Spare Collomia and Pinguicula plants

[WimB]

Hello,

I have 1 Collomia debilis var. larsenii to give away. Only one, so the first person to ask gets the plant.

Also, I have some hibernacula from Pinguicula grandiflora to give away. Maybe this is the wrong forum for this plant but whoever wants one, let me know.

Wim Boens

[Lesley Cox]

Not asking for plants here Wim, but about hibernacula. Are they the little loose things that sit in the sphagnum moss when the plant has dies down for winter? I guess they expand into little leafy plants in the spring?

[WimB]

Hello Lesley,

That's exactly what hibernacula are. They are resting buds for winter and look like a small packet of leaves. (see picture) Almost all temperate Pinguicula and Drosera have them.

[WimB]

The Collomia is gone.
So now I just have some Pinguicula hibernacula left.

[Cephalotus]

Oh my... Wim, you grow PINGUICULA?! I am very, very impressed. Don't tell me that you are the CP grower? I also grow Pinguicula. I have P. vulgaris, P. v. ssp. bicolors and P. alpina. But unfortunately, I don't have much of them and probably next year I will be able to share these species with you. I just started to collect temperate Pinguicula. They seem to be much better than Mexican ones. I can simply grow them outside in half shade. They grow just great. And when I realized, that they need to have lime in the soil, thet started to grow even better.

Have I made it for This pinguicula gradiflora hibernacula? Maybe you want some Drosera intermedia? Or D. rotundifolia, intermedia x filiformis, D. filiformis? All of them are temperate. I also can have loads of D. anglica seeds, but I have very little plants.

[Maggi Young]

We used to have lots of pinguicula, esp. P. grandiflora but, I am ashamed to say, we became too used to having so many and began to neglect them and soon, there were none   
A great shame because these are very interesting little plants, not to mention good for catching any sciarid flies around. Their overwintering buds... I confess I did not know these were called hibernacula, though it is an obvious name, I suppose...  were quite fascinating as they came into growth.

[David Pilling]

A great shame because these are very interesting little plants, not to mention good for catching any sciarid flies around.

How do you keep control of sciarid flies now?

I've lost a few small bulbs to them this year.

[Maggi Young]

Touch wood, David, not so much a problem at the minute. I mostly had the pinguics in the house, where there was more of a s.fly problem..... it may be that that wasn't a great idea long term for the pinguics, tho' i tried to let them have spells "off duty" as it were. 

[johnw]

A great shame because these are very interesting little plants, not to mention good for catching any sciarid flies around.

How do you keep control of sciarid flies now?

I've lost a few small bulbs to them this year.

Do the larvae attack bulbs? I thought they mostly lived near the surface but read on the internet they can attack the base of cuttings as well.

We are plagued with them and they come with all bagged soiless medium. They decimate young rhododendron seedlings. You would think they would dissapate when the flat is moved outdoors in wind but the flies stick by the flat.

I just tried beneficial nematodes - Steinernema feltiae  - and they worked a treat. In less than week the adults and larvae were gone except in one rhodo seedling flat. Now that I have bare-rooted and repotted bulbs I will have to do a repeat application and everytime a new potted plant arrives. Populations peter out when the pest is gone.

None of the insecticides seem to have an effect on them - the gnats and weevils are our worst pests.  There's a relatively new nematode for weevil that will winter outdoors.

johnw

[SueG]

We used to have lots of pinguicula, esp. P. grandiflora but, I am ashamed to say, we became too used to having so many and began to neglect them and soon, there were none  
A great shame because these are very interesting little plants, not to mention good for catching any sciarid flies around. Their overwintering buds... I confess I did not know these were called hibernacula, though it is an obvious name, I suppose...  were quite fascinating as they came into growth.

Oh dear - I bought one at Harrogate in the spring simply because it had a superb little rosette of leaves like a semp in pale apple green, it has now produced two bright red flowers and you tell me it may die! I think it is P lauana (it's at home and I'm writing this at work so I can't check) what should I do with it to keep it alive, any help much appreciated? It lives on my north east facing windowsill where it doesn't get much sun at all in a suacer which I keep with very shallow water in. How will I know when it wants to hibernate for the winter?

Thanks

Sue

[Maggi Young]

Sue, yours should do much better in your house .... most of ours were not the tender type... P. laueana is from Mexico and would not like life outside with you or me!

[Maggi Young]

By the way, this page leads to many pinguic delights!!
http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Pinguicula.html

[SueG]

Thanks for this - lots to read and take in
S

[Cephalotus]

Sue: http://www.pinguicula.org/pages/plantes/pinguicula_laueana.htm

Here you can find information how to grow P. laueana. I know that Mexican Pinguicula have dry rest time. They produce than much more compact rosette. And after some time, about 3-4 weeks you can water it more and it should start growing again. They aren’t very hard to grow. Still When I kept mine in Terrarium it didn't flower. It is much better to grow them in full sun, but outdoor they didn't do well. The best is to have a low humidity green house and keep them there.

Maggie, how did you grow your P. grandiflora? Could you describe me the soil?

[Lesley Cox]

My P. grandiflora also died due to neglect and because it got too dry during its growing season. There may be a tiny something left after the winter but nothing visible as yet.

I had/have it in a plastic pot, (about 30 rosettes at its height, and many flowers). It was just my regular humusy, gritty potting mix but I have a layer of living spaghnum moss on top and I don't think the roots ever went deeper than this. Ideally it should be very cool and maybe in a shallow pan of water during summer and while in active growth. Never dry anyway. It flowered best in spring, following an autumn feed of the tiny insects that infest field mushrooms, these just shaken off, onto the pinguiculas.