P. gypsicola x hemiepiphytica

[gj]

As I was watching my first pings, the P. gypsicola x hemiepiphytica I received from Bonfield in his Halloween giveaway, start to form their winter rosettes, I was a little worried about whether my inexperience might result in losing them over the winter. I gradually cut back on the watering to the point that they stay pretty much dry, though I'll give the media just a quick, gentle mist now and then.

This is how the little pings are looking today:



In my concern I was doing a lot of online reading. One of the most common sentiments was a pessimism about the plants surviving their winter stage, and as a consequence, recommendations that one pull leaves for back ups. I thought perhaps my little ones were too small to do leaf pullings, but knowing the carnivorous leaves were just going to be shed, I gave it a shot. I did four pullings about a month ago (Jan. 2nd, 2020), and looked up the simplest propagation technique I could find. I came across this ICPS page on ping propagation, and decided to give the ziploc bag approach a try. I think I damaged two of the four tiny leaves a little too much to give them a chance, but despite my low expectations, two look like they are cooperating with some new growth!

Here's one of them:




Since there are roots starting, I figured I could probably move them over to my ping media soon. Any recommendations/tips for giving them the best chance of surviving when I do so?

Thanks for putting up with another addition to my bumbling series of propagation attempts haha.

[dvg]

Hi GJ, congrats on the ping strikes there.

The plantlets will grow quickly for you if you can keep them moist and well fed.

You can try feeding them powdered freeze-dried bloodworms, live springtails, or a light misting of diluted orchid fertilizer, applied once every week or fortnight.

Check with Cole Bonfield, and ask him what he uses for his orchid fertilizer, if you haven't already done so.

Oh, and congrats to you on your fiftieth post.










dvg

[bonfield]

They're looking good so far Gary! Once they're in their dormant state, they're about as easy to care for as the average cactus, minus the fertilizing. Just keep the lower substrate watered and give them the occasional misting, and wait it out until they're ready for conditions that will initiate their active growing season. Like Doug said, keep the pullings on sufficiently hydrated medium, feed them, and slowly transition them to more open environments. The fertilizer I've used for many years is Schultz Orchid 19-31-17, but you can use a wide range of orchid/cactus fertilizers if they're diluted enough first.

[gj]

Jan 29, 2020 11:32:40 GMT -5 dvg said:

Oh, and congrats to you on your fiftieth post.

Thanks DVG!

I really appreciate the opportunity provided to me by this forum to participate in this enthusiastic, helpful, and patient little corner of the CP community.

Thank you Cole as well, for jumping in on this!

[bonfield]

Don't mean to piggyback on your thread Gary, I just thought that this would be a good place to post for this variety in general. One of mine has finally flowered!

[gj]

Haha makes more sense to me to see it here than to start another thread. This way it's much easier for me to find your picture and hold it up to my little pings to inspire them. Everybody needs a good role model.

[dvg]

That's a beautiful bloom there Cole.

There aren't a lot of photos of this hybrid available online, if you're looking for one.

Thanks for sharing!








dvg

[gj]

Hope I'm correct in saying that it looks like somebody is breaking its winter phase, and is about to turn into a bug eater again.




I noticed the tightly bound leaves had started to separate, like as if the plant was inflating, and the new growth from the top seems to be moving pretty rapidly, so I've started to up the moisture by the one that's growing, without letting too much moisture travel over to the other two that look like they're not quite as keen to get going yet.

[dvg]

Those all look like they're ready to grow GJ.

I wouldn't spare the water with them now, as making more available to them will stimulate them to get on with it sooner.

I would suggest that you clean up all of the dead leftover debris from last season's growth.

You can pick them up and carefully remove all dead leaves and roots from their rosettes, with a pair of forceps or tweezers.

Then let them dry for about 30 minutes, before placing them back in their pot again.

You can resume watering them again in a couple days, just to be safe.






dvg

[gj]

Great to know! I realised after I looked back at how they looked when entering their winter phase that maybe they were further along than I initially thought, so it's good to have that confirmed. I'll give them a clean up tonight. I think these mexi-pings, and their different phases make me second guess myself more than any other plant I have haha.

[dvg]

He he, yeah it's a bit of a learning curve, and you gain that from experience, but i can tell from reading your posts, that you're a very good learner. 













dvg

[gj]

There's something to be said about having some elbow room. The three hermanos were starting to crowd each other a little in the pot they were in, so I separated them out, and they seemed to just explode, and started showing some colour. Hopefully all signs that they are happy with their new living arrangements.

[gj]

A month later and looks like this one is ready for its rest.

[dvg]

Looking good there gj, and your Ceph is looking great in its cameo appearance too!











dvg

[koifish]

gj I agree with dvg your cephalotus looks awesome!