P. primuiflora at lowe's

[seaecho]

I got one - and didn't realize what kind of ping it was until I looked at online pictures. I keep reading they are prone to rot. How do you keep that from happening when you keep the pot in distilled water, like I do? I fell in love with Jim's primuiflora and knew I had to have one. Little did I know they were at my local Lowe's! Just had to share my joy at having my first ping!

Randi

 

[jimscott]

Hi Seaecho and welcome to the forums! Oh wait, we already did that! I must have had incredible beginner's luck with mine. What I have done is keep it open tray method. that goes a long way in preventing and curing, somewhat, the tufts of white fungus growths. Even still, I have noticed the cotton-like growths on the soil surface. For the most part, that can be removed with tweezers. What inevitably remains, seems to be harmless. Also, what I do is fill the open tray from below the pot containing the plant and then once or twice a week, depending upon how much sunlight / evaporation occurs. I don't let things dry out, but I don't keep it perpetually water-logged. Seems to work.

 

[Wesley]

I follow Jim's method... he got me BACK into the Primufloras<span style='color:blue'>[Edit: correction, should read, P. prumuliflora; a species name always includes the genus, even if only an abbreviation, and the species name is never modified in any way, for any reason. It should not end in "s", unless the species name itself ends in "s".]</span> I'm on my third one and this one seems to be doin ok now. I'm adapting to to windowsill life under a couple of flourescents and it if finally starting to acclimate. I think if you give it plenty air circulation and water it from the tray it does fine. But then again I haven't tried top watering because I don't want to wash all my babies away! LOL

 

[LauraZ5]

Rats! All you lucky people speak of all the good deals you get at Lowes and there isn't one any where near me. And then there are all the people who get great plants at Home Depot and our HD doesn't even carry CPs to the best of my knowledge. This is just deplorable. I feel soooooo deprived.

 

[seaecho]

Thanks for your replies! Yeah, I've noticed HDs and Lowe's are all different in what they carry, plant-wise, depending in where you go. Hubby and I hit quite a few last weekend, and only one had CPs. I guess it depends on the individual store. I guess I'll keep the ping in 1/2" of water, and let it dry out for one day before refilling, since that seems to be the general feeling I got from you. Not water logged, and not allowed to dry out either.

Randi

 

[Wesley]

sounds good, that's usually what happens to mine. I water them once a week really well, and the trays usually dry out around Friday.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

I got my primuliflora at Lowe's as well. I've tried them numerous times for a couple years, but now that I have this one (and its leaf sprouts.. woot!) with my Nep and adelae in the fluorescent tank, it's doing great.

 

[PlantAKiss]

A dead give-away for prims is the little plantlets that grow from the ends of the leaves. And that is the typical ping you find at Lowes. I saw a rather nice one today and almost bought it but I already have one so I didn't. I also saw one of the larger "assortment" plastic containers with a nep in it mislabeled as S. purpurea.

I wish I'd had a Sharpie with me to correct the label.

 

[seedjar]

I leave mine outside. It started to rot indoors this winter so I figured I had nothing to lose. It has a water tray that comes up to within a half to a quarter of an inch of the soil surface. When it rains I let the tray fill up all the way and then I empty it a little when the weather clears up, and let evaporation do the rest. It seems pretty happy this way.
~Joe

 

[FlytrapGurl]

It's like stores spend all the time on the normal plants and barely give the CPs half a glance.. it's because CPs have been trivialized. Nobody takes them seriously except actual CPers.

 

[jimscott]

I thunk another important factor is that with all the other plants they sell, they can water them with whatever comes out of the hose. CP's can't take that. Also, they NEVER think about open tray or air circulation.

 

[cphog]

I have never found a store that knows diddly about cps. Even people like me with limited experience are experts compared to most retail outlets. Unless of course an actual cper just happens to work there. If you buy from a Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc., do it when they first get the shipment in. I picked up a couple of VFT at my Wal-Mart about 6 weeks ago (my first VTF's). When they first came in. They look great. The others back at the store are all very sick or dead for lack of proper care.

Don't wait until compassion drives you to save their lives.

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Quote[/b] (jimscott @ May 03 2005,9:47)]I thunk another important factor is that with all the other plants they sell, they can water them with whatever comes out of the hose. CP's can't take that. Also, they NEVER think about open tray or air circulation.

You thunk so?

 

[jimscott]

I need an editor - quick! Thanks Tahn - ya, I knew I could count on you to find them!

 

[FlytrapGurl]

Wow.. it's been a long time since you've called me Topanga. Nice work.

 

[Slurm]

I once found a P. ionantha at lowes,
although that was some years ago.

 

[Anoxos]

Yeah, they just got a shipment in a few weeks ago at my local Lowes, and some of them are looking pretty sad now... I feel so sorry for them (the plants). I did pick up a P. primulifora that had a little plantlet, but most were in too small a terrarium for them. What else I saw in the shipment:
Dionea muscipula (typical)
Sarracenea purpurea
Darlingtonia californica
Drosera adelae
All of them were pale from lack of light. I hope the Ping perks up now that its under the grow lights. The Sarracenae, Ping, and Drosera were not given species names; I had to look them up to figure them out.

 

[jimscott]

Hi Anoxos and welcome to the forums! Sounds like you have been perusing through their plastic cubes. It was because of Lowes and Home Depot that I initiated an intensive book and online ID search that led me to this discussion forum. What a goldmine of a find!

The D. adelae, P. primuliflora, and the "Tropical Pitcher Plant" (not mentioned) are great indoor plants, while the VFT, Sarracenias, Darlingtonia do best when kept outside. The D. adelae & P. primuliflora do best on window sills, "open tray" (pot sitting in plastic container, uncovered).

 

[Anoxos]

Actually, I have become an aficianado of the 'temperate terrarium', mainly due to the fact that I live in an apartment where my ONLY windows are shady west-facing ones... And the annual temperature/humidity swing outside isn't suitable to leave many of them out year-round. Undercabinet-mounted grow lights make renovated aquariums in my kitchen a happy CP biosphere. Didn't see any 'tropical pitcher plants' locally, just the ones I mentioned.

 

[jimscott]

Ya gotta make do with what ya got! Artificial lighting is better than nothing. I believe it is Pinguiculaman, who has grown CP's since 1968, utilizes artificial lighting. We'll help you along the way.