It's now making the winter leaves. Since you're
growing it indoors I would try to dry it out
significantly until it starts putting out the
summer leaves again. Also note that it is
claimed that the thicker winter leaves are the
best for rooting to produce leaf bud plants.
I grow my plant in straight vermiculite & perlite.
This mix has essentially no nutrients to fertilization
is required during the growing season, but the
mix has much less of a problem with water retention
causing rot. Note however that my plants live
outdoors all year, and they seem more rot resistant
in the colder winter temps despite being wet. This
morning I just went out and siphoned the excess
water out of the fish tank which I keep my outdoor
plants in. Excess water has not bothered the
plants in this case, but they've been acclimated
to the outdoors, and they don't stay nearly submerged
for more than a day or so if I can help it.
>>
>>My question is, just how dry should it be kept during
>>the winter ? Most books (Slack, Lecoufle, Cheers) say
>>to just reduce watering. However, many on this list
>>have said to let it dry out *completely*. I decided
>>to try letting it dry completely, but after a few weeks
>>it looked as if even the few tiny leaves it had left were
>>also drying out and dying off, so I started just barely
>>moistening the soil every week or so just in case. Now
>>these leaves have all started turning black from the
>>base upward and dying - which I assume means that the whole
>>works has rotted. Should I really have kept it completely
>>dry for the whole winter ? Any reliable info would be
>>greatly appreciated.
I would not keep it completely dry. The only pings
I'd keep completely dry are the filiform types such
as gypsicola and (oh damn, I've forgotten the new
name now..) alfredae. Those will rot BUT QUICK if
they get damp. I lost my few gypsicola plants
last winter (does anyone have any for sale? My trading
stock is rather depleted right now, although I could
come up with D. schizandra).
In my experience P. moranensis are among the easiest
and most rewarding pings to grow.
Regards,
Robert