FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all! I've only posted on here once before, but I lurk the forums constantly lol. Anyways I bought a pinguicula from Lowes a couple weeks ago out of impulse. I just wanna make sure I'm on the right track with what I'm doing.


(Freshly bought)


(Taken yesterday about 2 weeks after purchase)




I'm not sure what the exact species is but I'm pretty sure it's pinguicula primuliflora. I put it outside under one of my trees during the day. It gets at least 6 hours of direct/dappled sunlight a day (if not, more). The temperature ranges between 30-50 degrees F. During the nights I take it back inside and keep it on my windowsill. It drops below freezing at nights.

I've been watering with distilled water from the top, but I got some water on its leaves and I believe I "scorched" some of them. Would the tray method be a better alternative to watering from the top?

Also, it seems that dormancy varies through pinguicula. Succulent leaves mean dormancy, but does dormancy happen on its own?? My ping looks like it's about to flower which mean it's not in dormancy at all.

Any other advice would be appreciated as well! Thank you guys, I love this community

It always amazes me how Lowes can have plants like P. primuliflora! Chain shops in the UK never have such beauties as these, but oh well! If you're able to share a photo of the flower when it opens, we should be able to confirm its identity but for now let's run with the assumption that it is a primuliflora.

Primuliflora is a moisture loving species that can handle periods of flooding, so I don't think moisture on the leaves will be too much of an issue. They're quite water-loving actually, in comparison to other Pinguicula species.

Did you gradually acclimatise the plant to being outside? Most windows filter out a lot of the intensity of the sun, so when a plant has been kept indoors and is then put outside (even in dappled sunlight, although this is not as intense), it can undergo severe leaf damage. The after-effect of this is that the new leaf growth should be resistant to this damage, assuming that the plant is kept outside continuously.

The best temperature range for this particular species (again, under the assumption that it is a P. primuliflora) is between 50-86F, although they can withstand below 50, but may die back, so it could also be feeling the chill and suffering due to that.

With regards to dormancy and winter care, Mexican Pinguicula go through a "winter dry" period during which their leaves change from carnivorous to succulent (it, technically speaking, is not actually a dormancy period). P. primuliflora does not undergo this change (I classify it as "warm temperate" and not "Mexican"), but it is said to have its own dormancy period of a sort, although there are contrasting opinions about this. If you give your plant natural light (whether outside or through a window), you'll often find that dormancy is triggered naturally, although elevated heating in a home during winter can impede this, depending upon the plant.

I hope this helps a bit! If you have any further questions please do feel free to ask.

I'm not so sure that's a primuliflora. The leaves look far too wide and not curled up nearly as much as I usually see them. That said I'm no expert, but it certainly does appear to be a US-native Ping of some sort.

I will say that based on my experience with primuliflora, it can handle temperatures all the way down to freezing with no damage, though I'd be very hesitant to actually let it freeze. Your plant does appear to have what looks like frost damage on the leaf tips - possibly from wind when it's close to freezing? I would recommend trying to keep the temperature stable, rather than moving it around all the time. Just put it in the coolest place you can over the winter without exposing it to freezing temperatures. Dappled sun should be perfect.

That's a primuliflora - 30-50 is way too cold for it. They are also very short-lived but multiply like crazy, make sure you are taking pullings to keep it in your collection.

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Adelaide wrote:That's a primuliflora - 30-50 is way too cold for it. They are also very short-lived but multiply like crazy, make sure you are taking pullings to keep it in your collection.

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My primuliflora does not experience temperatures ABOVE 50 for most of the winter and it does just fine. It even flowered through the entire winter last year during that.

Hm, yeah you are right. Guess I should have checked their temperature tolerances before I posted that. Didn't realize they were so cold tolerant. Thanks.

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Wow amazing feedback! Thank you to all who have replied

Grey, Nimbulan, and Adelaide have said that I'm probably keeping it in conditions too cold for it. Do you think it would be best if I kept it on my windowsill through winter? The temperature in my house ranges from 60-68 degrees F and it should be getting about 4 hours direct sunlight (through the window screen) and then another couple hours of indirect sunlight.

Also, I'm sure I shocked my ping by not acclimating it slowly enough to the daylight at first, but that time has passed already lol.

Another thing, if you guys do suggest I keep it inside should I invest in a growlight? I feel like my west-facing windowsill isn't quite enough for my ping.

Thanks for the stellar feedback !

I want to say as well that temps into the 30s are NOT way too cold for primuliflora. However, care must be taken that the plant does not dry out while freezing, which looks like what happened to it. I kept all of my U.S. warm temperates in my unheated garage, and their pots froze solid all the time without issue. Unfortunately, really bad winds came through and dried out the air, and the warm temperates took heavy damage, and I had to bring them inside. Before the drying freeze, my primuliflora would experience temps into the 20s.

I am also questioning if it is primuliflora, because primuliflora often will have plantlets budding from nearly every leaf. It would be much easier to identify the plant if you could give it a bit more light. If it is P. caerulea, the leaves should become more involute (rolled inwards) with more light, and the flower will have purple veining. In regards to P. caerulea temps, I noticed that my caerulea looked much nicer than my primuliflora during "good" freezes (freezes when the pots weren't dried), however, my caerulea took the most damage during the dry freeze.

I'm possibly going to invest in a grow light after my next paycheck and I'm thinking of keeping it inside from now on. Hopefully the flower will bloom and healthier leaves will come in and I can post another pic to identify the plant


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It would be ideal to keep the temps it experiences around 65 and below during the winter, so it can slow down for a "dormant" period and thus be longer lived. I believe that the U.S. warm temperates are not short lived like most say, they just do not last long if not given proper winter temperatures (as where they grow, they do experience warm summers and mild winters, they do not experience the same relative temps year-round).

Looks like I'll be making some adjustments and looking tailoring for dormancy. Thanks so much for the help My ping appreciates it


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A huge thank you to everyone who corrected me about the temperatures; I'd done some research but haven't had any hands-on experience with this plant for a very long time, assuming it's primuliflora. It's leaves do indeed look a bit broad, so I'm hoping that it continues to flower so we can firmly identify it, although we're getting more of an idea as to what species it really is.

I'd like to apologise for any incorrect information I've given, my experience with US-native Pings could do with improvement.

Grey wrote:A huge thank you to everyone who corrected me about the temperatures; I'd done some research but haven't had any hands-on experience with this plant for a very long time, assuming it's primuliflora. It's leaves do indeed look a bit broad, so I'm hoping that it continues to flower so we can firmly identify it, although we're getting more of an idea as to what species it really is.

I'd like to apologise for any incorrect information I've given, my experience with US-native Pings could do with improvement.

I realize I kind of sounded rude when I said "NOT" in all caps, I just wanted to make sure it was seen. There is a lot of misinformation in regard to these Pings, and this winter I wanted to test those ever-so-prevalent temperature myths. I believe that a cooler winter period is essential for these warm temperates. They certainly will experience temps lower than the 60s during winter in their habitat. I was hoping to show how these warm temperates can go through multiple freezes and survive, but it seems the dry freeze has killed my mother plant. However, many of the small plantlets survived. It is certainly more tolerant than people make them out to be, to say the least.

I may try the experiment again next year if I have extra plants of primuliflora, and take care to submerge them when temps freeze during low humidity or winds. I will probably give the rest of my warm temperates a winter with my tuberous Drosera. I had not realized how cool my basement would remain after opening the windows at night and closing them in the morning

aliciag wrote:I'm possibly going to invest in a grow light after my next paycheck and I'm thinking of keeping it inside from now on. Hopefully the flower will bloom and healthier leaves will come in and I can post another pic to identify the plant


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Lighting will definitely help more for the long term health of the plant. Mine do just fine under lights for 14 hr/day. I keep a clear cover over them to maintain a higher than normal humidity for these guys. I open the top daily to give it some fresh air, and water. I flood the pot above the moss with RO water daily then let it drain out. Then the cover goes back on. My house, similar to yours stays about 65-70F,and the plant never displays signs of stress to me. Good luck