(no subject)

Robert Allen (Robert.Allen@Eng.Sun.COM)
Wed, 22 Dec 1993 10:22:23 +0800

>>Lately I've been enjoying my Mexican _Pings_ more than ever before, mostly
>>because I've discovered how much happier they are if you don't have their
>>pots sitting in water. They like much drier soil than I expected. Anyway,

I now grow mine exclusively in fine vermiculite and perlite. The
perlite probably isn't necessary. These plants pull themselves up
out of the media eventually anyhow. When grown in these media
you have to fertilize, at least during the growing season. I'm
not sure how much of a semi-dormancy these plants require, but they
don't seem to require much, although they will change their growth
habits if it gets cold enough.

I use a miracid spritz on the leaves once a week during the growing
season.

>>I've been taking lots of leaf cuttings and have been nearly 100% successful.
>>Now I see my _P.agnata_ is going to flower. I was looking at this plant
>>and noticed something interesting. There are glandular hairs not only on
>>the adaxial (top) surface of the leaves, but also on the abaxial (bottom)
>>surfaces. Not just hairs, but *glandular* hairs---I touched them and saw
>>little strands of goo as I pulled my finger away. In the September CPN
>>(not the newest one that I haven't gotten yet) some blokes make a big stink
>>about some Mexican _Ping_ they discovered that has abaxial glands.

I have one small plant of P. "sp. Ayautla" which is supposed to be
glandular on the bottom of the leaves. So far I don't see any.
I'll have to look at the bottom of my P. agnata, which lives outside
where it's too cold for me to want to spend much time :-).

R.