Repotting & Dividing a Pinguicula

[RosieC]

Does anyone have any advice for Repotting and Dividing a Pinguicula.

Mine has four florets and hasn't been repotted in the 5 years I've had it. It really looks like it needs repotting as some of the florets are sitting way above the old compacted medium (not sure what it's in) and peering down between them I can see lots of roots on the surface.

What would you pot it in. Will Sphag be good to grow them in? I have a feeling I've read of people growing them in Sphag but not sure.

Do I leave the existing medium on the roots, or do I try and remove it like I would with an orchid?

Can I just gently pull apart the florets to divide it? I'm sure I've read that people divide these but again can someone confirm this.

Is there a time of year I should do this? Can it be done now?

For reference here is a picture of the plant. It used to be one much bigger floret, but after a winter rest the first year it's grown several but none have ever been as big as the original.

[Dante1709]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Does anyone have any advice for Repotting and Dividing a Pinguicula.

Mine has four florets and hasn't been repotted in the 5 years I've had it. It really looks like it needs repotting as some of the florets are sitting way above the old compacted medium (not sure what it's in) and peering down between them I can see lots of roots on the surface.

What would you pot it in. Will Sphag be good to grow them in? I have a feeling I've read of people growing them in Sphag but not sure.

Do I leave the existing medium on the roots, or do I try and remove it like I would with an orchid?

Can I just gently pull apart the florets to divide it? I'm sure I've read that people divide these but again can someone confirm this.

Is there a time of year I should do this? Can it be done now?

For reference here is a picture of the plant. It used to be one much bigger floret, but after a winter rest the first year it's grown several but none have ever been as big as the original.

Pings aren't typically potted in sphagnum ; they do best in 50/50 mixes of peat and sand, or peat and perlite. Make sure the sand is silica sand or otherwise free of any minerals. I've heard of people growing in sphagnum, but it's best to imitate their natural growth habits. Some pings grow on limestones (especially P.moranensis, there most commonly sold species) and others grow on tree trunks. Therefore, a peat mix with some bits of orchid bark and perlite is favourable.

I'm not quite sure what to do with the roots, but I'd try to be as gentle as possible. Carnivorous plants usually don't have very large root systems, since they take up most of their nutrients through feeding. If any media looks bad (I.e. stinky, compacted or infested) then get rid of it, but try to leave the roots intact as much as possible.

However, I believe you can divide them by rosettes and I think it should work. I would try to take some cuttings to have some back-ups, just in case the plant doesn't look so healthy afterwards.Right before or right after their dormancy, when the leaves still aren't carnivorous, is the best time for propagating via leaf cuttings.

Hopefully someone else chimes in, to confirm about the dividing parts.

[Bud]

I got mine from California already potted loosely not like orchids where they need to be pot bound. I got one rosette a couple of years ago and now I have four. I haven’t experienced repotting or dividing them because it still has more space for growth. Divide them carefully as suggested by Dante and put them in separate pots and spread them around your orchid plants. I see that the bugs are already being eaten by your plant. I also had to acquire it so bugs on my orchids at least get eaten by this plant instead of dealing with pesticides. Most growers use an open soil mix composed of some combination of washed sand, perlite, vermiculite, peat moss, gypsum and/or decomposed granite. Soil should be kept well drained, but watered regularly with distilled water in the summer (NY water has less minerals so I use tap water) and only very rarely once the plant enters its winter rosette. The species grows readily on well-lit windowsills, under fluorescent lights, or in warm to hot greenhouses. They are endemic to southern Mexico all the way to Guatemala.

[RosieC]

Thanks Dante and Bud.

I have some silica sand I bought to use in the garden and still have some left. I'll make up a mix with that and peat. I'll probably try gently removing one rosette first and leave the rest as undisturbed as I can and see how the removed one goes. If it does will I'll try repotting the rest.

[Dante1709]

I did some research on the temperature requirements of pings earlier today, and I found this

The section speaking of media recommends an alkaline soil, and perlite with the peat/sand mix. This is because they aren't bog plants. The guide also mentions some species growing on moss, so I guess some sphag doesn't hurt. It seems as if they are very flexible with their potting media, so I'd do whatever seems most convenient to you and your watering schedule.

[RosieC]

Thanks Dante

[MattWoelfsen]

This is very good information. Several of my orchid society friends, grow Pinguicula around their orchids to help control insects. I was curious and this thread gives me the answers!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Bud

I got mine from California already potted loosely not like orchids where they need to be pot bound.

Orchids don't "need to be pot bound". There is no such thing as any plant that does. (If that was actually the case, there would be a lot of unhappy plants out in the wild.)

Originally Posted by Dante1709

Pings aren't typically potted in sphagnum ; they do best in 50/50 mixes of peat and sand, or peat and perlite.

Pings are quite flexible in their media requirements. Sphag will do if needed ... provided it is loose/fluffy but as Dante mentioned, many seem to do best in a mix as he has indicated.

As far as dividing ...

Have your pots filled with damp media ready. In each pot, excavate a shallow bowl-like depression -- roughly 2.5-3cm in diameter should do fine.

Lift the pings out of the media. Compared to most terrestrial cps, pings have a very minimal root system. Roots typically are only a few centimeters long, unbranched, and very shallowly rooted. You likely won't have a great deal of media attached to the roots at all.

Gently pull the rosettes apart or, if you have a very narrow bladelike tool (doesn't need to be terribly sharp), insert a blade down into the area in which two rosettes are joined and gently pry them apart. Using either method, you will more like as not have a fair number of leaves either fall off or threaten to do so. Perfectly normal so don't "wig out".

If there are a lot of dead leaves at the base of the rosette, remove them gently.

Set the rosette so the roots are in the round depression in the media and backfill a bit as best you can. (This can be a challenge as the plant's leaf span typically is far greater than that of the roots.) Don't worry, the job doesn't have to be perfect. Again, pings aren't terribly picky.

Take any detached leaves and insert the petiole portion (area where the leaf was attached to the main plant) and insert into damp media. They may give rise to some new plants.

[Dante1709]

Here is a good video to help you repot it. The video is on repotting Drosera, but the technique used is meant to prevent any messes. If you're repotting a ping with its carnivorous leaves, it's likely to get some media stuck in its leaves. The video basically addresses that problem.

[RosieC]

Thanks Paul, and thanks again Dante. Will give this a try.