Question
I am in Utah and have had all of my plants for a year or so now (primrose butterwort, 2 flytraps, cape sundew) growing by my window - somewhat shaded but gets nearly direct sunlight during the day as the sun is rising...  The latter are doing great (and even did great with a humidifier through the cold, dry winter - which surprised me).  The butterwort flowered beautifully in the spring, but once summer began it withered & the leaves turned soggy and black.  I cut the black off, nearly down to the stem.  It stayed alive for about a month or two but now is dead.  I water whenever the peat moss starts to get a bit dry, about every other day.  The soil is the same as what came with the plant & the peat moss is on top.  I have never fertilized, but everything was going great so I didn't want to mess with them.  Could I possibly be using too much water, or too much sun?  Lack of fertilizer?  I'd love to get another, but would like to know what I did wrong first!  Thank you!

Answer
Hi Helen,

I don't think you did anything wrong.  Pinguicula primuliflora is notorious for just up and dying like that.  I find they do best when they are in large pots, a touch on the drier side (not totally dry) and partially shaded by other plants.  They are very prone to rotting out when too wet.  Some growers manage this by putting a layer of sand on the peat when planting them to minimize wettness on the leaves.  Even with the best care I still find them up an dying for little reason.  On the upside they are fairly inexpensive, so it's not too big of an investment to get a few and see what works in your particular situation.

If you like butterworts, and it sounds like your growing them indoors, try Mexican butterworts.  They are not nearly as fussy, and have no cold dormancy requirements.  If you like southeastern U.S. butterworts such as the Primrose butterwort, Pinguicula caerulea is much less fussy.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com