Re: Pingsgest 450

Peter Cole (carnivor@bunyip.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 28 Aug 1995 14:07:05 GMT

Leendert Hamoen <L.W.Hamoen@biol.RUG.NL> writes:
>
> Hi all,
> I am about to move to another city and because of lack of light
> overthere I have a question.
> I've heard about growing Utrics and many others under artificial
> light, but has anyone of you experience with growing Pinguicula in
> such a way ??

I haven't had as pleasing results with Pings under lights as other
genera, but I'm not using 'proper' balanced spectrum grow lights.
I've got P. esseriana, X Weser, caudata and some moranensis-y
unlabelled ones at the end of one of my homebrew terrariums, lit
by a single 18 watt (1000 lumen-ish,) fluorescent bulb about 18
inches (45cm,) from the plants. This works a little better than
the 3 ft strip lamp (whiter light,) I had tried previously.
They're a bit slower growing than under filtered sun, the plants are
'softer', and they won't flower at all (the few that start to form
abort,) but it's a satisfactory way of maintaining plants when you
haven't got/have run out of suitable naturally lit locations.

I find using cheap bulbs like this is good for Dionaea, Drosera etc,
that like *lots* of light, because you can give them a high-intensity
roasting and they're happy. Pings (and some Utrics,) that want a bit
less total light, suffer relatively more from the lack of a balanced
spectrum.

So if the move is permanent, and you want your Pings to look their
best, I'd recommend shelling out on something like a metal halide
system, but I'll leave the advice on this to people who use them :)
Otherwise, it's a *lot* cheaper to use low energy fluorescents if
it's only temporary or to supplement natural light.

-----------------------
> I just copied two publications for someone about three new
> Pinguicula. Has anyone of you got these or seen them ?? :
>
> P. moctezumae
> P. jorgehintonii
> P. hintoniorum
...

Didn't someone mention these last two recently? Or did I see
them somewhere else?...I don't think it was CPN.

Happy growing,

Peter