FlyTrapCare Forums

Hi friends!

Do you know what is it? Brief care tips are appreciated. By myself I already discovered that it is not really like pleanty of direct sun light.

Cheers

It looks to be some type of Pinguicula which I do not grow or know much about. Some are pretty simple to take care of while others tend to need more specific care just like any other carnivorous plant. Grey is the Ping expert around here and I'm sure she'll help you out when she finds this topic. She is really helpful and is very generous when it comes to ping knowledge. For now here is a link to her website that has good info. The only thing is you need to wait until someone identifies it so you know the specifics of it.

Thank you jwbates26

The Pinguicula is a Mexican species (or hybrid) and therefore needs to be kept damp during the growth season; in the photos it looks like the plant is a bit on the wet side, the Mexican species are particularly prone to root rot so you may want to reduce watering a bit. These things are next to impossible to kill due to dehydration as they are kept bone dry in winter so don't worry if you need to experiment a bit and find that it dries out (it'll start to change growth habits but shouldn't die). An airy soil mixture is usually recommended as pure peat can lead to root rot due to its water retentiveness.

I won't be able to offer you a definitive identification without a photograph of a flower, I'm afraid. Many Pinguicula species and hybrids look very similar so the flowers are really the only way to truly give a general ID. Off the top of my head it looks rather similar to my Pinguicula ibarrae, but that isn't particularly common to find so it would surprise me a little. It could be a moranensis or agnata hybrid but again I don't know because I can't see its flowers.

May I ask: what part of the world are you from? If it's the start of the growth season for you then you may find that the plant will start to flower soon.

First of all, thank you. I am from the Nothern Hemisphere, European part of Russia. I bought it from a distributor of a local nursery and I'l mail them. It may well be that it is our domestic species from the Far East.

It seems like 2 inches. It is not carnivous yet coz its leaves are not sticky. Do you think taht it is big enough to flower? Should I cut the flowers in case of blooming to avoid wasting energy?

I need a list of DOs and DON'Ts:
- Can I rain it? watering the top of the rosette. My sundew dont like it, that triggers it leaves
- How much light exposure? I tried intensive light and I got one leave dead after.

You are welcome! The plant is almost certainly on the other end of its winter rest period; it may not have any mucus because of that or due to transplant shock, which is fine, the plant will recover within days or a couple of weeks.

The plant may or may not be big enough to flower, it depends on species. At two inches across I would say it's probably large enough to flower, I suppose we'll have to wait and see. You can cut the flowers if you wish, I don't see a health decline in Pinguicula like I have done with flytraps so if you want to keep them because they look pretty I don't think there'll be an issue (unless your plant turns out to be like my P. ibarrae which flowered continuously for about four months, in which case you can just laugh and enjoy the show or start cutting stalks like a maniac because of all the flies they catch). If you can keep at least one stalk and get a photo of a bloom that'd be great.

Don't water it from the top as the leaves may become scorched and die off. Mexican Pinguicula should either be watered by a dish/tray or by carefully feeding water directly beneath the leaves. They don't like being top watered, it can cause rot as well.

For Mexican species: the more light the better. I seriously recommend keeping the plant indoors, whether it is on a windowsill or under artificial lighting. Mexican species are not, in my experience, outdoor plants unless you live in their native range. It's all about trial and error at this point but please remember that artificial lighting may cause the leaves to dry out a bit if the plant is kept too close to the light source. It's also possible that, as the plant starts to grow carnivorous leaves, it'll lose some old leaves. Mine often lose some leaves when they enter their succulent phase, but they also like to occasionally shed some leaves when coming back to the carnivorous state.

Alright, that's good. So, all of the CPs I have need a lot of sun. My windows are located not really good. I need to put my plants on one windowsill at the morning to let them recieve some sun light and then put them back to the opposite windowsill at the evening in order them to catch some more sun light.

Cool then, I'l share the bloom photos later!

Sounds like a plan Looking forward to helping ID this plant.

I have to get back to the topic. The plant has grown up as you can see. My concern is why it is still not carnivorous though slightly sticky.

It is has been repotted and its new home in my earthbox now. Take a look, please.

Would you have any pieces of advice do not hesitate to reply.

Has it only recently been repotted? If the plant's conditions are changed it may stop mucus production for a while; it looks really healthy but I would advise being careful when you water that tray. If you give the Pinguicula as much water as the other plants in that trough then it'll likely get root rot and die.

Looks like a P. gigantea

Grey wrote:Has it only recently been repotted? If the plant's conditions are changed it may stop mucus production for a while; it looks really healthy but I would advise being careful when you water that tray. If you give the Pinguicula as much water as the other plants in that trough then it'll likely get root rot and die.

Do you agree with Starchy? Actually, I made soil more sandy for the butterwort and sundew sections whereas pitcher and VFT part contains more moss.

Nicely done, it can be tricky to get that down. When it comes to it needing to change its growth habits in the winter will you be removing it to a different pot so it can remain dry? But yes, looking at the plant it does seem like a P. gigantea; I don't know for certain but the leaf shape is very similar.

I am going to remove only VFT. Am I right? drosera and p. have same habits.

Do someone have this species? Apperently, But this Pinguicula could grow all the year round without a dry season provided we have the right id.

http://www.pinguicula.org/pages/plantes ... gantea.htm

There is another fact, some new leaves are carnivorous but big old ones are not. Is it my fault?

Drosera and Mexican Pinguicula do not have the same growth habits unfortunately; Mexican Pinguicula need a dry period in the winter whereas Drosera do not (some have a dormancy period, however). Most Drosera need to be kept moist but not wet, those conditions would be very likely to kill a Mexican Pinguicula, so I wouldn't advise keeping them together long term

Old leaves may lose their carnivorous mucus if they are going to die off, it's normal in my experience. I don't know about keeping P. gigantea in carnivorous state year-round as I put mine through the dry period so I can't comment.