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Bringing pinguicula out of dormancy?

Hey guys! First of all, let me start off by saying this: pings are just a mystery to me. I have killed more of these guys than any other plant I have ever owned trying to get it right with them. That said, by some kind of miracle, I have managed to keep 4 alive for just shy of a full year (yay!). Those went dormant a couple of months ago and are currently resting. (By the way, they are sitting in a west-facing windowsill because for some reason, that is the only place they don't begin to burn to a crisp....but that is a different issue for a different day...heh). My question for y'all is, do I have to do anything to bring them out of dormancy? Or will they just take their cues from the increase in natural light as the season changes? They've come so far that I don't want to water or light them to death like I have done in the past to the others!
 
Which Pinguicula?
 
Whoops, duh! Crucial information. Moranensis D, Weser, Tina, and Esseriana
 
In my experience mexican pings will start to resume carnivorous growth just based on light cues. Last year I did have a few that lagged really far behind though and I started watering them. It seems they may have taken the hint from the water as well because they switched growth soon after.
 
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I second light cues. I water plants during winter sometimes and it doesn't seem to bring them out. They just grow succulent leaves faster.
 
Okay, good to know. I think that's primarily what triggered them to go into dormancy in the first place, so that makes sense (though, when the heat came on, it also got pretty warm and dry in the house, so I'm not ruling out that change either). Thanks, guys!
 
Bonjour

x 'Tina' and x 'Weser' are horticol hybrids

the others no
in mexico : the dry season runs from November to May , the rain season from june to october

see here to the rest
Culture of Mexican Pinguicula

jeff
 
Right--I know those two are hybrids. Not sure if that actually affects how and when they go dormant, though, as they are both technically still in the "Mexican Pinguicula" category, unless I am mistaken. Thank you for the approximate dormancy calendar of dry vs. wet seasons, that could prove to be helpful!
 
Bonjour

hybrids are still more resistant than the taxons, culture conditions can be less restrictive, for example on the substrate.

jeff
 
  • #10
As far as your sun tolerance Q goes, you've been too vague for much help to be given.

1 Where are you located? The heat experienced in Texas will be different than that in Maine.

2 Was it summer sun? Winter sun? Makes a huge difference.

3 Did you harden the plants off first? If you didn't, that could easily have been the problem.

 
  • #11
Well honestly, I wasn't really even planning on going into that whole issue in much depth. I was more concerned about the dormancy, because I do think I may have figured out some of my rookie mistakes since the summer. But, while we're on it now: I live roundabouts Chicago, the "pingpocalypse" happened during the summer, and I had moved them from a weak, crappy lamp to a brighter windowsill, and then from there tried to harden them off as best I could outside. They weren't really doing that poorly under the lamp, truth be told, but I figured I would try to get a couple to color up. The real issues, I am pretty sure were three huge things: 1. I didn't realize that for a bit of time each day, where I had placed them outside got a bit of direct sun that they weren't ready for. 2. It gets darn hot outside in the summer here. 3. I now am 100% sure I had been drastically under-watering them. (I really think that's the entire issue I was having before). Once mine decide to start growing carnivorous leaves again, I'm going to test the water hypothesis and see where it takes me.
 
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  • #12
Bonjour

here in europe , dormancy is done with a dry substrate (or slightly damp) during all the winter months (temperature> 5 ° c to 12 ° c approximately with good light), in May we start again to water by capillary slightly, and then we leave them out in the shelter of rain in a shaded place ,watering every 15 days by capillarity.

jeff
 
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  • #13
So this is just a a little addition to my last post. Although I suspect pings Are most affects by light cues, sometimes they do odd things. Here is Pinguicula rotundifolia. Although all of them are in the same conditions, the same pot even, one is entering succulent growth. ???
 

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  • #14
Ha, how odd, what mysterious plants these are. Good to know, though! By the way, your pings are beautiful! I love to live vicariously through people who can make these grow so nicely.
 
  • #15
Pulled a couple of the stronger pings through and picked up a couple experiment plants. Think I'm maybe finally getting the hang of these guys! (Hopefully). (That fluff is from those little floating seed thingies that are all over the place).

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  • #17
Ha, thanks. I had hypothetically read up before embarking upon last year's pinguicula adventure/disaster but I either took some instructions way too far, or not even close to far enough. I've got a couple pots going in different substrates now (currently running an experiment with turface vs. a more "standard" media), but the main problem from last year definitely seems to have been drastically under-watering.
 
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