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Caring For Pinguicula

Caring For Pinguicula

Pinguicula (aka Mexican Butterwort) make fantastic and unique houseplants. Short summers with air conditioning and long winters with little light can make growing pings here challenging, but with some basic care tips, we can help your plant thrive.

Pings come from Mexico and central America where they grow on mossy limestone rocks and exposed outcrops. They grow best in high humidity and moderately-bright light; however, despite what you might read, many species can thrive at lower humidity (provided you keep their roots consistently moist and avoid severe desiccation/drying out). Their natural habitat also follows an annual wet and dry season, so many of the species have distinct growth and dormancy cycles—but we have found regardless of season, their care is the same.

The pings we carry are grown under artificial lights in a peatmoss blend with perlite (50/50 ratio). Pings do well in high humidity environments, but we have found it isn't a requirements for the pings we carry as we keep the 50/50 peat perlite mixture consistently moist.

Care Instructions

Watering:

Keep the soil consistently moist to avoid the roots from drying out. Use only distilled water as the chemicals in tap water are too harsh for the plant. We keep our pings in a dish of water, letting the dish dry out for a couple of days between waterings to allow the soil to partially dry. Keeping your ping in water seems to help with the lack of humidity most homes in Toronto experience. While you may read about people cutting back on watering in winter, we don't. With the heat on, we found that they would simply dry out too quickly, even in their dormant succulent state.

Light:

Pings can be seasonal and depending on the type you have, they may go through seasonal changes which are queued by photoperiod (how long the daylight hours are). In the winter when the days are slightly shorter and cooler, the leaves may get smaller and more succulent (and they may stop catching bugs). In the summer when the days are longer, the leaves will get bigger, fuller, and produce more dew for catching insects. If you’re growing under artificial lights, it’s good to adjust your light hours to match your seasonal variation slightly (on for 10h in the winter and on for 14h in the summer).

Fertilizing:

Given the harsh conditions many pinguiculas grow in, they have evolved to be carnivorous. This means thy get very little of their required nutrients from the soil as many traditional tropical plants do. If you find you have fruit flies/fungus gnats from your other plants, then a pingicula is the plant for you! The sticky sap on their leaves attracts and traps small flies, giving the plant nutrients as they decompose. Therefore, no chemical or natural fertilizer should ever be used on your pings.

Should you find that you don't have many flies/gnats in your home, buy some dried bloodworms from your local pet supply shop (in the fish food section). Crush a few into a fine powder and sprinkle a little on a few leaves. Repeat this every few weeks during the spring/summer months.

Dormancy:

As mentioned under the lighting section above, you may find that your ping enters a dormancy period. Usually triggered by less daylight and cooler temperatures, as Fall sets the leaves of your ping may begin to harden and lose their glossy stickiness. The entire ping may begin to shrink in size. This is completely normal as it enters a dormancy period. During this time, if you have been feeding your ping, it is time to stop. As mentioned, we continue to water our pings, but you may find that you can cut back. Even with artificial lights, we find that some pings enter dormancy, while others do not, even of the same variety.

The picture above is a Pinguicula Esseriana beginning to enter dormancy. Notice the top of the plant is darker green with smaller leaves and a tighter rosette. As dormancy progresses, the entire plant will shrink further and lose any of the stickiness left on the leaves.

Ping Terrarium:

Care for our ping terrariums are the same as above. Since the pings are enclosed, be sure to remove the top periodically for short periods of time to allow air to circulate and to feed the pings as outlined in the fertilizer section above.


We hope this has given you an introduction to growing pinguicula. For a much more in-depth look at growing pings, please head on over to the International Carnivorous Plant Society.