Re: P. agnata

Robert Allen (Robert.Allen@Eng.Sun.COM)
Mon, 21 Jun 93 08:57:36 PDT

>>I've had a small Ping. agnata (about 3" rosette) for about a year now. It
>>bloomed all winter indoors in a sunny window. I've moved it outside now
>>that it's hot, and over the last month it's really doing poorly. The
>>outer edges of the leaves have turned brown in a kind of scalloped shape,
>>yet there's new growth in the center of the rosette. I checked the roots
>>for worms, and found none. It's in full sun for most of the day, but
>>shadowed at noon. I've been watering from the top daily. It's in a
>>6" plastic pot, in the original vermiculite/soil mix from the grower
>>I bought it from. Any hints? More/less sun?
>> Perhaps less water, since it's Mexican?

I grow my P. agnata outdoors all year, except for a couple of
months in winter. It gets a couple of hours of mostly direct
sunlight each day. Perhaps yours is getting too much sun, or
too little humidity. It could also be that your not getting
enough water, or maybe too much. In my case the problem is too
little water due to the warm summer temps. I think it's true
that vermiculite wicks up less water than straight peat, so you
may have to keep a higher water level. The plants roots only go
down about 1" at most.

Robert