My pinguicula is finally doing something neat

13 years ago

I thought I'd share a couple pics.
I was away for business for about a month and returned to this sight. The pictures span a period of about 30 days.

This post was edited by rennet on Sat, Mar 23, 13 at 17:01

Featured Answer

binlin
Original Author

13 years ago

Thanks Barb. I'm doing graduate work at the moment, so I'm stuck in a fairly small apartment with no direct sunlight. I use T5HO lights for my high light plants because of my current housing situation. Here's a figure of how I have my plants arranged in a 4x3 foot growing area:

I use 4x 48" T5HO for Sansevierias and Adeniums because they require bright light. Hoyas are kept around the edges of my grow area, where the light is weaker, because I found the T5 to be stunting their growth with too much light. There's a 2x 48" T8 fixture beside the T5 fixture supplying supplementary overhead light to taller plants that wouldn't otherwise fit under the T5. All of my plants are kept within 1 foot of their respective lights.

The reflective surface you see in my previous photos are thin mylar emergency blankets. I taped them up around my shelving to create a makeshift grow tent, and they work well to eliminate dark spots that would receive little light from an overhead source.

The ambient temperature under my lights is about 25-30C in the winter, and 35-40C in the summer. I keep a fan running in my apartment for circulation, and that helps keep the leaf tips from burning in the summer.

My potting mix is about 50% turface MVP with 25% pine bark chunks and 25% broken pots and gravel supplemented with slow release fertilizer pellets. Originally I used osmocote, but I've switched to using Miracle-Gro Shake n' Feed Plus Calcium, since it's the only slow release fertilizer I can find which supplies micronutrients in addition to N-P-K.

My plants are watered once every 1-2 weeks. I take the plants and soak them in a basin of water + 5% fertilizer solution for about 20 minutes each, then let them drain before putting them back under my lights.

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Comments (10)

barbmock
13 years ago
Wow! What a wonderful bloom. How long have you been growing your ping?
Michaela
13 years ago
Oh my! Its a real treat to see this plant in bloom; I've never seen it in in flower before. Nice pictures, too! Are the flowers really as yellow as they look? Sweet fragrance?
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binlin
Original Author
13 years ago
@bmock
Thanks, this plant is about 3 years old. I received it as a bare root pup from Thailand.

@michaela
The flowers are greenish yellow but the base of the sepals and the filaments are brighter yellow, so the flowers appear to turn brighter as they open. The flowers start to open every day around 8pm and are fully open by 12am, right before my lights shut off. The flowers only last one night, and I haven't actually smelled them yet, but I'll let you know later tonight when new ones open.
barbmock
13 years ago
What size is your pot? I'm trying to get an idea of the size of your plant. I don't remember seeing a sans with a yellow bloom. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos. Barb
barbmock
13 years ago
What size is your pot? I'm trying to get an idea of the size of your plant. I don't remember seeing a sans with a yellow bloom. Congratulations! Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos. Barb
binlin
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Barb,
The inner diameter of the pot is 8 inches, the longest leaf is about 10 inches, and the panicle is about 7 inches long.
binlin
Original Author
13 years ago
@michaela
It's almost 10pm now, and tonight's flowers are just about fully open. I moved the plant out from under my lights so I could smell the flowers. The scent doesn't seem to carry very far, and I had to stick my face right down between the spikes to smell anything. I'm not sure if I'd describe the flowers as sweet, but there's definitely a complex perfume-like smell.

Here's the plant with a ruler for scale:

Here's a side view of a flowers that's almost fully open:
barbmock
13 years ago
You not only have that bloom, but the plant itself is impressive too. I was surprised at the size. Can you share any growing tips with us, please? I can see that you have your lighting and reflective surface. Whatever you are doing, it's working well. Barb
barbmock
13 years ago
Thank you for sharing all this info with us, Rennet. Those of us with a lack of sunny windows in the winter could surely benefit from a setup similar to yours.