I have been on planning on changing my mexican Pinguicula soil to a pure mineral base. I am currently using the sarracenia northwest mix which contains sand, peat and perlite. It just seems a little too wet. After reading as many posts I can on this forum on pure mineral mixes I am still confused which one to go with. I am growing my pings under 7 4 ft sunblaster t5's hight output. I have read that the addition of dolomite and iron oxide is a great benefit. Can some of you folks share your pure mineral soil recipes? Thanks!
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Advice on mineral soils
- Thread starter Darkshroud
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- perlite pings pinguicula sarracenia soil t5s
I use pure Turface "Infield Conditioner" ( http://www.turface.com/turface-products/infield-conditioners ) for all my Mexican Pinguicula. I have not had a single issue with these plants since switching to this media and there was a noticeable difference in the overall health and condition of the plants within one season after switching to it. I've experimented with other mixes both with and without Turface as an ingredient and the plants are far happier just using it by itself without any other amendments. I've found that mixes containing peat or lfs stay far too wet for most of them during the growing season, exceptions to this are plants in the P.moranensis complex and P.moctezumae (these plants also do not seem to need an obligatory dormancy), which seem to want slightly wetter conditions for active growth as well as their dormancy period. I've since started keeping these particular plants in a separate tray from the rest and periodically watering them during the winter while none of the others are given water for 2 to 3 months. I've found Turface to be ideal for all species as long as the individual species seasonal moisture requirements are taken into consideration.
I've used many different all-mineral substrates to grow Mexican Pinguicula: Aragonite, coral sand, gypsum, washed silica sand (various grit sizes), charcoal, perlite, pumice, vermiculite, Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil (APS), sintered clay pellets, and plain kitty litter. All of these substrates, and others, including various combinations/mixtures of all of these, have all been suitable to cultivate Mexican Pinguicula plants, including just putting them into transparent plastic 'rocks' glasses, without any media at all.
Some species/hybrids appear to benefit from media with calcium in them, including crushed eggshells or oyster shells - others, not so much. I particularly like adding some iron oxide powder (like that used for ceramic glazes), to all media. Also, I generally add dried, ground, insect powder to the media surface, when potting plants, and periodically to the leaves, thereafter. Including some RootShield® (Trichoderma harzianum), dusted on the media surface or mixed into the powdered insect feed.
One thing my cultivation method prefers, which is contrary to many other growers. I like to use strong fluorescent lighting, with lights on for 24/7/365 and a strong attempt to maintain the water levels in plastic trays, near the surface of the media, year-'round.
A common misconception, reinforced by several popular books about CP, is that Mexican Pinguicula are dormant in the winter. They are never, truly "dormant". Some are heterophyllous, and some are homophyllous. Heterophyllous plants produce two different leaf forms, depending on the season/environmental clues, though none ever stop growing, with many of these heterophyllous plants blooming from both summer and winter growth phases, while others regularly blooming from either their summer or winter growth phases. There are a few possible exceptions - perhaps Pinguicula medusina is one; though I suspect even they're still growing, even when they look like little dead balls/bulbs.
Some species/hybrids appear to benefit from media with calcium in them, including crushed eggshells or oyster shells - others, not so much. I particularly like adding some iron oxide powder (like that used for ceramic glazes), to all media. Also, I generally add dried, ground, insect powder to the media surface, when potting plants, and periodically to the leaves, thereafter. Including some RootShield® (Trichoderma harzianum), dusted on the media surface or mixed into the powdered insect feed.
One thing my cultivation method prefers, which is contrary to many other growers. I like to use strong fluorescent lighting, with lights on for 24/7/365 and a strong attempt to maintain the water levels in plastic trays, near the surface of the media, year-'round.
A common misconception, reinforced by several popular books about CP, is that Mexican Pinguicula are dormant in the winter. They are never, truly "dormant". Some are heterophyllous, and some are homophyllous. Heterophyllous plants produce two different leaf forms, depending on the season/environmental clues, though none ever stop growing, with many of these heterophyllous plants blooming from both summer and winter growth phases, while others regularly blooming from either their summer or winter growth phases. There are a few possible exceptions - perhaps Pinguicula medusina is one; though I suspect even they're still growing, even when they look like little dead balls/bulbs.
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Yes, I have had excellent success growing both P. hemiepiphytica and P. emarginata in all-mineral media. Using the same methods I use for most of the Mexican Pinguicula.
BTW, turface and Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil are exactly the same thing. Schultz also sells the same product under the name "Multi-Purpose Soil Conditioner".
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It really doesn't matter what media (in this case half silica sand and half coral sand) I use, it is always wet. That's because I keep my potted Mexican/equitorial Pinguicula in plastic trays, and I keep the water levels in the trays, near the top of the media levels in the pots. I do this year-'round, and also keep the lights on 24/7/365.
Here is a photo of Pinguicula gypsicola, which is in its own rocks glass. The media in the pot is just below the top of the rocks glass. I refresh the water in the glass, daily, to maintain the level just below the media surface.
Here is a photo of Pinguicula gypsicola, which is in its own rocks glass. The media in the pot is just below the top of the rocks glass. I refresh the water in the glass, daily, to maintain the level just below the media surface.
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Thanks for the responses! Is it better to overhead water or tray water with full mineral mixes? With my 7 4ft sunblaster T5's High output the water evaporation will be a little higher. If I decide to do with 100% aquatic plant soil (APS) I was reading that an inch layer of LFS on the bottom is a good thing to help with moisture. Out of the other mineral mixes, can someone give me what ratio they used on some of the full mineral mixes out there? I am just trying to get it right the first time. There is a certain website that is selling a quart of full mineral soil for mexican butterworts (APS, Sand, iron oxide, orchid fertilizer). Its the same as Joseph is using right down to the fertilizer. Its not the $6.00 charge, its the $21.00 shipping for the 1 quart that won't make sense since I have to report a ton of them.
Tks Joseph.
Darkshroud :
I'm using 1/3 APS, 1/3 perlite, 1/3 vermiculite + 1 spoon of worm casting / pot.
4 inches plastic pots.
Even with no LFS on the bottom of the pot, the core of the media always remain wet.
Water tray method, 1 cm of water. I'm thinking of raising the water level and following Joseph comment.
In winter, RH drop below 30% here so I put a plastic dome over the tray.
Darkshroud :
I'm using 1/3 APS, 1/3 perlite, 1/3 vermiculite + 1 spoon of worm casting / pot.
4 inches plastic pots.
Even with no LFS on the bottom of the pot, the core of the media always remain wet.
Water tray method, 1 cm of water. I'm thinking of raising the water level and following Joseph comment.
In winter, RH drop below 30% here so I put a plastic dome over the tray.
