Shrinking crown

[Firemousey]

Hey guys, what does it mean when a Ping's crown is shrinking? Is it unhappy?

It's been slowly shrinking even though I feed it one a week and it just gave me a flower, there's a second one on its way. The leaves have lots of mucilage and are carnivorous. They also have a pretty pink tint along the edges but are still a night light lime green.

Portland is awfully muggy so I don't think humidity is a problem but there is a little algae in the media.

It went from a crown that was almost 3/4ths of my pointer finger to the size of a nickel. =(

Is it too much heat/light? Humidity? Is it the agae? Is it supposed to happen since it gave me flowers?

How do I make it big again?

 

[Salgadoxx8]

what kind of ping is it? if its a mexican species they tend to "compact" during certain times of the year depending on light and weather conditions usually in colder or drier weather they form tight compact leaves around the crown this can also be affected by shorter light periods and i have seen that during flowering their leaves become smaller

 

[Firemousey]

It's a P. 'Pirouette' and the other is a P. laueana, both of which are Mexican Pings. The P. 'Pirouette' is the one I was confused about because it's been shrinking ever since I got it. Portland is pretty humid and fairly warm right now - I'd say in the 80's-90's right now. I really hope it's because it's flowering and that it'll get bigger later! =x

 

[31drew31]

Hard to say whats going on from a description. If you can post a photo you will probably get more responses (and more accurate advice). Normally flowering itself wont change the size of the leaves.

 

[JMN16150]

Have you been feeding them?

 

[Firemousey]

Hard to say whats going on from a description. If you can post a photo you will probably get more responses (and more accurate advice). Normally flowering itself wont change the size of the leaves.

This is it at the beginning of the month when it flowered:

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?134900-Is-this-what-I-think-it-is-!

I got a little over zealous when taking pics because it'd been the first time I'd ever gotten anything to flower ever! Hehe!

This was it when I first got it:

It was bigger than my palm and the crown was almost the size of my pinky. @____@

This is it just now:

It's a little smaller than my palm and the crown is about the size of the end of my thumb.

I cut the flower and stem off because it was wilting (that and I wanted to press it since it was the first flower I ever got to bloom). There's a second flower coming up but it's sandwiched between two leaves, only one of which you can see to the left of the cut off stem.

The crown is to the right of the cut off stem.

Have you been feeding them?

I feed both pings bloodworms once every week and the big one, the one I'm curious about, catches an average of 2 bugs a week on top of that.

 

[Maiden]

Maybe im wrong, i speak from my personnal experience, but try growing this ping in dryer conditions. On your picture, your ping look like mines when i overwater them. All the bottom leaves turn yellow/brown like yours.
I almost lost a p.rectifolia last month because of this. The plant is recovering well, im lucky.

 

[Maiden]

This is it at the beginning of the month when it flowered:

http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?134900-Is-this-what-I-think-it-is-!

I got a little over zealous when taking pics because it'd been the first time I'd ever gotten anything to flower ever! Hehe!

This was it when I first got it:

It was bigger than my palm and the crown was almost the size of my pinky. @____@

This is it just now:

It's a little smaller than my palm and the crown is about the size of the end of my thumb.

I cut the flower and stem off because it was wilting (that and I wanted to press it since it was the first flower I ever got to bloom). There's a second flower coming up but it's sandwiched between two leaves, only one of which you can see to the left of the cut off stem.

The crown is to the right of the cut off stem.



I feed both pings bloodworms once every week and the big one, the one I'm curious about, catches an average of 2 bugs a week on top of that.

How do you feed them, do you dust some powder over the leaves?

 

[Firemousey]

Maybe im wrong, i speak from my personnal experience, but try growing this ping in dryer conditions. On your picture, your ping look like mines when i overwater them. All the bottom leaves turn yellow/brown like yours.
I almost lost a p.rectifolia last month because of this. The plant is recovering well, im lucky.

I'll try that! I do think that my Piro is getting too much water.

I ground all my bloodworms and keep them in a ziploc. When I feed them I just sprinkle the dust over the leaves. You can see the bigger bloodworm bits in some of the pics.

Also my phone camera is crummy + the light from my sun lamp is really bright. The bottom leaves are lime green with pink tips. The pink looks brown in the pics. =x

 

[Joseph Clemens]

To me, it simply appears that both plants may be getting better conditions with you than they had previously. Etiolated foliage, though it may be larger, does not necessarily indicate a healthier plant. Well-formed compact foliage, can be a better indicator and representation of the particular plant in question. When the genetics of the plant interact in an optimal environment the unique genetic characteristics of the plant are demonstrated more optimally.

Called phenotype, it is the characteristics of an organism, where its genetics is influenced by its environment, to modify the appearance and other traits of the organism. So, for me, the more favorable the environment, the more clearly the plant (Pinguicula) will exhibit the expected character of its genetics/type. Many Mexican Pinguicula, when grown in marginally suitable conditions, though they keep growing and even blooming, may develop ill-defined characteristics, so that they are hardly distinguishable, one from another. Though, if their environment is improved, their appearance will quickly or gradually develop their more distinct and well-defined characteristics.

For example, if I were involved in athletics, as I once was vs being a couch-potato, as I am now, I would have more of the appearance of optimal physical health (more like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger) vs being an aging and odd-shaped lump of flesh.

Many times artificial culture, if carefully adjusted, can provide a more optimal environment than even a plants natural environment. Especially since natural environments often expose plants to stresses that can limit their development. This can also happen in artificial culture, so when we attempt to imitate a plants natural environment, it helps if we carefully consider what naturally occurring events are stressors, that plants can tolerate vs events that overcome limiting factors of plant growth and health. Some naturally occurring environmental factors will limit a plants optimal growth, while others will be essential to that growth, though "common-sense" may make it seem as if they would be stressors, too. For instance, removing natural stressors (limiting factors) is the usual reason that invasive species are invasive.

 

[theplantman]

Plant is going dormant. Both look very good and much healthier than your original photos. My opinion is also that you're taking good care of 'em. Blooming is a sign you are feeding appropriately and have good light levels.