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mexican butterwort domancy/propagation questions

open_window_maniac

16 years ago

Since it is quicker propagate butterworts than growing them from seeds, i have decided to try to do it but i am unsure of several things. To induce dormancy, how much should i cut down on water? The butterwort pot usually sits in a tray of water. Also, once i've taken some leaves during it's winter dormancy, how long will it be until it goes back to it's normal state?

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Comments (7)

mutant_hybrid
16 years ago
Hello open_window_maniac,

Petiolaris can help you with that, however; from what I understand, you can take leaf pullings at any time of the year and even when the plant is not dormant. Just take mature outer leaves and make sure the pulling is down to the crown of the plant so some of the white material comes off with the green leaf.

Water trays can induce root rot with butterworts, so be careful with that. The trick is much like with Nepenthes, keeping the soil moist without standing water stagnating under the plant or waterlogging the roots.
petiolaris
16 years ago
What I did last year was have my butterworts sitting at window sills in an unheated stairway. As fall/winter/spring rolled in, the temps and photoperiod naturally decreased and many of the plants developed the short, stubby non-carnivorous leaves. They reversed the process as spring became summer. keep them barely watered for the coldest six months of the year.
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ilbasso_74
16 years ago
Is the temp that important or is the light reduction/less water enough to trigger it?
mutant_hybrid
16 years ago
Ilbasso 74,

Mexican butterworts are tropicals that experience pretty much moderate temperatures all year, but experience slight droughts at times, causing dormancy as succulent leaves are formed to retain water. They will not need lower temperatures like North American plants do.
petiolaris
16 years ago
I wish I could produce a pie chart to illustrate the varaibles that go into a dormancy and their respective percentages, but my experience is that reduced light, reduced water, reduced temperature, and reduced food supply are the major contributing factors, in roughly that order of significance. my own butterworts were kept in an unheated stairway for the winter and the temps probably got into the 40's at its coldest, but most likely were in the 50's and 60's.

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From what I have read, they need the cold in order to flower the following year. My experience is that it wasn't necessarily that well correlated.
florida_guy_26
13 years ago
I agree with petiolaris's previous posts. I put my Venus flytraps through dormancy mainly by decreasing daylight during winter. As you give the plants less light and then less water, they will get to the point where they have entered a dormancy, but you must gradually increase light and water levels so that dormancy is at least 3 months long. If you mess with carnivorous plant cycles too much and do not give them the proper length of time to go dormant and then start growth again, they will decrease in health and vigor and eventually die. I would wait until the pinguicula you have goes dormant naturally and then take leaf pullings. I have also read that carnivorous leaves of pinguicula do not grow new plantlets very well, but I am not sure if that is true. If I were you, I would wait until the plant goes dormant by the natural decrease in light and as day length decreases, you should decrease water so the plant stays just slightly moist. That should help.
stefpix
13 years ago
My Mexican Pinguiculas sit in a tray of distilled water. I let the tray dry a day or 2. They keep blooming and creating plantlets/ clumps. Do not seem to need dormancy in my care.

if you pull a leave and let it sit on peat moss most times it will generate a new plant...

I grow them under CFLs / T12 in my bedroom on a xouple of shelves.

stefano

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