Question
Hello, I have a small flytrap and a P. Primuflora that I've rescued from Lowes. I bought both plants around mid October and successfully acclimated them to normal indoor humidity, however due to it being so late in the season I thought it would be wise to not attempt to acclimate them outdoors yet. I live near Fredericksburg, VA and we are now getting nights in the 20's. Now, I have a glass sun room on the west side of my house that I would consider nominally heated, that is it has a radiator (which I have closed) tied into the houses furnace but all the windows are old and protect against the wind and rain but that's about it.  I have placed both plants in this room in a north window in hopes that I can achieve at least a light dormancy for this winter and they HAVE slowed dramatically in growth, though none of the old growth has died. On average the room probably stays in the upper 30's at night and usually stays between 45 and 50 during the day. Occasionally when we have warmer weather it will get up to about 60 in the room. I plan on fully acclimating both to the outdoor weather come spring, but are these conditions sufficient for overwintering my Flytrap and Ping for this year? On a side note, the Ping is still in his little pot that was in the cube, and I was hesitant on repotting so late in the season. Should I wait on that until spring or can I tackle that now without a problem?

Thanks guys,
Jon

Answer
Hi Jon,

The conditions you're describing sound perfect.  It's good to spray them with a sulfur based fungicide also.

Pinguicula primuliflora can be fussy under the best of circumstances.  During the winter be real careful with the watering keeping it just damp, but not super wet.  The rot out very easily.  It actually would be good to get it in a bigger pot since that helps moderate the soil moisture.  Also, be sure to include some vermiculite in the soil media.  Vermiculite seems to help inhibit mold growth.

Other than that just try to clip away any dead foliage.  Mold usually starts there.


Good Growing!

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