Grow-A-Long — Ping-A-Ling

[Smilodonichthys]

Concrete may have ingredients you don't want for plants.

Or ingredients you do want

 

[coconut]

Wonder if once can '' bond '' pieces of volcano rock with fishes & plants safe's silicon ? This way we can have a custom's shape set up. If the silicone is safe for fish and plant, must be OK for CP. What do you think ?

https://www.amazon.ca/Aquascape-82000-Silicone-Sealant-10-1-Ounce/dp/B07KGK6XVV/ref=asc_df_B07KGK6XVV?mcid=f4b0b46dc0393743a3ea1031048c0594&tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706725384621&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=535232838505787783&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000572&hvtargid=pla-597021572131&gad_source=1&th=1

 

[spiffyzha]

Wonder if once can '' bond '' pieces of volcano rock with fishes & plants safe's silicon ? This way we can have a custom's shape set up. If the silicone is safe for fish and plant, must be OK for CP. What do you think ?

https://www.amazon.ca/Aquascape-82000-Silicone-Sealant-10-1-Ounce/dp/B07KGK6XVV/ref=asc_df_B07KGK6XVV?mcid=f4b0b46dc0393743a3ea1031048c0594&tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706725384621&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=535232838505787783&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000572&hvtargid=pla-597021572131&gad_source=1&th=1

Not sure the silicone caulk would have the water-wicking properties one might want for making a large structure full of porous rocks.

That said, at some point within the last week or so, I legit spent several hours trying to glue volcanic rocks together. The result was only marginal success. I gave up on using silicone caulk, because I couldn't keep everything in the position I wanted long enough for it to dry, at least not without getting caulk and rock bits everywhere. Maybe someone with more patience or dexterity than me could make it work though. Or a more careful set-up.

Other methods that didn't work included super glue and (separately) hot glue gun glue. (Super glue, at least, is fine to use on human wounds, but I'll admit that I just assumed that hot glue gun glue would basically be fine without really researching it.) The issue is that you don't get enough points of contact with super glue, and it's too easy to just pull off the top layer of rock crumbles with the glue gun glue.

However! A method that *does* work at gluing lava rocks together, but maybe doesn't actually help for these purposes: a coat of super glue to turn the outside of the lava rock into a thing that won't just crumble away, followed by hot glue gun glue (which is thick enough allow for a larger contact area). The issue is that the super glue will quickly be wicked through all the lava rock's pores, and spread across a larger surface than you probably wanted. All of that super glued surface can now be glue-gun-glued and it will stick nicely! But the price for that is that the part of the rock that has super glue on it will now have a shiny, plasticky, super glue texture that doesn't look particularly natural. More importantly, it likely (but I haven't tested this..) fills, covers, or otherwise blocks all the micropores that make it good at wicking water. So, you could use this to glue two lava rocks together, but you'd have to be careful that you don't actually need the water to wick between them.

My lava rock proto-ping-a-ling (pictured up-thread) uses this method, but in that case I just glued an extra piece of lava rock onto the bottom so that it rests in a more attractive position. So you can't see the shiny part, and it's not actually super important that it doesn't wick water up from one specific part of the underside.

 

[spiffyzha]

My two ping-a-lings are basically finished now -- except for, you know, the growing. But subject to tweaks, as always.

The pinguicula are all P. 'Hanka'. I wanted to wait a bit longer before finishing the final ping-a-ling setup, but these babies were getting too crowded in the tiny pot with their ping-mama.

Ping-a-ling One:

Ping-a-ling Two:

...Why yes, those *are* drosera. No, I don't know what kind they are. Despite being tiny, they're a year old and were (also) severely overcrowded, so either they'll stay tiny and appropriately sized forever, immediately get huge and kick out the pings, or possibly they'll just die. At least now they've got a fighting chance.

That green blotch on top of brown stuff at the far right of the (top pic) bowl is U. sandersonii + some sort of moss. The U. graminifolia that had originally occupied that spot just up and died, so something needed to go there. The other U. graminifola blobs seem .... not dead? Possibly perkier than before? I can't really tell how it's getting on, but 'not dead' seems like a good start.

It's a bit hard to see, but there are a couple sprigs of formerly-red live sphagnum that seem to have turned....blue? I don't really know what to make of that. The water is clear, and the green sphagnum is still green. Maybe some sort of red-loving blue algae, I guess?

 

[WillyCKH]

My rock is turning green!

 

[yume.verde]

Is it too late to join in?

I started with my first pings (and carnivorous plants) back in April, and I quickly got interested in setting up a rock garden.

I currently have three, and it's been an interesting trial and error experience.

I purchased 2 dragon stones and 1 red lava rock at a nearby exotic fish store, 1 large pumice stone from a seller on eBay, and 1 mystery rock (which I think may be black lava rock) as part of a rock kit from California Carnivores.

The exotic fish store had a good selection of dragon stones and red lava rock. The prices were definitely better than what was available online and I was able to pick the exact shape and size rock I wanted.

The large pumice stone was more expensive than all 3 rocks purchased from the exotic fish store but I was very excited to try it based on many reviews saying it was the best stone medium to use. After trying it out, I have to say it's not my favorite but more on this later.

And the mystery rock from California Carnivores is a very porous black rock that is as water wicking as pumice (but not as light as pumice when dry). It's okay so far but we'll see.

Out of the 4 types of stones I have, I'd have to rank them (from most liked to least liked):

1. Dragon stone
2. Mystery rock
3. Pumice stone
4. Red lava rock (because it's untested so I don't know how well it works)

To prep the rocks, I soaked them in distilled water for 24-48 hours as well as rinsed them off with distilled water. I also let the stones dry out before setting up my ping rock gardens.

I chose stones that were flatter so it wouldn't have too many issues wicking water as I read that compared to pumice or other more porous rocks, dragon stone and red lava rock was a lot less porous. Now, having tested it a bit, I can confirm it is true.

Maybe one day, I'll build a towering rock garden I see some people post about, but for now, a mini rock garden works well for me!

Part 1) The first dragon stone


This one had the following pings:

1. Jaumavensis x Cyclosecta
2. Colimensis
3. Piggyback (cluster of 3, one is a tiny baby)
4. Marilyn Monroe
5. Ladyfingers (cluster of 2, although one is a tiny baby)
6. El Mirador (one of the 2 I have in my collection)
7. Ehlersiae x Mesophytica

I packed the many holes in the dragon stone with soil mix I purchased from California Carnivores and then I placed the pings on it. While packing, I would slightly water the soil mix so it would pack better and stay in place as I worked over the rock.

After the landscape/soil was ready, I used a clean metal chopstick to help dig a small hole for the ping roots and settle the soil around it after placing the pings down. So far, the metal chopstick or a small pair of tongs has been great for helping me place pings in soil.

After I placed all the pings, I also used a small makeup brush to brush away debris/soil from the leaves.

I didn't have any live moss on hand so I used a water wicking cord (the same ones you use for self-watering/bottom-watering indoor plant pots) and wrapped it around the rock to help it stay moist for longer. Overall, the cord works fairly well but eventually replacing it with live moss would be great. I love the look of the moss and the pings together but I can only handle one new thing at a time for now.

I added distilled water to the plate and tried to wait until the water was nearly gone before rewatering. Every few days, I might top water the rock with some droplets of water as the dragon stone really didn't stay "wet" for very long.

Here's the progress photo on this one:


Because some pings grew so much, I had decided to move the baby Piggyback a little away from the cluster and the "El Mirador" further away from the "Ladyfingers."

These grew really well in my opinion and I did (some time at the end of April/early May fed it fish flake paste as it wasn't catching any insects but haven't since then. There have been enough gnats overall but we shall see.

Part 2) The pumice stone debacle into the second dragon stone
When I finally purchased a large pumice stone, I was super excited. Everywhere I looked, people were recommending pumice stones as they were porous and great for water wicking.

I purchased from a seller on eBay and the stone already came with live moss so I thought I could do two things in one.

I placed my pings directly on the pumice stone, no soil mix added at all and it seemed like it was doing well for a while.


The pings on this rock was:

1. Moranensis (Veracruz)
2. Ehlersiae
3. El Mirador
4. Jaumavensis 'Cardonal'

I noticed that the pumice stone did in fact wick water a LOT better than the dragon stone. The water levels would disappear a LOT faster than the dragon stone.

Then one day, I noticed BLACK mold on the stone. I realized that the lack of air movement and sitting in a pool of distilled water all day was a great way to create a moldy environment.

The mold wasn't affecting the pings at all (for now) but I tried to clean up the mold with some alcohol swabs, drying out the stone, and letting it bathe in direct sunlight for a few days. I'm sure it had to do with bacteria from the live moss and location the pumice stone originally came from but I had no other ideas how to get rid of it without killing the pings as well.

It didn't work as fast or as well as I wanted and so I decided to use the second dragon stone I had.

The pings on the first dragon stone were doing well and I knew, based on experience, that mold wouldn't form in the same way.

So I switched over and the pings continued on without any issue.

Here is the progress photo on this one:


Part 3) The California Carnivores Rock Kit
I then ended up purchasing the rock kit from CaliforniaCarnivores.com, as I had purchased their beginner's pinguicula kit at first and I knew they had great pings and great soil and have overall been a really great vendor.

So I got the rock kit and the rock they provided (possibly black lava rock?) was very porous, exactly like the pumice stone.

I followed the rock garden video they had on Youtube and set up the environment mostly like theirs.

Since they gave two smaller rocks instead of one big one, I placed the two rocks against each other, stabilizing them with a handful of glass pebbles beneath them and placing the moss they provided in the crevice between them.


I added the provided soil mix all over various pockets in the rock and added the provided moss along the sides and in the crevices to help with water wicking.

The pings they provided to me this time were many clumps of tiny babies.

I tried my best to pry some of them apart and set them into the soil mix.

The list of pings on this rock garden:

1. Lilac Lollipop => eventually replaced by "El Mirador" pups
2. Esseriana
3. Ladyfingers
4. Agnata 'Red Leaf' x 'El Lobo'
5. Neon Raspberry
6. Piggyback

Unfortunately, the "Lilac Lollipop" pings I received didn't make it. I'm sad that I didn't pull any leaves before potting. I had honestly considered it (as it was one of the ones that looked a little rough after transport) but it just died a few days later. Instead, I replaced them with "El Mirador" leaf props I had that were ready for putting into soil.

All the other pings are doing fine overall.

Unfortunately, due to the porosity of the rock, it also has mold around it, but this time white mold. I'm managing it better with sunlight and dry out periods but I'll be keeping an eye out.

If the pings start to suffer for any reason, I have teacups ready for potting all these baby pings.

Here is the latest photo (no progress photo yet):


Final thoughts:
I do love rock gardens and I think I can definitely try different things moving forward.

I would love to eventually have a setup with rock and glass pebbles and sand in a type of zen garden style rock garden.

For now, it's enough to see the pings growing happily in their current home.

I'm still working on figuring out how to properly care/use the more porous rocks like pumice stone. Maybe when I have more duplicate pings LOL

I also feel like more delicate leaf pings (like the Moranensis Veracruz and the Lilac Lollipop) don't really like the rock garden as a medium. It just feels like they dont thrive as much as some of my other pings do. I may just move those back into pots if I still feel like they aren't progressing well.

Has anyone had that same experience? I would love to know!

 

[telkwasnowgirl]

I used 3 different pinguila leaf pullings. On the big rock is P. Johanna, (doing okay but I let the rock dry out too much one time, so I may have to add some more leaf pullings the next time I water), the small rock I put P. cyclosecta, (they are growing very slow and are very tiny - it looked like some salt wicked up with that rock, so just seeing what happens), and around the base I put P. jaumavensis, (which is doing very well).

 

[Joanie]

Apologies for not updating! Trump chaos has potential to impact our business negatively so it's a "all hands on deck" situation here.

Some photos of my ping rock and a few observations

When I transfered adult plants to the larger rock, and didn't take extra care to remove bits of dirt off the roots, initially the area around the plant was a bit "gooey" (I can't think how else to describe). But eventually the gooey stuff became lovely green moss. The other rock, I did take care when transfering the plants, and have since added little leaves to root. No moss yet.

And this is a little test - I positioned a ping on some existing moss. It rooted well and seems pretty happy hanging out with a phalaenopsis.

 

[WillyCKH]

The rock is getting mossy. I haven't planted any pings yet!

 

[Joanie]

The rock is getting mossy. I haven't planted any pings yet!
View attachment 33684

Very nice! What kind of pings are you going to move here?

 

[WillyCKH]

Very nice! What kind of pings are you going to move here?

Maybe something cute and small, like P. debbertiana?

 

[Joanie]

Maybe something cute and small, like P. debbertiana?
View attachment 33685

Very cute! If you have enough pullings, might be cool to plant many in a geometic pattern?

 

[Muckydoo]

It's a piece of cork bark, I then placed some bark chips on it , placed the bromeliad on that and then covered all that with a bunch of LFS.
Wrapped it with fishing line and then used a bit of stainless steel wire to make a loop on the back and then a 3M sticky hook for mounting it on my cupboard by the kitchen sink window.

The hardest part was waiting for the pings to root into the moss so that I could actually hang it without them falling off. Took about a month. The moss is tightly bound by the fishing line so it had a little bit of trouble digging into it to anchor but everybody seems good now.

I water it probably every 5 days. And anytime I'm doing something near the sink I will use a little squirt bottle that I have to fill the urn of the bromeliad.

I highly recommend these little squirt bottles I got off aliexpress. They come in a bunch of different sizes but the 500 ml is the one I like the best.

 

[Joanie]

It's a piece of cork bark, I then placed some bark chips on it , placed the bromeliad on that and then covered all that with a bunch of LFS.
Wrapped it with fishing line and then used a bit of stainless steel wire to make a loop on the back and then a 3M sticky hook for mounting it on my cupboard by the kitchen sink window.

The hardest part was waiting for the pings to root into the moss so that I could actually hang it without them falling off. Took about a month. The moss is tightly bound by the fishing line so it had a little bit of trouble digging into it to anchor but everybody seems good now.

I water it probably every 5 days. And anytime I'm doing something near the sink I will use a little squirt bottle that I have to fill the urn of the bromeliad.

View attachment 33752


I highly recommend these little squirt bottles I got off aliexpress. They come in a bunch of different sizes but the 500 ml is the one I like the best.

View attachment 33753

Very nice!!

 

[pingsalot]

Hi Everyone – Let’s Give This a Try!

I’m a quilter, and a popular activity among quilters who can’t meet in person is a virtual "Quilt-A-Long." Participants purchase a kit with most of the materials needed for a specific quilt pattern. Then, over time (usually weekly or monthly), a specific part of the quilt is completed. Along the way, participants share questions, photos, and advice.

We’re going to try the same idea — but instead of making a quilt, we’ll be planting pings!

The first Grow-A-Long will be a Ping-A-Ling — thanks to @DaniL and @Lloyd Gordon for the catchy name!

General Outline:​

1. Research: Start by learning about pings and deciding which type you’d like to grow.
2. Find a Container: Pick an appropriate container for your ping and share a photo of it.
3. Gather Fun Add-Ons: Collect tiny decorative items to personalize your ping setup. Check out my post titled "The Playmobil Project" for inspiration.
4. Source Media: 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.
5. Prepare Your Media: Follow instructions for cleaning and preparing the media.
6. Spring Shipping: Once your pings arrive (or if you already have pings), we’ll assemble them together.
7. Group Assembly: We could host a Zoom session for everyone to build their setups together. Maybe we can even invite a Ping Celebrity to join us — hint hint nudge nudge @Muckydoo, @WillyCKH, @jeff, @Smilodonichthys, @stevebradford ... who am I missing?
8. Photo Updates: Share progress photos over the following months.

I’ll post a detailed outline with a suggested timeline in a few days.
If you’re interested in participating, comment below!

 

[pingsalot]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and saw your ping rock projects, and I wanted to share. I've become quite obsessed by these adorable little plants. They have the cutest little flowers and catch bugs, what more can you asked for. Low maintenance too. I've been into pings for a little over a year and started growing them on pumice because they seem to thrive on pumice more than pots or lava for me. I have them in acrylic trays and fill them with water about once a week. I feed them crushed freeze-dried bloodworms if they are not catching enough gnats. I bought a "mystery rock" kit from California Carnivores and they are doing well too. Their rock is very porous, looks like black lava. Here are some of my ping rocks. The first one is the CC rock kit I started a year ago. I bought the large pumice rocks from Ebay. Except for the CC kit, there is no soil or spagnum moss on these rocks. They just attach themselves by the roots after awhile. They are all growing under lights. I'm going to try dragonstone next because it looks cool with all the nooks and crannies.

 

[Lloyd Gordon]

You're a serious competitor for the ping-a-ling.

 

[DevonNS]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and saw your ping rock projects, and I wanted to share. I've become quite obsessed by these adorable little plants. They have the cutest little flowers and catch bugs, what more can you asked for. Low maintenance too. I've been into pings for a little over a year and started growing them on pumice because they seem to thrive on pumice more than pots or lava for me. I have them in acrylic trays and fill them with water about once a week. I feed them crushed freeze-dried bloodworms if they are not catching enough gnats. I bought a "mystery rock" kit from California Carnivores and they are doing well too. Their rock is very porous, looks like black lava. Here are some of my ping rocks. The first one is the CC rock kit I started a year ago. I bought the large pumice rocks from Ebay. Except for the CC kit, there is no soil or spagnum moss on these rocks. They just attach themselves by the roots after awhile. They are all growing under lights. I'm going to try dragonstone next because it looks cool with all the nooks and crannies.

Those are amazing! What is the purple ping in the third photo? I NEED one lol.

 

[pingsalot]

You're a serious competitor for the ping-a-ling.

Thanks, I wasn't aimiing for any title though. Just sharing my experience so others can learn. That's basically how I got into ping rocks, saw pictures of other people's projects. What a wonderful group of CP lovers this is. My famiy and friends don't feel the same love for them. I've been into CP since I was a kid, fascinated by VFT and pitchers, droseras. But my fav of all time are Mexican pings. I never even knew of their existence until a year ago when I was trying to find a solution to our fruit fly problem in the kitchen. No more fruit flies and I found a wonderful hobby in the process. Thanks everyone for your warm welcome.

 

[pingsalot]

Those are amazing! What is the purple ping in the third photo? I NEED one lol.

Hi Devon! If you're talking about the one on the bottom right, your guess is as good (or better) than mine. It may be a cross between cyclosecta and something else. I've bought so many different pings from different vendors in the last year. I'm just a casual hobbyist. Too lazy to label everything. I do leaf pullings in the early spring. I could try to propagate that one and send it to you if it makes it. Or maybe someone can ID that one for you.