Sorry for this late reply but I'll still bother otherwise I feel
somehat all parasitic on this conference!
>When propagating Mexican Pings, do you Ping-experts use the small,
>succulentleaves of the resting plant, or the larger leaves when the
plant is >actively growing?
You can use either. If the large leaves, you'll get messy (yeuch) but
they sdtill work. Advantage is that they can be cut into chunks so you
get more damaged edge so you get more plantlets. Disadvantage is that
they need higher temperature and humidity to stimulate the plantlet generation.
Small leaves("winter") are easier, there are more of them but they
generally produce fewer plantlets each, often only 1 each.
Exceptions to above are:
P. alfredae - grows a new plantlet at end of each sinuous summer
leaf. Winter leaves are so small and scale like
that they are very difficult to use (don't know anyone
whose even tried!!!)
P. gypsophila - summer leaves not tried (by me). Winter leaves,treat
as a true succulent. Detach them. Leave them
in open air, warmish (60F/15C minimum), for about
1 week, a little longer shouldn't matter. Detached
tips will dry, then harden, then form bumps.
After 1 week, treat as normal Ping cutting and
you should get better than 90% strike rate.
P. primuliflora - why bother? It makes lots of plantlets on
its summer leaf ends without any help at all!
>In the wild, why does the plant rest? Is it to survive a cooler
>winter or a hotter summer? Or is seasonal drought the issue?
Drought(ish)!
>I am always pondering a trip down to Oaxaca and that area to look for
Pings. I >have been through only a few Mexican Ping habitats, but have
>never had the opportunity to stop (although each time, as I rode the Mexican
>bus through the mountains near Guadalajara, I kept my face pressed longingly
>against the glass looking out!).
If anyone was ever serious about a trip to Mexico to hunt Ping's, I'd
consider it. But it would have to be for more than one!
Regards
Paul