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Feeding with Fish Food

Joseph Clemens

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<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Below is a photgraph of a community pot (2 inch square) of Pinguicula -- Yucca Do 1713, small plants. Approximately 1 week earlier, I had dusted some of them with a light sprinkling of "Freeze-Dried mosquito larvae" (Bloodworms) which I had ground to a powder. After dusting the chosen few plants with the "Bloodworms" I lightly spritzed all the plants with my usual fertilizer solution. I continued to spray them lightly with my fertilizer solution every few days, but did not add any additional "Bloodworms". See if you can identify the affected plants.

p_1713_bloodworm_effects_A1.jpg
</span>
 
Clearly the dusted plants are the small ones.
 
Yes, the four in the front. The ones that have gained a darker green color.
 
Its curious that they would appear to be producing more chlorophyll and yet they are smaller.
 
It's only been a week... I also failed to mention that the chosen ones were a little smaller than most of the others when I began.
 
Pingman: Out side of more green... Have you noticed any other differences? ...faster leaf production? ...change in water or light needs?
Thanks
Andrew
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Khai @ Jan. 31 2004,11:21)]Its curious that they would appear to be producing more chlorophyll and yet they are smaller.
Perhaps they don't need as much leaf surface for photosynthesis since they have more chlorophyl instead?

I would have thought more nutrients=bigger bigger plants. But it is obvious that it, in this case, also equals a better use of plant resources for making chlorophil as well. I am curious to know the answers to Andrews questions also.
 
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>No other obvious differences yet. What I am hoping for is more and more frequent flowers.</span>
 
Hey PingMan,

How long do you keep them in the 2" community pots? Until they're overlapping and don't fit? :p
 
  • #10
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>You are correct. Lazy me, I leave them there until they are totally overcrowded and a tangled mess of overlapping leaves. But it sure helps keep down the competing moss and really looks nice.</span>
 
  • #11
Seems like it would do well to keep the humidity locked in under the leaves as well, i'm sure they enjoy that.

Is this still the method of tossing them into a bag and forgetting about them, or are you now propagating in pots? ;)

Hehe, lazy you, it would only seem lazy if you couldn't propagate just about anything you tried to, and hey, if it comes that easy to you...go with it. ;)
 
  • #12
Yes, I still start most of the Pinguicula in small ziploc snack bags with a little, moist, LFS and I clothespin them to the edges of my light fixtures. I check them every few weeks to make sure they don't dry out completely. They are usually full of little plants in just a few weeks. It is a way I use to propagate and store spare plants. I do this with Drosera root cuttings and Dionaea leaf cuttings too.

Here is a photo of some Pinguicula gigantea getting ready for some serious crowding:

p_gigantea_comtray_AA1_sml.jpg
 
  • #13
Is that another 2" pot or slightly larger btw?

Interesting.  I've been thinking about doing VFT cuttings like that actually.  It seems to me that your "lazy" way of doing it, opening a bag, dropping in some damp lfs, a handfull of leaves, and leave 'em under the lights and forget...is actually one of the best propagating methods for these plants.  Have you noticed (I would think definately with the pings), that if you give the leaf a chance to heal (ie. toss it in a bag with lfs and leave it loose rather than just pinning it to the substrate of a common pot) that you get a higher strike rate?

I have noticed that I tend to have a higher chance of a vft leaf striking if someone mail's it to me wrapped in damp paper towel in a plastic bag, then if I use a fresh cutting.  

Is this the method you are currently using to propogate D. falconeri as well?

I'm really looking forward to your response.
 
  • #14
Interesting , hope to see more results with this experiment .
 
  • #15
I agree, it definitely does look very nice. A little jungle of Pinguicula.
smile.gif
 
  • #16
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Tray is approximately 3 inches x 4 inches.

Yes, I start all of my tropical Pinguicula cuttings this way (in the little ziploc bags) not in trays. I have never really propagated them any other way, so I couldn't comment on a comparison in technique. As far as the success (strike) rate, all I can say is that it seems quite reasonable. I average about one plantlet per leaf, no matter what size leaf.

Here are a couple more community tray shots:

p_agnata_TB_AA1.jpg



p_Aphrodite_AA2.jpg
</span>
 
  • #17
I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

What potting media are you using these days btw?
 
  • #18
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>Depends on the species. I have found that Pinguicula immaculata and Pinguicula gypsicola do best for me in a mix consisting mostly of 20 grit sand with a little crushed coral of the same size mixed in. Nothing else seems to do as well for them, in my conditions. Most others are in either 100% peatmoss or 50/50 peat moss / pumice, though sometimes I throw in a little sand too.</span>
 
  • #19
Where did you get a Pinguicula gypsicola and what is your culture method?
 
  • #20
<span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%'>I received my firstPinguicula gypsicola several years ago from the Czech Republic. I find that they grow just fine in either 100% peat or sand/coral/vermiculite. I have yet to find the key to getting them to bloom, but that hasn't kept me from propagating them by leaf cuttings.</span>
 
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