Other plants and aquarium

[Dorchid]

Originally Posted by wisdomseeker

No problem, you caught me at a good time (my afternoon off so I was able to snap a few photos).

I have several pings scattered about. I did have one dedicated ping terrarium. Over the weekend I made several ping divisions, gave away several plants, and broke this terrarium down over the weekend (to make room for several new orchid divisions, also made over the weekend). My camera is not not very good with full shots of my large terrariums (crappy clarity) but does a fair job with the smaller setups. I have a small cubby hole under one of my terrariums that allows me to maintain a small tray of some of the divisions I kept. The small exo (8x8x12") and one of my acrylic set-ups came out okay with the camera pictures. Kind of gives you an idea of the spaces. Other pictures are pings in different orchid set-ups. Photos below.

Awesome, love it; Thanks for sharing! Do you feed the pings? Mine seemed to really slow down after not eating for a couple weeks.

[wisdomseeker]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

forgive my ignorance but how do you divide a ping?

Nothing to forgive, and you sure the heck are not ignorant! Years ago I had to testify in court, along with another very talented specialist (supposedly as expert witnesses) regarding a major water pollution violation.

As I was questioned, I responded truthfully and did not go beyond the facts. The defense lawyer ripped me a new one per se (really putting me on the defense) until I asked a question, and stated: "the reason I asked my question is because I did not know and would like to know/learn. He dismissed me and called the other expert witness to the stand.

The defense lawyer introduced the other witness as an "expert witness". This particular witness stopped the lawyer "dead" in his tracks by saying: "There is no such thing as an expert. An expert knows how to perform sex a hundred different ways, but guess what? He has no one to perform it with! I am not an expert, I am a specialist. An expert realizes there is something new to learn everyday about their specialty. And again, guess what? I definitely have someone to perform with."

Bottom line: the lesson I learned ~ only the smart ones ask questions. It also provides answers to people like me that don't often ask questions, or are afraid to ask questions.

I usually let mine clump togeter until they really start hanging over the pot (overcrowded). At this point I will gently use a teaspoon under the roots of the clump to pull the cluster free. Then I *gently* twist and pull the offsets from the clump. I will usually lose a few leaves in the process, but it's no biggie. Also some of the removed offsets might (or might not) have roots. Again, no biggie, roots and leaves will grow in short time. After being removed, I repot the individual plants. A couple of weeks and they have a good toe-hold and are strong. Photo below shows a cluster with 4 new offsets attached to the mother. Did not divide this one until leaves were hanging off about 1.5" of the pot diameter.

Originally Posted by Dorchid

Do you feed the pings?

Occasionally with a *weak* orchid or tillandsia fertilizer, outside of the stray fungus gnats they capture on their own.

[DirtyCoconuts]

I love that story and I thank you greatly for the knowledge

:

[estación seca]

Do you try to root the torn leaves? I've read this is supposed to be fairly easy with the Mexican Pings.

[Dorchid]

I’m trying this now but only have one leaf to spare at the moment so odds may not be in my favor. I do have a few sundew leaf cuttings in water that are starting to generate plantlets...pretty cool.

[WaterWitchin]

Love the story, wisdomseeker.

[wisdomseeker]

Originally Posted by DonaldWilliams

Very beautiful!

Thanks for the compliment - much appreciated!

Originally Posted by estación seca

Do you try to root the torn leaves? I've read this is supposed to be fairly easy with the Mexican Pings.

Glad you brought this up. Leaf propagation is another way to get a ping population going. Slow, but it definitely works. Personally, I toss my torn leaves... have been down sizing my plant populations and trying to keep maintenance tasks bearable... a ping farm would become overwhelming for me at this point of time.

Originally Posted by Dorchid

I’m trying this now but only have one leaf to spare at the moment so odds may not be in my favor. I do have a few sundew leaf cuttings in water that are starting to generate plantlets...pretty cool.

Definitely let us know how things work out. Sundews are a lot of fun, and they are amazing plants.

[Dorchid]

Will do! They’re just budding atm but I’ll post up some pics as soon as they get rolling. And I’ll always take any pings you need to rehome!

[WaterWitchin]

So my daughter wants a carnivorous plant now. She always gets problems with fruit flies, and I told her she needed some carnivores. Of course she tasked me with finding her the perfect match.

She leads a pretty hectic life between work, two small kids, restoring an old house, etc, etc. Her husband does most of the plant watering inside. I've never been successful with carnivorous, but as I've read a bit (instead of just grabbing a venus flytrap and going for it) I realize some of my errors.

Also, I realize there quite a few variances in their cultural requirements... who knew ya couldn't just treat them like a common philodendron or hoya? Anyway, something that eats fruit flies, doesn't go dormant, preferably sits in a saucer of water, north facing window (their phals grow well there) and easy grower?

I figure the sitting in water part would go with their lifestyle, which is water plants once a week. Recommendations please?

[DirtyCoconuts]

i have a second small bog i started in the n yard and i took a few of the leaves off the bottom of a couple pings to try that....i am quite nervous about splitting the big one though lol