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New to mexican ping

The addiction just keeps getting worse. I'm not getting some mexican pings. After reading so many posts I think I have my soil mix that I'm going to use. I'm using peat moss, sand, perlite, and vermiculite. Pretty much all 1:1:1:1 with the top layer of just sand. Would the sand in top be a bad idea?


Another this was I was going to grow them in a 20 long on its side with so far 2 23 watt c.f. and maybe add some more tubes. The temp now is in the 90's. Is this too hot. The night maybe about mid 70's. Or I can grow them in my basement highland set up that is 75-77 day and 60's night now but will be 40-50 in the winter.

I've been reading around and have the Savage Garden book but now it's just see what advice I can get from people who grow them.
 
Top layer of sand is fine if you want. Why a layer of sand? I really like an aquatic plant soil by Schultz. I'd substitute the perlite with that. It looks better, doesn't show algae, and most importantly doesn't FLOAT like perlite. I think some people have grown pings fine with pure APS with good success. Something to consider.

Your temps are fine for most of them, and you can grow the ones that like it cooler in your basement. I'd give them more than 2 23 watt CFL's.

They're easy. I'd like to play around with them again. Their appearance didn't justify the space so I haven't grown them in a long time.

Violets from hell lol.
 
If you put a layer of sand your pings will be more likely to fall out of the pot. Mexican pings have very shallow roots. For some Mexican Pings i use peat/sand/vermiculite but i have recently started experimenting with other medias and have had good results. A couple of the medias i have used with good success are Hydroton and LFS, and crushed coral/vermiculite, crushed coral/peat, and coral chuncks and LFS. I am experimenting with a few other mixes but dont have any results yet.

You will definately need more light, i use T5 fixtures and grow some in a south facing window, i have grown them under multiple T12 grow bulbs but they never produced much color. As for temps i have been growing all of mine in a 75 gal aquarium with a daytime temp of 90 degrees and about 75 degrees at night, 80-90% humidity. I would suggest a lower humidity, i had good results with 60-70%, but it is hard to keep up on the watering for me.
 
I've grown neps with the two 23 watt CF lights that's why I thought it would be fine. I'll add more light if I grow them there then. I have my d. falconeri along with my vft and sar babies in there too. So it was pretty much what can I add in there when the babies go outside after their first year indoors. I need some more petiolaris complex I think. Also maybe I'll just out the perlite. I hate that stuff.

If grown in the basement I'm just worried it would get too cold for them over the winter but the Savage Garden says that they can be put in the sub-tropical set-up with just about everything else.
 
I see wonderful looking pings from Cindy, who has them growing in Perlite. I use a mix of Perlite, crushed coral, and eggshells. It's as variable as our Nep mixes and not terribly differing results. They mainly need good drainage.
 
I'm sorta new to them too...I always end up killing them so I stopped trying to grow them. They always rotted or dried up, etc.

My P. moranensis x 'Titan' is finally waking up after about a YEAR in dormancy....the leaves are resprouting and getting bigger.

I ordered a P. cyclosecta, 'aphrodite', and gracilis x moctezume x (sic?) and they're growing in peat:perlite:vermiculte. Already some of the outer leaves have dried up or are rotting. They're growing in a little drained black plastic container with a dome over them. I didn't want to take chances and have the sudden change in humidity (AC room) kill them, but ugh...I can grow temperates fine, but Mexicans which are supposedly hardy seem to give me trouble.
 
haha i have a problem with primuliflora, it always does really good and then flowers and then just declines rapidly after that for seemingly no reason... my mix that my ping is in drains but is probably heavier than it should be but I keep it on the driest side of my watering schedule, the main plant is almost completely gone, yet the 4 or 5 medium sized offshoots that grew from the leaves on the main are doing just swimmingly. I dont really understand this pings random wish to die. Thank god for its ability to grow from leaf tips :)
 
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