Question
Pinguicula Moctezumae
I have a P. Moctezumae that I purchased at one of your 2009 open houses.
When I first brought it home, I did not understand the proper care of this
plant and I put it in standing water; it started to rot. Based on your advice, I
repotted it into a self-watering pot and it improved. It put out new leaves,
and it does catch small gnats and insects. However, it never regained its
original vigor and never flowered again. I realize that it may be undergoing
some sort of winter dormancy now, but it seems to me that it is slowly, slowly
declining. It's losing leaves faster than they are being replaced. I have the
plant situated on a shelf under fluorescent shop lights (distance is several
inches), and the shelf is also close to a south-facing window. Is there
anything else I can do to improve the health of this plant?
AnswerHi Robert,
P. monctezumae can be a fussy customer under the best of conditions. Since you are experiencing a very gradual decline, you could have a couple different things happening.
First, check to see if you have any fungus gnat activity. If you are seeing little flying black gnats around your plants, dig up and inspect the soil. If you see little white wormy larvae, you'll need to transplant. Treating with an insecticide such as imidacloprid would help also. Fungus gnat larvae eat butterwort roots. We lost quite a few plants over the summer to this.
If you are not seeing any pests, your plant probably needs more food. Try spraying the leaves lightly once a week with an orchid fertilizer mixed at 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. Mexican pings greatly benefit from foliar fertilization. Just like orchids, the saying, "weakly and weekly" is a good rule of thumb.
Your light levels sound good, and the African violet pot is great at keeping the soil evenly moist.
Let me know if any of this helps.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
