FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello, I came here to question since the website I bought this plant wouldn't give me an answer for a month, or rather more than 4 month for some questions I have. It would be long and detailed question, but it would be really thankful if you could help me with the problems.

First to start, I bought gigantea x pilosa in carnivoreculture.com which came with pinguicula gigantea. I happen to buy butterwort due to gnat problem indoor. The plant arrived safely, and I potted in a half peat moss x aquarium sand, watering distilled water on a tray method. The plant started to grow, and helped catching a lot of gnats, and eventually by the middle of the summer, I was able to get rid of gnats indoor.

Problem starts here. I've noticed my butterwort seems to be growing very slow, and leaves were not big enough. Maybe it is like that, but I wouldn't know. So I decided to bring plant outdoor for more sunlight and for their food(since gnats were all gone, I wondered if they actually need any insects to eat. That's the question I sent 4 month ago, still no answer. So do they really need insects to live on? or so much sunlight?). They were placed in my veranda, and they got a lot sunburns... Yea I was stupid. About a week later, I moved them to shade area in the veranda, and they started to grow well, with catching a lot and various insects.

In fall, I've notice the plant have bite marks. Uh oh.. and also many leaves on the bottom started to turn brown. I immediately moved plants indoor, but more bite marks form after too. That's when I sent a question on the website 1 month ago. They wouldn't give me an answer, so I decided to re-pot the plant, since I thought the problem here was pests.




This is the picture after re-potting. First one is gigantea and second one is gig x pilosa. You can see the bite marks, and there are very few leaves. During the re-potting, outside leaves fall of so easily, so I got rid of them. They both had many leaves before moving outdoor, or even until I re-potted. Also weird thing happened with gig x pilosa. They are splitted? they have two sprouts coming out from one plant. I don't know why.




Here's another question probably you guys don't know but ask anyway.
So the picture above is the picture of gigantea x pilosa today. You can see the splits, and also the form of the plant. The question is the picture of this plant on the website.



This is the picture... isn't it weird? did I do something weird to the plant? or my method of growing is wrong? I'm thinking that they sent me the wrong plant. I happen to see even flower once, but the leaves then looked like the same. Curvy, long, and not much hair like that. gig x pil got all my love from the start to middle, wishing for the beautiful plant. However after pest problem, he's not getting much love at all because of ugly looking leaves. I know it sound mean but I purchased this plant because of that, and really put my effort on it.

Anyway.. that's all and the main reason why I came here to ask is because of this.



This is my pinguicula gigantea. He's getting love now because at least he will show beautiful leaves later, but I'm having problem with it. As you can see, bigger leaves getting brown on the tip, and small leaves not growing at all. Is this dormancy? or some other type of problem? I mean.. in fall, some gnats came in my house again and they are mass-breeding again. I'm using insecticidal soap on the plant that have gnats on them(not on my butterwort) for now. I would like them to catch them all again and grow beautifully. Please help me with this.

To end with organized questions, here it is.
1)Do butterwort need insects to live on? or much sunlight?
2)Is it bad idea to grow them outdoor?(since I got pests)
3)Why does my gig x pil looks so different?
4)What's the problem with the last picture of gigantea?

Thank you for reading all this long... question. It would be very thankful if you could help me with this.

Huntsmanshorn wrote:1) No, they don't need to eat insects. In general, they grow faster if they do but by no means do they need to eat bugs. Do butterworts need much sunlight? Outside the do well in all day dappled shade. Indoors I like florescent lights but you can do just fine with a nice, large, bright window. By the way, your plants do look like they need more light.

2) Some people grow their plants outside with great success, it's really up to you, but since you have pest problems I would say inside is really worth considering. It depends on if you can give them enough light indoors and if you can control those nasty slugs outdoors.

3) I've never grown P. gigantea x pilosa but I'm thinking not enough light.

4) Not enough light but it might also be heading into its "dormant" period.

For more info on these plants check this site out: http://www.pinguicula.org/pages/pages_p ... ntent.html

Thank you for answer. Though, I have some additional question about it. I actually found this picture of gig x pil on the summer.



It's kind of blurry at the bottom.. but you can see how it looked. I have a big window in my room that gives 3-4 hour direct sunlight to my plant and that's where I placed the plant. Is that not enough? how much should be enough for the plant to be like the beautiful pictures?
Also about dormancy, how long does it go? full winter? and how should I care?

The lack of dew on the plants would indicate to me either lack of roots to draw in water, lack of light, too much moving around, or a mixture of these.

Benurmanii wrote:The lack of dew on the plants would indicate to me either lack of roots to draw in water, lack of light, too much moving around, or a mixture of these.

I didn't move around at all until there was a pest problem. However when I did re-pot, strangely I saw very little roots. about a size of a half pinky. Probably pests ate all the roots...maybe that's a problem.
What is ideal mixture for butterwort? aquarium sand and peat moss was the most cheapest I could get... I might consider spending more money if they can grow better, but no if they are too expansive. Do you know any websites or store that sells that kind of stuff for cheap price?

Bonjour

for the 4 questions:

1) it is a carnivorous plant , so she needs insect for this develop, it's their fertilizer . it is better to put them in the shade or half shade not in full sun, especially for a gigantea that normally has a large leaf area
2)it is not a bad idea , but just in the period may-october when frost and cold is no longer to be feared, here in FRANCE all my mexican are outside at this period
3)have you a flower picture ? may be just a pilosa ?
this hybrid P. gigantea x pilosa exist?
4)may be no problem ,it's just a normal leaf renewal

the dormancy on gigantea is often not easy to see, the leaves keep their great width, but in length it differs a little

we must not confuse dormancy 'in situ' among the ping temperate and the mexican.
for the first, it is the cold that triggers for the second the dry period

jeff

jeff wrote:Bonjour

for the 4 questions:

1) it is a carnivorous plant , so she needs insect for this develop, it's their fertilizer . it is better to put them in the shade or half shade not in full sun, especially for a gigantea that normally has a large leaf area
2)it is not a bad idea , but just in the period may-october when frost and cold is no longer to be feared, here in FRANCE all my mexican are outside at this period
3)have you a flower picture ? may be just a pilosa ?
this hybrid P. gigantea x pilosa exist?
4)may be no problem ,it's just a normal leaf renewal

the dormancy on gigantea is often not easy to see, the leaves keep their great width, but in length it differs a little

we must not confuse dormancy 'in situ' among the ping temperate and the mexican.
for the first, it is the cold that triggers for the second the dry period

jeff

Thank you for the response. For P. gigantea x pilosa, picture is up there, but I'll post here anyway. I don't know those hybrids exist, but that's what I bought in the website. Successfully flowered, but the plant looked ungly back then too. Maybe it is lack of sunlight that make leaves thin but long.

Bonjour

damage the corolla was not taken of face,the determination would have been easier.

may be the sunlight yes