Plants
Mexican butterwort
Pinguicula moranensis (and hybrids)
BeginnerFine in a closed jar
A sticky-leaved rosette that turns succulent in winter. One of the easiest carnivores.
What the simulation uses
- Light
- 8,000 to 25,000 lux
- The brightness it grows well in.
- Humidity
- 40 to 80 % RH
- Air moisture it is happy in; below the lower end it dries out.
- Temperature
- 12 to 30 °C
- Comfortable range; outside it growth slows.
- Dies at
- below 2 or above 38 °C
- Days beyond these temperatures kill it.
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7.5 pH
- Soil acidity it prefers.
- Grows up
- 0.3 cm/month
- How fast it gains height in good conditions.
- Spreads
- 0.65 cm/month
- How fast its edge creeps outwards.
- Copes with wet
- fair
- How well it stands soggy soil; poor means rot comes quickly.
- Copes with still air
- fair
- Sealed jars have still air; poor means grey mould finds it.
- Copes with shade
- fair
- How well it holds on in dim light.
- Copes with drying
- good
- How well it survives the jar drying out.
- Water use
- 0.07 ml/cm²/day
- Water drawn up from its roots per cm² of leaves in room air; a sealed jar cuts this to a fraction and returns it down the glass.
- Leaf drop
- 3 %/month
- Share of its leaves it sheds each month as litter for the cleanup crew.
- Soft leaves
- yes
- Soft new growth that hungry isopods will nibble.
- Full size
- 3.5 cm tall, 10.5 cm wide
- Its size when grown, before the lid stops it.
Care
- Day length
- 10 to 14 h
- Substrate
- Moist
What kills it
- soggy medium in the winter succulent phase
- fungicides
- fertiliser
- mineral tap water
Description
In summer it grows sticky leaves that catch tiny insects, then switches to a compact winter rosette. Lights left on all day stop that switch and keep it in its non-trapping form. Keep it drier in winter, as it dislikes soggy soil then.
Also called butterwort, Pinguicula.
Estimated, where sources were thin: ph (ICPS adds dolomitic lime; wild var. moranensis on limestone); temp_c; humidity_rh_pct; light_lux.