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I don't know if anybody else here has had trouble with Pinguicula propagation on the standard peat/perlite mix, but I have. For one, it seems the plants never develop large root systems on peat, but I have also found that cuttings often rot before growing up, or else they quit growing once they reach a certain size. I knew something was wrong, when the only cutting in a batch of p. zecheri on peat/perlite that survived was a stray that had gotten caught on the side.

So, I tried something different. Last fall, I received a plant of P. agnata x moranensis var. caudata. I dissected the plant into individual leaves, and laid them on rubber foam in a small tupperware container. Here is what they looked like after a few months:

centipings%20117.jpg


At that time, the plants had sent roots clear through the ~3/8" foam. I split them up and put all the big specimens in baby food jars with lids designed for tissue culture. This photo was taken a few weeks ago:

littlejars.jpg


The plants are now filling the jars so I won't be able to get them out without damaging the plants. They have built root systems through the 1" of foam they are in.

I don't have a lot of species to experiment with, but I have tried and had success with the following:

P. rotundiflora
P. moranensis
P. x " 'John Rizzi' "
P. x ?

If anyone else is willing to experiment as well, please do so and let me know how things turn out. Cuttings need to be placed on top of a layer of foam which is sitting in water. If you transplant, cut slits in the foam and insert the plantlets. You also may need to do this if planlets from cuttings don't manage to "catch on" to the foam.

Peter

P.S. The foam used in this experiment is the kind that egg-crate mattresses are composed of.
 
Looks pretty successful, and I have tons of that foam.

But once it roots and matures can you separate it? Or do you tear up the roots trying?
 
Hmm, seems like a pretty clean way to do Pings... I'll have to give that a try once I have some cutting material. Has anyone tried this kind of method with rockwool or porous rock as the medium? It seems like the porosity and wicking ability would be key to success. Or, is there something special about foam rubber that makes this work?
Thanks for the tip,
~Joe
 
I don't know if it has been tried with porous rock or rock wool. The only problem I could see is that the roots might have trouble penetrating penetrating it.

Once the plants mature, you can cut out the pieces of foam they are growing in and insert them either into larger pieces of foam or maybe into soil media. I'll have to look into that.

Peter
 
I can certainly appreciate the creativity of it and have plenty of foam rubber at the lab.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Rubra @ Mar. 22 2005,11:34)]I dissected the plant into individual leaves
How do you go about doing this without damaging the leaves? I have been toying with taking one of my P. primuliflora apart and laying the leaves on live sphagnum moss (perhaps that would also work in keeping mold away?), but I don't want to bruise the leaves as i do it.
 
With P. primuliflora, it's best to just let them reproduce, via the plantlets. Unlike starting things from seed, the plantlets become adult plants in a relatively short amountr of time.
 
Where do you get foam rubber?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]How do you go about doing this without damaging the leaves?

I was working with mexican Pinguicula, the leaves of which are easily separated from the plant. I don't know if the temperates would appreciate soiless media.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Where do you get foam rubber?

What I'm using came from a shipment of fruit if I remember correctly. I have seen mattresses made out of similar stuff. Try the local mattress place, some places sell custom foam mattresses and are sure to have some scraps.

Peter
 
  • #10
Barry Rice sent out a request for CPN submissions... I think innovative, successful growing techniques are always good to have. Perhaps you might write something up?
 
  • #11
Good idea. I think I'll do that.

Peter
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] (pond boy @ Mar. 23 2005,5:54)]Where do you get foam rubber?
Aquarium sponge filters would probably work as well.
 
  • #13
Sounds pretty interesting... you could definately be happy with something like that. It would make buying soil a LOT cheaper! LOL
I have a P. Agnata that I would be gald to take leaf cuttings of to find out if they work well. I was planning on it anyway. Also, do you think that ordinary cleaning sponges would work, possibly those made of cellulose?
 
  • #14
My immediate thought was to question what chemicals might be on the cleaning sponges. Don't know, but a thought.
 
  • #15
Yeah, you'd have to make sure to use sponges with no chemicals, and find something that doesn't rot. Even then, its risky.

Peter
 
  • #16
You could probably was it thoroughly... what about something like a sea sponge at the pet store? They would have to be chemical free in order to be safe for pets would they not?
 
  • #17
Sea sponges can get a bit expensive...I wonder if a good 'ol loofah would work just as well. However, just like the sea sponge, it's organic, so it does have the possibility of rotting.
 
  • #19
Wow.  This is a truly fascinating thread!  Like Joe (seedjar) already mentioned, the key to success here is both 1) a constant moisture supply and 2) a constant supply of air to the roots.

Question is, how can we modify our growing mixes to include these same factors, short of cutting out round plugs of foam rubber and plopping them in regular pots?  Although that idea sounds interesting, too...

Corey in Chicago, Illinois
 
  • #20
Its certainly made my mind start churning.  It does offer some possibilities.

Thanks for sharing that, Peter.
smile.gif


Sea sponges and loofah might have residual salt in them though.
 
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