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PROJECT: Mexican Ping Dripping Wall
suite
should know after how long, with no water, rock wool is dry or just damp.
I think, that when the rock wool is dry or damp, it is rewetted, the adjustment must be made from this .
for temperate ping no problem you watering all the time
in MEXICO 2 season
dry season 16°C to 21°C ( november to may)
rain season 21°c to 27 °c (june to october)
in SAN DIEGO what climat?
march to november in average 26°c january february 16°c ? september to october rain season?
jeff
should know after how long, with no water, rock wool is dry or just damp.
I think, that when the rock wool is dry or damp, it is rewetted, the adjustment must be made from this .
for temperate ping no problem you watering all the time
in MEXICO 2 season
dry season 16°C to 21°C ( november to may)
rain season 21°c to 27 °c (june to october)
in SAN DIEGO what climat?
march to november in average 26°c january february 16°c ? september to october rain season?
jeff
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thez_yo
instigator
The rockwool can be dry, but the soil (cat litter) in the media pockets will still be wet. This is the problem. But I don't think pings can grow only on rockwool...if they can, then I would get rid of the soil.
In SAN DIEGO:
Dry Season: 18C - 32C (May-October--little to no rain)
Wet Season: 4C - 20C (October-May, more rain)
This seems to be a good estimate of our seasons but it is not exact.
Our weather right now
Our average weather by chart--Where I live specifically we have more variation in temperature ~ (+/- 4* F) For instance, we have hit freezing in winter, and 100 in summer. But average temperature is only a little lower or higher. This link also shCMows average precipitation, or rain. 1" = 2.54 CM.
Here are temperature scales for your convenience, jeff,
I discovered today that my timer can water once a week instead of every day!
In SAN DIEGO:
Dry Season: 18C - 32C (May-October--little to no rain)
Wet Season: 4C - 20C (October-May, more rain)
This seems to be a good estimate of our seasons but it is not exact.
Our weather right now
Our average weather by chart--Where I live specifically we have more variation in temperature ~ (+/- 4* F) For instance, we have hit freezing in winter, and 100 in summer. But average temperature is only a little lower or higher. This link also shCMows average precipitation, or rain. 1" = 2.54 CM.
Here are temperature scales for your convenience, jeff,
I discovered today that my timer can water once a week instead of every day!
Last edited:
suite
thanks for the climat .
this climat seem good for the mexican ping outdoor ( attention to the frost, if you have sometimes, by prudence never to fall below 4 ° c)
if the rock wall is dry and the pocket substrat remain wet it is good for them.
you can try without substrate ,you make then hydropony .
jeff
thanks for the climat .
this climat seem good for the mexican ping outdoor ( attention to the frost, if you have sometimes, by prudence never to fall below 4 ° c)
if the rock wall is dry and the pocket substrat remain wet it is good for them.
you can try without substrate ,you make then hydropony .
jeff
make more ping pockets, put some moss in there.
It looks awesome so far!
Thanks! The reason I don't put more pockets is because p. gigantea is supposed to grow easily 30 cm or 1 foot in diameter. Jeff here had plants 50cm or almost 2 feet in diameter!!! I'd rather have a few thriving plants.
And I think moss would die
Well, I'm open for suggestions. I'm just journeying into uncharted waters right now and will report my findings and...well...share for the good of all.
Well, the three plants I put on there are rooted. One p. gigantea that I received died quickly due to bad packing. The other one...my only clone...is doing well. It is on the very bottom pocket.
My main problem now is that the bottom holds alot more water than the top. Hence the top is much drier! I cannot grow the plants equally. Any solutions? it's the rockwool that won't let go of the water on the bottom. So the plants on top wilt, and the one on the bottom would rot if I'm not careful.
Other than that, it's working well. Maybe I need to do something a bit different next time!
My main problem now is that the bottom holds alot more water than the top. Hence the top is much drier! I cannot grow the plants equally. Any solutions? it's the rockwool that won't let go of the water on the bottom. So the plants on top wilt, and the one on the bottom would rot if I'm not careful.
Other than that, it's working well. Maybe I need to do something a bit different next time!
Tilting the wall as in:
From this:
-
-
-
-
-
-
To this?:
1 -
2 2 -
3 3 3 -
4 4 4 4 -
5 5 5 5 5 -
6 6 6 6 6 6 -
I cannot do that as it would stick too far out from the house and the rain would hit the pings in the winter.
I discovered today that the problem is mainly with the very last ping hole. As in there are 5 that are almost the same wetness and there is one which is much wetter. I will just have to water according to the needs of the five and hope the 6th one lives OK. Either that or make the media well draining there.
P. gigantae can handle a wet growing environment, right?
So not much of a problem, I guess. Auto watering is working very well. I just have to keep adding more water to the reservior because it is so small!
From this:
-
-
-
-
-
-
To this?:
1 -
2 2 -
3 3 3 -
4 4 4 4 -
5 5 5 5 5 -
6 6 6 6 6 6 -
I cannot do that as it would stick too far out from the house and the rain would hit the pings in the winter.
I discovered today that the problem is mainly with the very last ping hole. As in there are 5 that are almost the same wetness and there is one which is much wetter. I will just have to water according to the needs of the five and hope the 6th one lives OK. Either that or make the media well draining there.
P. gigantae can handle a wet growing environment, right?
So not much of a problem, I guess. Auto watering is working very well. I just have to keep adding more water to the reservior because it is so small!
seedjar
Let's positive thinking!
Superb job. Looks better than a number of professional wall gardens I've seen. Sorry I wasn't around back in July to help with your questions on construction, but it looks like you figured it out pretty well on your own. I do have a few suggestions.
One would be switching to a lighter hydroponic media like Hydroton or Turface for the pockets. Plants grown in rockwool tend to have a better tolerance for moisture than normal so I wouldn't worry too much about roots reaching into it, since it's inorganic and does a good job of drawing air in even while saturated. Growers in many places have good success with stuff like Turface kept constantly wet, so I figure that's worth a try. There's also a small grade of Hydroton sold primarily for orchids that might be lighter still. Perlite is also worth a try, but it crumbles so easily that I wouldn't trust it.
Another is, rockwool is super nasty to work with dry! Always work with it wet - if inhaled it causes silicosis and is carcinogenic.
I would suggest trying some plantings straight in the rockwool too. Make some indentations and pop leaf cuttings in there. Spread some P. lusitanica seed over the surface. You don't really have anything to lose.
To make the water collect more easily, try putting some channels in the backboard in a V pattern. You could also cut the funnel end off an oil pan or get some gutter pipe to make a more enclosed return catch.
The sogginess at the bottom is more of a challenge. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is putting drippers at the individual plants and reducing your overall flow until you find a balancing point between keeping the plantings wet without letting the surrounding rockwool get oversaturated. Both a timer and flow control valve would be instrumental.
~Joe
One would be switching to a lighter hydroponic media like Hydroton or Turface for the pockets. Plants grown in rockwool tend to have a better tolerance for moisture than normal so I wouldn't worry too much about roots reaching into it, since it's inorganic and does a good job of drawing air in even while saturated. Growers in many places have good success with stuff like Turface kept constantly wet, so I figure that's worth a try. There's also a small grade of Hydroton sold primarily for orchids that might be lighter still. Perlite is also worth a try, but it crumbles so easily that I wouldn't trust it.
Another is, rockwool is super nasty to work with dry! Always work with it wet - if inhaled it causes silicosis and is carcinogenic.
I would suggest trying some plantings straight in the rockwool too. Make some indentations and pop leaf cuttings in there. Spread some P. lusitanica seed over the surface. You don't really have anything to lose.
To make the water collect more easily, try putting some channels in the backboard in a V pattern. You could also cut the funnel end off an oil pan or get some gutter pipe to make a more enclosed return catch.
The sogginess at the bottom is more of a challenge. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is putting drippers at the individual plants and reducing your overall flow until you find a balancing point between keeping the plantings wet without letting the surrounding rockwool get oversaturated. Both a timer and flow control valve would be instrumental.
~Joe
Cat litter seems to be a hard medium for younger pings to acclimate to. I'm left with that one P. gigantae. It is growing slowly, but well. It is at the wettest spot. The whole wall is barren, LOL, but and least I have something. The self-watering works pretty well. With that ping I only need to add water once a week, and the pump takes care of it. Yeah, maybe I should have placed a fern or something that really loves water...how about a water loving ping? In the last slot as Jerry said, and keep the Mexicans in the other slots. That sounds like it'd work swell.
I tried some P. gigantea seeds (most of them seem to have been aborted) and haven't got germination. I have a few left to try on a different medium. Wish me luck
I tried some P. gigantea seeds (most of them seem to have been aborted) and haven't got germination. I have a few left to try on a different medium. Wish me luck
I placed them in two different plastic containers...remember the photo I sent you...and I see no germination. The "P. gigantea" seeds seem to be all aborted seeds and not really seeds. The "P. gigantea x alba" seeds are mostly aborted but there are a few seeds, so I am not surprised that I don't see germination. :-(
If you ever get more P. gigantea seeds please let me know
If you ever get more P. gigantea seeds please let me know
Friends,
I think I may have solved my last problem...the rockwool holding water at the bottom. In theory, making a bunch of holes in it at the bottom might just cause the water to drain off...or at least stay away from my gigantea! Maybe not...I'll have to try it. I'll try not to be too destructive
I think I may have solved my last problem...the rockwool holding water at the bottom. In theory, making a bunch of holes in it at the bottom might just cause the water to drain off...or at least stay away from my gigantea! Maybe not...I'll have to try it. I'll try not to be too destructive
I seem to have come up with an idea to eliminate the differences in watering. If I take the rockwool and cut it between the holes, making it non-continuous, maybe even adding spacers, each section would retain water.
Otherwise, the wall is more or less useless except for one or two spots.
The gigantea is still alive. I have been able to propegate it via leaf cuttings. All I do is place a leaf on my counter and wait until it shrivels. At the end hang miniature plants. Even easier than Joseph Clemens's method
I almost think 1/2 a day of sun is (not too much) not ideal for the plant. I have tried to get a ping that would grow well in my conditions. It grows OK, but stays about 4" in diameter. I have a humidity of 40-60%. Perhaps, the soil is not favored. I posted the mixturem proportions a while back. The new pinguiculas I have planted (not on wall, they would die right away. It takes a large pinguicula to be able to adjust. I ordered a plant from Flytrapshop and plopped in in the 2nd hole. It slowly withered away despite being largish, almost making it but not quite big enough to root.) I have put in peat/sandor vermiculite to see how big they get. I am also starting them under shade. I killed my last batch by placing them close to the mother plant.
In short, this is still a work-in-progress. I am actually thinking of abandoning the wall since I do not have enough plants to fill it! I will resist the urge and grow my stock. Hopefully to fill the wall sometime soon.
I do question the media I have used though. It works, obviously, but could work better. I have tried transplanting small plants to it (mostly cat litter) and they have not been able to survive. I am not sure why. The mix is very claylike when waterlogged. Perhaps I should use a mix with less cat litter? Jeff, can you advise an ideal recipe? Eric at World of Pinguicula uses this recipe:
Should I modify that to be better suited to P. gigantea?
Otherwise, the wall is more or less useless except for one or two spots.
The gigantea is still alive. I have been able to propegate it via leaf cuttings. All I do is place a leaf on my counter and wait until it shrivels. At the end hang miniature plants. Even easier than Joseph Clemens's method
I almost think 1/2 a day of sun is (not too much) not ideal for the plant. I have tried to get a ping that would grow well in my conditions. It grows OK, but stays about 4" in diameter. I have a humidity of 40-60%. Perhaps, the soil is not favored. I posted the mixturem proportions a while back. The new pinguiculas I have planted (not on wall, they would die right away. It takes a large pinguicula to be able to adjust. I ordered a plant from Flytrapshop and plopped in in the 2nd hole. It slowly withered away despite being largish, almost making it but not quite big enough to root.) I have put in peat/sandor vermiculite to see how big they get. I am also starting them under shade. I killed my last batch by placing them close to the mother plant.
In short, this is still a work-in-progress. I am actually thinking of abandoning the wall since I do not have enough plants to fill it! I will resist the urge and grow my stock. Hopefully to fill the wall sometime soon.
I do question the media I have used though. It works, obviously, but could work better. I have tried transplanting small plants to it (mostly cat litter) and they have not been able to survive. I am not sure why. The mix is very claylike when waterlogged. Perhaps I should use a mix with less cat litter? Jeff, can you advise an ideal recipe? Eric at World of Pinguicula uses this recipe:
Should I modify that to be better suited to P. gigantea?
