Not the plant for those with OCD

[Paul]

(Obsessive Cleanliness Disorder)

Over the winter, the leaves on my Pinguicula were quite clean. Now that the weather has warmed up, outside they went. This is the result of just one or two days/nights out on my balcony. (As you can see, the carnage amongst the gnat and midge community was severe.)

[Leafmite]

I gave one away to an OS member and they said that they didn't even know they had fungus gnats until they saw the leaves a few days later. I love these plants. Yours even caught a mosquito. Pretty cool!

[NYCorchidman]

Midge, not mosquito.
Many people think they are giant mosquito and suck the triple more amount of blood, thus kill them upon sight!

They are not mosquito and let's educate people not to kill them.

BTW, I think your ping is also in bloom already?
I see some blurry magenta thing on the right.

[Paul]

Indeed, the large "mosquito" is a cranefly. Quite harmless.

NYC, my pings have been blooming pretty much nonstop all winter long and ... as you can see ... through spring.

[NYCorchidman]

cool. didn't know these have such a long blooming season.
Mine could bloom soon.
There was this "show piece" of ping at the table where I picked up mine, and that plant was just covered with flowers! I don't think I've ever seen such large (plant body to flower ratio) and pretty flowers on carnivorous plants.

On a side note, one of my venus flytraps is spiking.
I'm not that excited about that one actually, as the plant itself is much better and interesting itself compared to tiny little white flowers it makes. lol

By the way, how cool and dry do pings have to be during the winter??
My ping is my first ping ever, so I have no idea really.

[Leafmite]

I should have looked more closely. I move these guys outside when they come indoors whereas I do swat the mosquitoes.
My pings take about two months off in the latter part of winter, most likely due to lower lighting. They are in bloom most of the rest of the year. I usually keep water in the bottom, never letting them dry out completely. The type I have doesn't seem to go dormant.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

On a side note, one of my venus flytraps is spiking. I'm not that excited about that one actually, as the plant itself is much better and interesting itself compared to tiny little white flowers it makes. lol

Unless you're planning on breeding them, I would say just cut the flower spikes off. As with any perennial, doing so encourages the plant to redirect its energy into growth and fattening up the bulb.

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

By the way, how cool and dry do pings have to be during the winter??

As with orchids, this is where it generally is best to buy plants with which you can obtain a name -- hybrid or species. For just as it is with orchids, not all pings have the same cultural requirements. Some species require cool temps ... not unlike most Masdevallia. Some require a dry(ish) winter dormancy ... like many of the Catasetum family. Some species or hybrids may go dormant in the normal scheme of things, but won't skip a beat if dormancy conditions are not given. And then there are a few that have no dormancy period.

Hopefully the one you have falls into one of the last two situations.

One thing to mention, is that by and large pings are NOT bog plants. Most are fine with getting slightly dry between waterings and generally will forgive you if the media gets very once in a while. For those which undergo a dormancy period, the media can usually be kept very dry with only occasional mistings/sips.

Oh, and since you inquired, here is a repost of some of mine in flower (not a very good shot though):

[Dante1709]

I've always wanted a ping and I've been putting it off off for a while now, but seeing this thread and how many insects they catch makes me want one! I don't have any pests that I know of, but I think it'll help keep my collection interesting when my orchids aren't bloom.

[NYCorchidman]

Thank you for the reply and the picture of the entire plant.
They look much smaller than mine unless the pot is very big.
How big is the pot??

Mine has a name tag but it just says pinguicula.
It is in 3 in plastic pot and the plant is slight bigger than the pot. and it is just one growth.

Does this help at all??

Maybe I should upload a picture.

[Skycat]

Originally Posted by Paul

Unless you're planning on breeding them, I would say just cut the flower spikes off. As with any perennial, doing so encourages the plant to redirect its energy into growth and fattening up the bulb.

Also, with flytraps, you can plant the cut spike and grow some clones from it. So you still have a chance for more plants either way.