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Butterwort Care

Close,Up,Of,Mexican,Butterwort,Flowering,(pinguicula)

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The  Butterwort Pinguicula plant is a seemingly harmless little plant with its delicate little blue, pink or red flowers that appear in summer.

However, the flowers are held on long, thin stems above a rosette of lime green leaves, which are coated with a sticky mucilage.

This sticky mucilage attracts and traps unsuspecting insects such as flies and fungus gnats.

An enzyme in the leaves then digests the prey of this innocent looking plant.

In terms of height and spread, the plant will grow to 6’’H x 4” W (15cm x 10cm).

Butterwort Care

Given the right conditions, the butterwort plant is definitely an easy to care for carnivorous plant. Just follow these simple tips and you should have a happy, long lasting indoor plant.  

Planting

Plant in a pot measuring between 4-6 inches in height, filling with a specialist carnivorous potting mix, or create your own mix of silica sand, sphagnum moss and perlite at a ratio of 3:1:1.

[Important: Never use potting mix.]

Light

Set in a bright filtered light out of direct summer sun.  

Temperature

Butterworts will do best in temperatures ranging from 65-85 F (18 – 29 C).

Watering

Keep moist by watering from above with rainwater or distilled water.  

If the plant becomes dormant, usually during winter, reduce watering and allow the top of the soil to dry out before re-watering.

Feeding

No need to feed a Butterwort, as it should be able to attract 2-3 insects per month in order to thrive.

Other Tips

Plants can become dormant any time of year when they will grow small fleshy leaves. It’s a good idea to repot the plant when dormant.

Types of Butterwort Plants

 

common butterwort flower up close

Common Butterwort

 

 

Close,Up,Of,Mexican,Butterwort,Flowering,(pinguicula)

Mexican Butterwort

 

 

Primrose Butterwort in front of common butterworts

Primrose Butterwort

 

Mexican Butterwort for Sale

Mexican butterwort for sale

Click here to buy online at Amazon

 

Like to see more amazing, easy to care for carnivorous plants?

Check out these beauties

Monkey Cup: monkey-cup-plant-care

Venus Fly Trap: venus-fly-trap-care

Cape Sundew: cape-sundew-care

Pitcher Plants: pitcher-plant-care-indoors

 

                                                                                        

Christine Mattner

What started out as purely a desire to keep my indoor plants alive has turned into a full-blown passion for sharing what I have learned over the years about selecting, growing and caring for indoor plants with those who may be new to the wonderful world of houseplants.

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