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Moderator: Matt

By Dini
Posts:  42
Joined:  Wed Dec 09, 2020 3:25 am
#371386
would they be ok with having 5+ hours of direct sunlight?
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By Matt
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Posts:  22523
Joined:  Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:28 pm
#371401
Someone with much more experience than I have with Pinguicula will almost certainly chime in here, but I'd think that most species of butterworts would burn or not grow very well with that much direct sunlight. When I had them, I grew them in lower light (usually indirect sunlight) or in a windowsill and that's how I've seen most people grow them over the years. But admittedly, I haven't grown many Pings nor have ever had enough interest in them to really study how they are best grown.
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By hungry carnivores
#371440
Dini wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:47 am would they be ok with having 5+ hours of direct sunlight?
Yes and no.
Matt wrote: Someone with much more experience than I have with Pinguicula will almost certainly chime in here, but I'd think that most species of butterworts would burn or not grow very well with that much direct sunlight. When I had them, I grew them in
I'm also not an "expert" but I currently have 3 temperates and ~15 Mexicans.

It's all about where the species are from. Boggy species like Primuliflora won't get much sunlight since they are beneath lots of scrub, so they like bright, indirect light. P. planifolia is OK in direct sunlight but I keep it underwater, or halfway underwater, since it is semi-aquatic/fluvial. However, most temperates with the exception of P. antarctica, P. planifolia, and P. lusitanica (annual nice species; I recommend getting some from the seed bank), will like more indirect light.

Mexicans are where it gets dicey.

Homophyllous species are definitely going to hate direct sunlight. "Homo" meaning same, and "Phyllous" meaning leaves, "homophyllous" meaning that the plant keeps the same type of leaf year-round and does not form a noncarnivorous rosette. P. Emarginata always burns for me in direct sun, so I keep it in a north-facing window. P. Gigantea is also homophyllous, and I always grow them in high humidity, lower light since that is what it prefers. As a rule - Homophyllous species and their hybrids like lower light.

Here's where it gets dicier.

P. Gypsicola seemed to love high intensity direct sunlight from a grow lamp and the sun, photoperiod 13 hours. It also enjoys chalky soils.
P. cyclosecta loves high intensity direct sunlight. It enjoys chalky soils.
P. gracilis loves high intensity sunlight. It enjoys chalky soils.

See a pattern here? Chalkier soil loving pings are from cliffs that get high intensity sunlight.

Another pattern - These pings are all SMALLER. Smaller pings, IME love higher light, especially since they have small photosynthetic area but still produce massive flowers. Light helps them get energy.

Lastly, if a species has naturally dark colorations, it will tolerate bright sunlight better.

Really, it is a case-by-case thing. Pinguiculas especially are finicky and require a bit of work but once they get going, they're a piece of cake. I recommend you start with a Mexican ping in your bright sun, I would recommend P. cyclosecta. Maybe P. lusitanica if you want a temperate. My advice is to try to acclimate them by exposing them to more and more sunlight, or you could go "tough love" like I do and expose them fully right away. Propagation is also key, check out my Pinguicula grow guide, because propagation will allow you to have many plants to experiment with.


Best of luck,
HC
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