Hmm.. that sounds like a happy plant :) you should repot the big guy since it's outgrowing your terrarium. Mexican butterworts can grow fine in bright shade, however, if only growned in bright shade, they will only grow green, still sticky. If growned in VERY bright light(say, morning sun, then bright shade for rest of the day) the plant will turn pinkish/red. Butterworts can do fine outside in a bright shae area location. I grow mine in a bright sunny windowsill, some in a terrarium. The ones i grow in the windowsill grow these beautiful red/pink leaves, but shorter than the ones that are growned in the terrarium. the ones growned in the terrarium grow longer, green leaves, still sticky as the ones that are growned in the windowsill. I read about your nepenthes Idea, that is also a GREAT idea if you are thinking of moving your butterwort outside, sounds fine to me. don't grow your butterworts where your vfts & sarracenias are located, their leaves will burn, it happened to me before by exposing them in full sun when i grew some in an outdoor bog garden of mine.
growing your butterwort along with your nepenthes in morning sun and bright shade for the rest of the day sounds beautiful to me. after you repot your butterwort, the base leaves will turn brown & dry up, so don't panic, new leaves will begin growth from the center of the plant. since butterworts have bearly any roots(very short roots) you can easily scoop them out with some type of spoon(the plant, with a little soil along with them) then replant them. after that, place them in a bright location. then, gradually give them morning sunlight & bright shade, along with your nepenthes. Hope this helps you. hope all goes well :)

=xymox=

xymox sounds on the dot to me!

Okay thanks! I thought they needed to be grown more like a nepenthes rather than a fly trap. so I will do that, I will put it in a pot and put it out with my nepenthes when the weather gets warmer and stays that way. I have moved other butterworts around but not this one. I have lost some of them when moving them, too, so I am nervous about this one. They really do have very small roots, its like they really don't have any at all, they just kind of sit there on top of the soil. One more question, don't they need to dry out for a summer dormancy period, or do you just grow them the same all year?

I agree with Xymox that you need to be careful about the amount of sunlight you give your plant when first introducing it outdoors. I think the plant could be gradually introduced to higher outdoor light levels, but it must be done over a period of several weeks to prevent burning.

Mexican Pinguicula do not need to be grown in terraria and in fact often do better when grown in the open air. I used to grow my plants in unshaded eastern, western and southern windowsills and they all did fine. However, since I have started cultivating them under fluorescent lights, they are truly starting to thrive.

I have also found that Mexican Pinguicula are extremely easy to transplant, regardless of size, maturity or state of growth. I transplant mine whenever I feel like it, cleaning off all old media from the roots. The plants may stop growing for a week or so afterwards, but will soon begin growth and flowering with a renewed vigor thanks to the fresh, well-aerated potting medium. I like to use coarsely chopped long-fibre sphagnum moss, pumice and horticultural charcoal in a 1-1-1 ratio. Repotting is also an ideal time to pull off leaves to use as propagating material.

I top water all of my plants once the medium starts to look dry. I DO wet the foliage of my plants, since I believe this a beneficial practice that washes off dust, and I have discovered that this does NOT reduce mucilage production in any way. Healthy, actively growing plants will restore mucilage droplets to their leaves within a matter of hours. I do not like to leave the pots sitting in water deeper than 0.5-1 cm for any length of time, since I do not believe tray method culture is necessary for these plants.

Here is a pic of the plant in question. I laid one leaf on my pinkie finger to show size, and it covers my whole finger. As you can see it is all green, though, and I would like to see some pink in it, so I will definitely put it in a pot and move it outside. I just don't know what I will do with it next winter. I don't have any windows where light shines in enough. I'm surrounded by pine trees.

{{gwi:548979}}

that's one beautiful butterwort! seems REALLY healthy actually. i really would have a bit tricky time in what i would repot it. Probably a glazed ceramic container would look really beautiful along with that plant. i am amazed looking at that size of the butterwort. well done. (:

Thank you! I really need to learn how to resize pictures...

It is in my tomato frog tank, and they hop all over it but have only broke off one leaf one time. It is in just straight sphagnum moss, and it stays fairly damp. It is a breeding ground for gnats, so it gets plenty to eat, you can see some on the leaves in the picture. I will have to find a pretty pot for it, something that will show it off. I like the idea of a glazed ceramic, maybe something painted with pretty designs, or how about an African Violet pot?

It is hard to tell for certain without flowers, but the leaf shape of your plant reminds me of Pinguicula 'Titan', a registered cultivar derived from P. agnata (CSUF) x P. macrophylla. It is known for being very easy-to-grow and for having very large, "cabbagey" rosettes of foliage.

Even though your plant could continue growing in its current conditions almost indefinitely, you will have a much happier plant if you can increase the light levels. And you will probably have a lot more blooms, too.

P. 'Titan' is one of my favorite cultivars. I have several! :-)

Hehe, i would say a glazed ceramic container with some pretty designs. if that butterwort is repotted into something with designs on it, then just wait until it flowers. it will look definatly an attractive sight for any visitor.

Getting back to summer dormancy period... I thought they needed to be dried out for the winter(?)

yes isphan, I think it is a Titan, too. It was labeled only as butterwort ssp, but when trying to ID it I thought that is what it looked like. So you saying that just sort of confirmed it for me.

hihi..

I really need help. I bought a new Pinguicula moranensis (Mexican Butterwort)from a nursery garden and i saw a dead leave (completely tried out) at the bottom of the good carnivorous leaves. Should I be concerned?

Also.. i should wait for the media to try out a bit before watering.. am i correct or?.. I put a tray underneath the pot and put the whole thing on top of the pebbles with water in a deep saucer, would that be alright or on a humidity tray.. would it be enough humidity?

The next question that i am very concerned is.. i saw an insect on the carnivorous leave.. where the sticky part.. I saw some whitish mold around the dead insect on the carnivorous leave... should i be concerned about? and as well.. i accidently wettened the leave and i tried to dry out.. and i didn't know it was the sticky part.. did i kill the plant already? I hope not..

My last question is... i would like to put a carnivoruos plant in my bed room. I live in the basement where only oe beg window... facing North.. but the plant is far away from the window would the house light be ok for the plant? I work from 7-4 and normally i will be home by 7/8 pm.. would the plant survive in the dark (not sufficient indirect light)when i'm not at home and have maybe 4 - 5 hours of house light?

Please let me know thanks.

Amy

A dying leaf is not a problem for plants, they loose leaves all the time. As long as your butterwort is growing new leaves, it is fine.

Butterworts can experience root rot if they are left sitting in water... the water try with pebbles as a humidity tray sounds fine as long as the plant pot is not sitting in the water. Just water it like a houseplant and keep the soil moist all the time, but do not let it dry out. Best bet is just water it from the top every 3-4 days just enough for water to drain out, then sit the pot over the water line to keep it from getting waterlogged. You actually do not have to worry about humidity too much, butterworts can adapt to lower humidity if you do it slowly.

Sometimes insects will rot or grow fungus when they are too large for the plant to digest completely. As long as the fungus does not spread to the leaf, it will be fine. As a precaution, you can pick the dead insect off with tweezers and throw it away. butterwort leaves are just greasy, not really sticky, so it won't hurt the leaf to pick off oversized insects. The plants get rained on all the time outside, so don't worry about dripping water on them, they like it. They will make more greasy slime to catch insects in a day or so.

Not many plants would survive in low light conditions except maybe an ivy. Carnivorous plants of virtually all types need at the very least partial light, like in a west or east facing window, and many require even more light than that, like full sun. Butterworts and Nepenthes can survive in partial light as they would usually grow under taller plants that shade them in the wild. The best bet is to get a compact flourescent bulb of 100 watt equivalence or a set of shop lights of the cool white flourescent variety with 40 watt tubes. Incandescent light is too hot, of the wrong spectrum of light, and would be too far from the plants if your just using house lights from ceiling fixtures. The flourescent light should be about 5-8 inches from your butterwort and any other partial light plants you get. If you can, place the plants close to the window or under flourescents, otherwise they will die without light.

I would add that if it is possible to hook up a cheap shoplite, from like Home Depot or Lowes, that would be your best approach.

You may also want to consider taking basal leaf cuttings as backups. What I mean by this is to gently tug an older leaf from the center of the plant, such that its end is white. then place the leaf / leaves in a sealed baggie with slightly moist soil media, right at that north window sill. Then ignore it for ~3 weeks!