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Gigantea

  • Thread starter FLTropical
  • Start date
My ping gigantea has been yellowing a bit in the older leaves lately. Is this normal seasonal dieback, or just aging? Growing under lights indoors, in pure perlite. Been getting bigger and healthier for months until recently. Change is slow, over the last few weeks.
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I grow 5 gigantea, all the same clone, all in a sand/perlite/vermiculite blend and one of my clones is doing the same thing yours is. Doesn't seem to cause any problems, it just keeps chugging along, but I have no idea why that one is acting that way. Weird.
 
Mine does the same from time to time, I imagine just older leaves dying off. It currently has two flowers and several new leaves, so it seems pretty happy. Same for one growing outside, though looking a bit rougher.
 
Bonjour

its behavior is normal, the old leaves jaundice and dry, for the decrease of the surface of the leaves this is also normal, they are at the moment in period of dormancy ( for mine this is always the case their leaf area decreases by half)

may be a tip, decreases watering during dormancy.



jeff
 
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Thank you all! This one had a rough summer, but it’s finally stabilized this fall. Glad to hear this is normal! I’ll cut back watering too!


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P. gigantea does not go dormant like other Mexican butterworts (and technically, none go dormant; it's just a winter growth phase), but it does shrink a bit in winter and likes conditions slightly drier. Don't cut water altogether though.
 
Bonjour

there are no winter in Oaxaca but a drier period from january to april (may)(with peaks at 34 ° c) followed by rain period from june(may) to september .

when we talk about dormancy, we talk about a conditioning of the plant to pass this dry period, for gigantea it is a decrease
of the surface of the leaf simply.

jeff
 
"Dormancy" is a shut-down of a plant's growth to survive adverse conditions, a suspended animation. No Mexican Pinguicula undergoes this, so while many call the winter growth phase a dormancy, it's just a different growth phase.
 
  • #11
Bonjour

Outside of winter, other circumstances may be unfavorable to the life of the plant, especially drought or excessive heat, that only latent life can overcome.the temporary reduction of activity is called latent life ( dormancy).

In this state, metabolic activities and exchanges are almost imperceptible, limited minimum essential for the production of energy necessary to maintain cellular structures.

this is the case for most ping temperate which, to face the winter, make hibernaculae.

this is also the case for the Mexican ping but to face the hot and dry hot climate,they have accumulated reserves (water, juice), by modifying their appearance with succulent leaves without mucilage, in the form of rosette sometimes arachnoides or restriction of their surface(agnata, gigantea,etc) or even sometimes by making onions( medusinae,heterophylla,oblongiloba)

jeff
 
  • #12
Metabolic rates reduce but they do not reach the standstill rates found in true dormancy; the plants still grow, many flower during their winter phases, and thereby cannot be classified as truly dormant. The only exception may be the bulb-formers (so I'll take back perhaps "no Mexican Pinguicula") but those are the only ones that actually halt growth. All others still produce new leaves and other growth through winter.
I know this is pedantic and rather off the original topic, but calling one thing another when the cases states otherwise is a long-standing issue particularly amongst carnivorous plants. It also affects the understanding of how and why a certain care method for one species does not do well for another (ie. why some butterworts need bone-dry soils in winter while others die if such conditions are given).
 
  • #13
Bonjour

for temperate ping it is a real dormancy

for mexican , yes some one flowered in this dormancy(latent) period , some others no ,but may be ,they benefit from this latent period where the plant is gorged with water and juice, and has nothing to do , to bloom? it's part of their cycle like others plants?


in any case thank you for discussing this subject with me ,I appreciate :beer:

jeff
 
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