Pinguicula aka Butterworts

[drtd]

Usually when mine go dormant they start to lose leaves and create a hibernacula. The only time I have ever seen the wrinkled leaves and loss of dew is in the summer when temps get high and humidity gets low. I would try raising the water level a little and maybe raising the light up a little if you can. My pings have always enjoyed a high water table, more so than any of my other CP's. Some of the ones in my bog garden often sit in water almost up to the crown and grow great. If you can get the heat down under 55° you may be able to artificially induce dormancy. Its not as critical for pings as it is for Venus fly traps, but it does tend to lead to healthier, bigger plants and better flower production.

[Leafmite]

I bought a noID ping at an orchid show (from Porter's) and the divisions under lights are still blooming like crazy. Mine has never gone dormant.
Maybe they are not perfect but they are quite a bit more fun than spraying with Malathion as I must do for the fruit trees. For fungus gnat control, a good ping is excellent at taking care of the problem. I have a few plants that need organic material and must always stay wet..fungus gnat heaven. I had clouds of gnats before I got my ping but now I only know I've had gnats when I see them on the leaves of the pings.

[wintergirl]

I got my cute little ping today. I even has 5 lil babies that I missed at first sight. Came with a few gnats aleady caught

[AnonYMouse]

Been meaning to post this pic and question. Why is this esseriana doing this?
It seems like it wants to be an epiphyte. It keeps keiki-ing (or the Ping equivalent) and has lifted off the mix (peat and perlite). There is like a dozen in there, including underneath. It's a tiny ball of Pings!

I started some leaf cuttings in case this one goes hooves up.

I have a "Pirouette" behaving normally under the same conditions.

[SFLguy]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

Been meaning to post this pic and question. Why is this esseriana doing this?
It seems like it wants to be an epiphyte. It keeps keiki-ing (or the Ping equivalent) and has lifted off the mix (peat and perlite). There is like a dozen in there, including underneath. It's a tiny ball of Pings!

I started some leaf cuttings in case this one goes hooves up.

I have a "Pirouette" behaving normally under the same conditions.

Can you take a shot from above? You might just be getting a lot of divisions or you could be getting cristate growth

[gnathaniel]

Nice, Colette! Pinguicula are great little plants.

Mouse, I think some species grow on vertical-ish tree trunks and rock faces in situ, not sure if esseriana is one of those though. Looks pretty healthy to my inexperienced eyes, maybe you'll just get a big mound of Ping by the fall?

[SFLguy]

Oh wow okay I need to give some input here, there are two types of pings, Mexican Pinguicula and temperate Pinguicula
Mexican Pinguicula will need a dry dormancy (though they can go a couple years without) that is triggered by changes in temperature or light (mostly light) Mexican Pinguicula WILL NOT create a hibernacula, instead they will have dew-less succulent like growth
Temperate Pinguicula require a cold dormancy where they will lose their leaves and form hibernacula in response to changes in light and sometimes temperature.

The reason many people fail at growing these is because they have hard water (although Mexican Pinguicula are much more resistant to hard water), like almost all other carnivorous plants, Pinguicula like pure water, for those who don't live in areas with purer tap water, I'd recommend getting distilled water

The big Pinguicula you have could be a P. 'Tina' which is a Mexican Pinguicula

[SFLguy]

Also, Mexican Pinguicula can rot a lot easier than temperate Pinguicula, in fact many people grow them in mineral mixes, pure perlite, or like me directly on porous rocks such as tufa and volcanic rock

[NYCorchidman]

My ping does that too.
I don't know what variety it is, but I bought it as a single growth plant last May.
It grew very well and flowered like crazy in the fall. Then it started to split itself up into five pieces, but still all stuck together.
Now each of those are sending up flowers like crazy!

I like ping!

[orchidsarefun]

SFLguy - thanks for the input. Do you know what mine is ? I bought it as a 'Cape Butterwort' ( temperate ? ) but am now leaning towards it being a Mexican Ping. I had a couple under lights that remained smaller during Winter, but have now taken off in that leaves have grown larger and are reverting to the much larger ones shown in photos previously. Also blooming freely. Leaves are covered in dew and are doing a good job in trapping fungus gnats. From my experience they seem to grow better in sunlight vs. under lights.
Here is a close up of the bloom - I can't find this specific one online.