try to water my Mexican Pi guicula in perlite once a week, twice if it's warm, but once every few weeks in winter.

Perlite is very light, so outside might be a problem if there's a gust of wind or if something knocks the pot. You could always try sitting a heavy, inert stone in the bottom of the pot to stop it tipping.

I use 2 parts perlite 1 part peat moss and have not had any problems and I grow them indoors. Not sure how much this helps you!

How do you guys feel about straight turface for pings..

I don't see why turface wouldn't work, its porous like perlite right? While I was researching succulent and cacti mixes, I saw that turface was a very good replacement if you didn't want to use perlite. But I have no experience with turface at all! So I am not sure at all, I'll try to look it up though.

I used Turface MVP for a while. The plants seemed to like it but I must not have rinsed it well enough because over time the top layer became covered in white, crusty stuff. So, overall I found this substrate aesthetically displeasing but my pings were always happy.

Currently using 1 part aquatic potting soil, 1 part 30 grit silica sand with a little iron oxide mixed in.


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awesome! thank you very much, out of curiosity, do you keep your pings inside or out?