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Alternate purposes for propagation

Joseph Clemens

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My success and appreciation of leaf-pulling as a propagation method for Mexican and other tropical Pinguicula species and their hybrids has gradually improved as I spend more time and gain more experience working with the technique and modifying my methods to discover nuances to its implementation.

I have discovered that my favorite way to implement leaf-pulling propagation, also has the secondary benefit of creating a, sort-of, short-term bank of small propagules. Many of these small plantlets, in my impromptu test, had survived well beyond twelve months, some more than twenty-four months, just waiting for suitable habitat insertion for them to become established plants.

Here is a photo, illustrating a group of plantlets, formed on leaf-pullings from Pinguicula agnata plants -->
P_agnata_7Nov07-019.jpg

The leaves were pulled in May 2007, and these plantlets had formed by June 2007, this photo was taken in November 2007, almost six months later. These leaf-pullings were generated by folding several layers of paper towels and placing them, as a liner, into clear clam-shell containers, recycled from ones used to market certain produce. They have vent holes in their tops and bottom sections.

[Instead of the method mentioned above, leaf-pulling propagation works equally well by just dropping the severed leaves into small plastic or styrofoam cups, with the added benefit of being able to write their names directly onto the cups, then discarding the cups, or reusing them after the plantlets are planted-up. Good lighting helps (as long as it doesn't over heat them), cool temperatures and moderate humidity are good, but moisture will quickly destroy leaf-pullings.]

The majority of these plantlets persisted until near December 2008, more than a year beyond the date this photo was taken. It is amazing how rapidly these plantlets establish and grow to adult blooming size. It can happen in just a few months, when these plantlets are planted in suitable conditions.

^*^*^*
Leaf-pulling can also provide a batch of plantlets, waiting and ready to use to replace those that are lost to pests and disease, or to provide material for trades. Happy growing.
 
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Amazing propagation technique! That is quite the pile of Pinguicula. What other carnivorous plant could sit there, a budded clone, waiting for substrate for so long like that?

Really nice info, I'll be sure to use it if I ever have a serious collection of Pinguicula growing.
 
Wow! I'm linking my growlist to this post!
 
[These are the plants I harvested leaves from to produce the plantlets in the earlier image.] For me even the humblest CP look more impressive when they are together in a group -->

P_agnata_Jan2006.jpg

Curious how they look like they are jostling each other to get more light.
 
I dont get it.. you just took leaves and put them in empty ziplock bags?
With nothing? I have an P. agnata red leaf pulling and a P. laueana pulling sitting on wet media right now with the white part ently pushed in and lightly covered.. should i move them? I really wwant the P. agnata to survive cuz the mother plant seems stressed from shipping. it is on sphagnum dried.
 
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I dont get it.. you just took leaves and put them in empty ziplock bags?
With nothing? I have an P. agnata red leaf pulling and a P. laueana pulling sitting on wet media right now with the white part ently pushed in and lightly covered.. should i move them? I really wwant the P. agnata to survive cuz the mother plant seems stressed from shipping. it is on sphagnum dried.

No, I have previously used ziploc bags, but stopped using them, because they trap too much moisture, which can cause the leaf-pullings to rot, and I haven't mentioned ziploc bags in this thread. I took plastic cups, and transparent plastic clam-shell containers (that I purchased with strawberries in them). I put two folded paper towels inside the plastic clam-shell container and nothing but the leaves into the plastic cups. I leave the tops of the plastic cups, open. The plastic clam-shell containers have vent holes cut into them top and bottom. In conditions with moderate humidity it is more important to keep the leaf-pulling surfaces dry, than it is to keep them moist. If they become wet, even from their own expiration, they can rot away to nothing.

I gently pulled leaves from the parent/mother plants, then I placed the leaves in the plastic cups and laid more leaves on the paper towels in the clam-shell container. I then placed them both where they would receive good indirect light, where they would stay dry and not too warm.

If your leaf-pullings are exposed to strong artificial light and have good air circulation, they have a good chance to succeed without changing anything (it is better if they aren't too warm).

There are many ways to get Pinguicula leaf-pulling to strike, but this way, if conditions are right, the plantlets will persist for an extended, but indefinite time. As long as they persist they will be available to produce plants from.

I like to be efficient so I've also taken leaf-pullings from these plantlets as I am potting them up, producing a second group of leaf-pullings/plantlets from the first group of plantlets. A type of win-win situation.
 
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That sounds really good.. Would you leave my pullings on the media or should i toss them into a plastic cup?
 
I'm not sure where or how you grow yours, but if it's indoors, under fluorescent lights, the humidity is moderate 50-60% and the temperatures are 75F - 40F, I'd opt for dropping them into a plastic or styrofoam cup. They must be kept cool, dry, and well lit, until plantlets form. If you can't give them good light while keeping them cool and dry, then you might fare better leaving them where they are.

During the process of forming plantlets, warm and wet (they'll rot), or, hot and dry (they'll dry out).
 
Ok iI will put them in a plastic cup because i have them about 8 inches from 2 t5 6400k bulbs running at a total of 50 watts
 
  • #10
Four inches from the lights is even better for actively growing plants, eight - twelve inches should be good for the leaves in the cups.
 
  • #11
OK great cuz the they are laying in the bottom of the cup about 4 inches lower than my pots soil levels. THat should work wonderfully! I hope they work. Thanks for your help. Ill post an update soon. I am new to pings so expect me to pester you some more since you seem like the ping man around these parts :p
 
  • #12
[These are the plants I harvested leaves from to produce the plantlets in the earlier image.] For me even the humblest CP look more impressive when they are together in a group -->

P_agnata_Jan2006.jpg

Curious how they look like they are jostling each other to get more light.

Awesome! I really need to get some schultz aquatic plant soil and change my ping media soon. Do you think I could grow them on decomposing granite?
 
  • #13
I am new to pings so expect me to pester you some more since you seem like the ping man around these parts :p

LOL!"pingman" is somebody else on the forum. this is actually "Pinguiculaman". Seems like there oughta be green & burgundy tights and a theme song....
 
  • #14
Joseph.. every time I see pics of your pings It makes me want to find a really good source for them so I can acquire some of my own... they are amazing!
 
  • #15
Hey Joseph, what is your experience in terms of the most prolific ping in regards to dividing? I have several that do it on a regular basis, but Pinguicula agnata is by far the most prolific... it seems to pump out a new plant every quarter. I don't mean to go off on a tangent, but when I saw your picture of the agnata, it came to my mind :)
 
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