Grow-A-Long — Ping-A-Ling

Often past large seed giveaways here turn into Grow-A-Longs.

I can try to produce enough Mexi Pinguicula seed for a free giveaway in the new year for this!
If seeds are an option, can you estimate timing? When they'd be ready for mailing, when they should be started ... if we were to try for the group build in early June? Would the babies be ready for transplanting to the ping containers by June?
 
I will have seeds to send out in February. I been pollinating flowers and collecting seeds. Enough im not sure, I suspect there will be a lot of interest.
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If anyone else wants to donate seeds to the cause that could be great especially other species.

Pinguicula seeds grow fairly fast for me, growing up to a quarter sized plant in just 8 months. I would grow them from seed on the pumice, rock or planting I was planning on keeping them on if I felt I had conditions right. If starting them in a different planting with plans of transplanting I would guess 5 months before they are ready to transplant?

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I read that the shelf-life of Pinguicula seeds are on the shorter side for carnivorous plants. Seems like they are viable on average within a couple months from harvesting even if stored at 4 C in the fridge? Probably can compensate by sowing a larger quantity of seeds to get something going for this project.
 
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Any tricks to induce more flowering? I can try to save some seeds… if I ever get 2 flowers at the same time, lol. My esseriana were blooming often over the summer but only ever one flower at a time. My mystery ping from @spiffyzha hasnt bloomed yet (though given the size I think it’s some sort of gigantea, which would be an interesting cross with esseriana, lol), and the Weser and Weser x emarginata I’ve had for a few months have not yet bloomed either. All are growing nicely, and either catch gnats often or get fed diluted orchid fertilizer every couple of weeks.
 
As a... I guess I'm not really a ping-noob anymore, more of a ping-idiot -- I have questions! Please, ELI5. I've never tried growing a ping on a rock, and I don't trust ChatGPT to tell me what I need to know. :oops:

* How big of a rock do I want for this? My space is limited, and the price seems to increase dramatically with rock size -- but I want my future pinguicula to be happy, of course.

* What kind of container do I want for this? eg, it would never have occurred to me to use @Joanie's proposed container, because I would have naively thought that one wanted some drainage, but maybe it doesn't work like that..

* Related: Is my (new) understanding correct that the rock just, like, sits in some water and sucks small amounts up to the ping by capillary action? Do I need a container that closes or mostly closes to maintain humidity if the ping isn't getting much moisture from the rock itself?

* Related #2: Assuming my understanding is correct, how does one keep the water at the bottom from getting gross? I guess I could try planting some moss on the bottom or something, but @Joanie's other container in the background seems to have non-gross water, so there must be a way to do it.
 
My ping containers are undrained. I just squirt some water at the roots daily, if they're dry.

Hmm. You don't worry that it'll accumulate TDS? IIRC you've said you were using rainwater, so maybe it's fine. I'm using 30-40 TDS tap water for everything, so I might still want to avoid it.
 
The rock doesn't need to be big at all. The ping in my avatar pic is a single plant that grew on a single pumice stone in a ceramic bowl. And after a good bit of time (maybe a year), I moved the plant to another location. The pumice - I broke into small pieces and added it to media mixes.

Found a pic of this plant in an old post. For size, that bowl holds 5 or 6 olives, or one ping.

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I also have pings in a pot with drainage, and they are doing really well.
I have found that relying on capillary action is ok but not the greatest - I've taken to "watering the rocks".

My planter you mention - the water does get gross. There is a small filter and pump under the rocks that helps, but I do have to disassemble it to clean everything properly.

The only types of containers that I would not recommend are ones which are porous and may leach out unknown "stuff" from the container itself. I'm thinking of those cute resin or terracotta containers you can get at big box stores, and do not have a glaze on in the inside.

Also, going forward, maybe the unit of measure for ping containers should be olives?
 
This is a good tutorial from California carnivores where they have the rock resting in a CP medium, but like Lloyd said, I think just a misted rock is also a very simple, low budget option!
 
As a... I guess I'm not really a ping-noob anymore, more of a ping-idiot -- I have questions! Please, ELI5. I've never tried growing a ping on a rock, and I don't trust ChatGPT to tell me what I need to know. :oops:

* How big of a rock do I want for this? My space is limited, and the price seems to increase dramatically with rock size -- but I want my future pinguicula to be happy, of course.

* What kind of container do I want for this? eg, it would never have occurred to me to use @Joanie's proposed container, because I would have naively thought that one wanted some drainage, but maybe it doesn't work like that..

* Related: Is my (new) understanding correct that the rock just, like, sits in some water and sucks small amounts up to the ping by capillary action? Do I need a container that closes or mostly closes to maintain humidity if the ping isn't getting much moisture from the rock itself?

* Related #2: Assuming my understanding is correct, how does one keep the water at the bottom from getting gross? I guess I could try planting some moss on the bottom or something, but @Joanie's other container in the background seems to have non-gross water, so there must be a way to do it.
I found an article from ICPS (which I suppose is a generally reputable source for all things CP related) about ping rocks. Though aimed for a more technical audience, it seems to provide some answers to common questions. For example, moisture wicking through the rock is the primary way the pings will get their water. The type of rock used must therefore be very porous. “Vesicular volcanic rocks, especially pumice and scoria, are ideal for this purpose.” and it was noted that pumice wicked water more reliably than scoria.

 
I found an article from ICPS (which I suppose is a generally reputable source for all things CP related) about ping rocks. Though aimed for a more technical audience, it seems to provide some answers to common questions. For example, moisture wicking through the rock is the primary way the pings will get their water. The type of rock used must therefore be very porous. “Vesicular volcanic rocks, especially pumice and scoria, are ideal for this purpose.” and it was noted that pumice wicked water more reliably than scoria.

Also great! Thanks @kcskou !!
 

Ready ... Set ... Go!​

General Outline with Suggested Timeline:​

  • December: Research: Start by learning about pings and how they grow on rocks. We have a great start on this! Share any and all research findings. Decide on the ping(s) you are going to plant.

  • January: Find a Container: Pick an appropriate container for your ping and share a photo of it. Don't forget to provide the olive equivalency for scale ;)

  • February: Find a Rock: Look for suitable planting media. I’ve used lava rock (sold for firepits) and pumice stones in the past. When you find media available, share the details so others can grab some too. I have a good-sized bag of unused lava rock and am happy to share.

    February: Plant Seeds: If you are starting seeds, now is the time to get them started! Consider starting the seeds on pumice/rock - see the earlier message by @stevebradford

  • March: Gather Fun Add-Ons: Collect tiny decorative items to personalize your ping setup. Check out my post titled "The Playmobil Project" for inspiration. Share pictures!

  • April: Prepare Your Media: Clean/Sterilize your rock.

  • Late May / Early June: Group Assembly: Group Zoom for everyone to build their setups together, with a ping celebrity :)

  • Ongoing: Photo Updates: Share progress photos over the following months.
 
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