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My Pinguicula moctezumae is confused...

TheFury

Oh, the humanity!!
Hi everyone -

I got this P. moctezumae about a month and a half ago from an online vendor. It came growing in LFS, and I decided not to repot it into a different medium based on the experiences of some members on this board.

However, since I got my plant, it hasn't grown at all. It also hasn't produced any flower stalks.

I have it growing in my grow rack which maintains temperatures of around 70 degrees at night and 85 or so during the day. Humidity swings between 55% at night and 80% overnight. I'm watering it using pure RO water on the tray method, and I mist it every two or three days. As for lighting, it's under 4x 32-watt 48" T5 bulbs - a mixture of 2x Zoo Med Flora Sun grow bulbs and 2x GE cool white (4100K) bulbs.

Am I missing something here? I've read that the plant should do pretty well under these conditions. Then again, I'm just a n00b! ???

Is it in its non-carnivorous winter phase? Can any of you tell by looking at the leaves (see below), because I haven't been growing CPs long enough to see a ping in its succulent state.

Any suggestions? Many thanks in advance!

web.jpg
 
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It may be in transition. I would try feeding it since it still has carnivorous leaves.
 
Try 4" above the leaves and give it time to adjust.
 
My plants are all about 8" below the lights, but I found an empty box to stick under the tray that my pings are in, so I raised my moctezumae along with my primuliflora up to about 4" under the lights as you suggested.

I noticed that one of the leaves is starting to turn brown on the end. You can't really make it out on the picture above--my iPhone doesn't really capture the details like I would hope; I should take some shots with my standard digital camera...

Anyway, is browning at the tips a natural reaction to the changing conditions--the vendor to me via USPS, then to my original makeshift grow rack with insufficient light, and finally to my upgraded grow rack with proper lighting, temperature, and humidity--or might it indicate something I should be more concerned about? Of course this is a broad question, I know, but... it seems like it's living in conditions that have worked for other growers, so I'm concerned that I'm missing something - especially since it hasn't grown at all or produced any flowers in the 2 or so months that I've had it (although I suppose the fact that it's still alive at all should be taken as a good sign considering my level of expertise!).

Thanks again
 
The browning along the tips seems to be a natural occurrence for mine but at the same time it is usually producing new leaves and a flower once the older leaves and flower start to die off.
 
I find this species more challenging than most of the other Mexican species. I had more success with it in LFS than anything else. Right now my own plants look like they want to be in a resting state. Their leaves are at the surface, as opposed to being a few inches long.
 
How long is your photoperiod? I recommend a long photoperiod (as much as 24 hours per day) if you want vigorous growth. Also I recommend positioning the leaves as close to the lamps as possible (within an inch or so, only lowering a plant with a flower in order to protect the growing inflorescence). Feed with a little dried insect dust and/or a light misting of very dilute fertilizer solution. And too, don't neglect keeping it well watered in these conditions -- everything must be kept in good balance for success.

Here is a photo, illustrating how this species can be grown in the above conditions -->
P_moctezumae.JPG


One exception is that these plants are planted in all-mineral media (to help more easily maintaintain a healthy root environment while maintaining high moisture levels). I began with only one plant - these were propagated by leaf-pullings.

By the way, they grow like this year-'round, but mostly bloom once they start getting cooler nights.
 
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Wow, that's somethin' else. I actually just repotted mine into peat/sand/vermiculite mix this weekend. A few of the leaf tips began to turn brown, and the young leaves in the middle just weren't getting any bigger. I figured what is there to lose at this point?

When I was repotting, I peeled back that tuft of fuzzy green moss at the base of the plant (see the pic above). It was pretty tight... maybe even constricting the roots? When I did this, noticed some tiny leaves (maybe even plantlets?) along the base of the root system. I thought that was pretty encouraging.

I have my photoperiod at 11 hours right now, and I'm moving it down to 9 for the winter months to get my pygmy Drosera to produce gemmae. The plant is also about 6-7" below a set of four 32-watt T5 grow bulbs. It's not ideal, I know. If I ever expand my grow rack to a second shelf I'll be able to have one shelf that doesn't see as much of a reduced photoperiod. That would help for my Pinguicula and Nepenthes.
 
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  • #10
Of course you know that all of these plants originated near the equator, where daylength changes very little, year-'round. It is always somewhere about eleven hours per day (shortening only a few minutes in Winter vs Summer).

Anyway, I wish you great success with this species, it is really a delightful plant.
 
  • #11
Yeah, I know they're from the equator. I suppose I was trying to find out if the drastically reduced photoperiod was seriously detrimental to the plant as opposed to simply... not great. I'm trying to strike a balance here since I'm trying to grow so many different types of plants in my rack.
 
  • #12
My caution is this:
They will grow and prosper with high light levels and long photoperiods, if they are watered and fertilized appropriately to the light/temperature levels. With high light levels, they will survive long periods of time even if they are not watered for a year or more (they won't look pretty, and it is tricky to bring them back to full-health), but they can survive a very long time with nothing except lots of strong light. I have come to believe that light is the most critical factor in successful Pinguicula cultivation. If you reduce their light intensity or photoperiod, it can be the quickest way to precipitate their succumbing to death by rot.
 
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  • #13
I keep "preaching" lower photoperiod and know that Mexican Pinguicula are closer to the Equator than our N.A. temperate plants. So I googled Mexico daylength and about the closest I coul get was a comparison between Montana & Southern Florida. In there it stated that Southern Florida (which is roughly the same latitude as the north-south middle of Mexico) gets 13.5 hours of daylight in the month of June. That also means that it gets 10.5 hours in December. In other words, it does have some seasonal variation. FWIW, Montana gets 16 hours of daylight in June.
 
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  • #14
I just picked San Louis Potosi (type location for P. potosiensis) and checked on the daylength, using a day length calculator, for 1 January (10h 48m) and 1 July (13h 27m) a difference of only 2hr 39m. While even here in Tucson the same info is, 1 January (10h 5m) and 1 July (14h 13m) a difference of about 4h 8m. That indicates a differential between my location and San Louis Potosi of 1h 29m. It may not seem like much, and is certainly less of a difference than the difference between North Dakota and San Louis Potosi. But there is an even more significant difference between the two, if other factors are taken into account. One of those factors that I feel is highly significant is the intensity of U.V. radiation. Closer to the equator is closer to the sun and often our beloved plants grow in high elevations as well. Bottom line: they are exposed to significantly higher levels of U.V. than could naturally be provided almost anywhere else on the planet, except at higher elevations elsewhere near the equator. Artificially it is relatively easy to duplicate both the photoperiod, high P.A.R. levels and the U.V. intensity using fluorescent lighting.
 
  • #15
Aloha Joseph,

I had wondered about this in regards to UV light. I live in Hawaii at about 3500 feet elevation, my first attempt with Mexican Pinguicula was not successful. they sort of fried and died. They were kept shaded from the noon day sun and still seemed to get cooked. Suspecting that they came to me grown under artificial light and were not ready/adjusted to deal with massive UV light. Running some tests as i don't want to need to grow them indoors all the time. Seems that I can grow them outside as long as they are in my polycarbonate greenhouse that is supposed to block 90% of the UV. maybe they need to be gradually acclimatized? So step them up to more UV over time vs having them cook in the sun like the many tourists i see here on Maui that find our climate not so hot but are caught unaware of the massive UV exposure.
 
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  • #16
kulamauiman,

Aloha - I lived in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Ford Island for two years, when I was in the U.S. Navy back in the mid-1970's. We also more recently visited Maui (about ten years ago), where my step-daughter had her wedding. There's a place, there on Maui, on the way up to the Haleakala valcano crater, where the climate seems nearly perfect for almost any CP.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From all accounts I've read about these plants in their native habitats, almost without exception they are found where they see very little direct sunlight. I believe that you may be experiencing difficulty by providing too much direct light or natural light of too high an intensity.

I am just now preparing plans, which I hope to use to build a small outdoor conservatory, in this conservatory, I plan to experiment with growing Mexican and other Pinguicula outdoors. I believe I can duplicate most environmental conditions, my major challenges will be to secure them from the mischief of birds, rodents, and various other typical plant pests - such as aphid, mealy bugs, wood lice, slugs, snails, and spider mites, etc. My main environmental challange will be to keep the Summer temperatures in the low 90's F -->and to keep it from climbing into the 100's F, where I expect the plants would then expire. I have a high-pressure fogging system, but hesitate to fog them with tap water, and expect it will use an exhorbitant amount of water if I R.O. purify it before using it to fog. Perhaps I will just set the fog to run on a thermostat during the hottest times of the day/year.
 
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  • #17
Aloha Joseph,

not too sure. I have kept P. medusina in the same location and it has done well for the past 3 years. might be more tolerant or might be able to survive getting sunburn, leaf loss and recovery the following year from dormancy. Still needs plenty testing on my side to be sure....
 
  • #18
Aloha kulamauiman,

Your tip about growing Pinguicula medusina in direct sun, may be just what I need to do to increase my success with that species.
 
  • #19
just it inst in the full sun all the time. more a morning sun , shade at noon, then ambient indirect lighting after noons.....

MTF
 
  • #20
Interesting - there seem to be so many different ways people have tried to grow Mexican Pinguicula! Might success rates depend on how the plant is raised, as kulamauiman says?

Joseph - my sister lives out in Tucson, my parents have a place in the Catalina foothills that they plan to retire to, and I visit a few times every year. I absolutely LOVE the desert. I can't say enough great things about the culture and the landscape out in Tucson. Great to hear that there's (apparently) such a vibrant CP community out there too.
 
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