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Gypsum for Mexican Pings?

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
I was in a local nursery and they had 5lb bags of gypsum for $4. Does anybody use gypsum for their pings, other than P. gypsicola? What exactly does it do for them?
 
Gypsum makes most soil mixes more alkaline. Good for alkaline loving plants like P. gypsicola, and maybe P. medusina. Lot of gypsum in Mexico, I guess its possible it could benefit many types of mexi pings.
 
I'm considering using it as a media. It isn't expensive.
 
Some will probably love it, but I would check the habitat data for any plants I was going to try this with before I did anything.... hasty.
 
I hear ya. So far as I know, it should be great for P. gypsicola... hence the name. According to one book I have, several Mexican pings would do well in a relatively alkaline media, but that doesn't mean that gypsum is the way to go for them. I do have cuttings of most of my plants; that is, extras to experiment with.
 
You should also try some crushed coral. My plants seem to like it a lot. Even my N. campanulata and other LL neps.
 
They are currently in a mix of crushed coral. perlite, and sand.
 
Do you guys just get crushed coral at an aquarium store and leach it like crazy, or is there a horticultural product that I don't know about?

Experiment!
 
I use it for P. immaculata, P. gypsicola, P. colimensis among others but not pure. I mix it with sand 2-3 mm (20%) to prevent the soil to be too compact as wit water it become like concrete...

No problem for the plants. Keep in mind that it is heavy if you get a full batch, the load on your structure must not be forgotten
 
  • #10
Do you guys just get crushed coral at an aquarium store and leach it like crazy, or is there a horticultural product that I don't know about?

If there is a horticultural coral product, it would definitely be overpriced.

Go to an aquarium store. Back when I was in Oregon, I'd just soak a bucket of it in tap water for a couple of days. You would probably have to use DI/RO/distilled water. Make sure to stir it every few hours, and maybe even give it a second soak.
 
  • #11
Thanks, Eric. I decided to return the bag. It didn't seem necessary. The plants do pretty well for me for the mix that I have been using. How about Iron-Oxide powder? do you use it? Is there a recipe I can follow?

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  • #12
I am not using it.

I would say that if you are happy with the growth of your plants, don't change. If you are not, experiment...???

When I tried for the first time to use calcareous cat litter to grow my Pinguicula, a lot of people thought I was crazy :-)) . Now, it is "normal" to use calcareous in Pinguicula media.
 
  • #13
Eric, do you have a recipe for Iron Oxide? I tried a little in water and just a little bit looked like a tray of blood.
 
  • #14
I know some people that are mixing some old rusted nails in the media of Brocchinia. Each time they are watering the media, some iron may be adsorbed by the roots.

You can try this and also as foliar spray once a month maybe
 
  • #15
But is there like a grams of rust to mLs of water recipe?
 
  • #16
No idea, shearch in internet the amount of iron in tropical laterite maybe or experiment on few plants of same species to compare various amount of iron.

As I wrote, experiment may be the only way to succeed or take ride of this idea
 
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