Rescuing a Stressed Mexican Butterwort After Shipping Mishaps

Butterwort

I bought this butterwort online and it got lost in the mail for a week, so it looked pretty sad when it arrived. After careful unpacking, it fell right out of the pot. When I asked the company, I was told this was because the roots are so close to the surface. I put it back on top of the soil. I’ve had it since Monday night and every day it looks a little worse. Do you have any advice on how to save this plant? Are these hard to grow?

Answer

Hi Becky,

I can tell this is a Mexican butterwort variety, and yes, they are easy to grow. (Is this Pinguicula x “Gina”? Always be sure to include the actual name of a plant when submitting a question since care varies wildly among different species.) It’s common for these to come out of the soil in shipping since they tend to have very shallow roots.

What you need to do is make sure the roots are actually in the soil. If it’s just sitting on top, it’s not getting enough water. Lift the plants up, fluff the soil some, then place them back down and firm the soil around them. Keep these plants damp, but not waterlogged. They should only have a very shallow amount of water in their tray; let them use it up before adding more. Here’s more general growing information on Mexican Butterworts: https://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=263

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
https://www.growcarnivorousplants.com