A truly gigantic Pinguicula with double-sided sticky leaves!
Beautiful little flowers! July 2020
The gigantea is literal! This plant is larger than my hand! September 2020
My gigantea is truly lives up to its name - this thing is GIGANTIC! It is wider than the span of my hand! I love the bright green leaves that are equally sticky on both sides. My plant is also constantly in flower during the active growing months and one of my favorite things is that the flower stem itself is sticky enough to catch fungus gnats! During the winter the rosette slowed down growth and does get slightly smaller, but it never loses its stickiness.
I recently learned that I should have been re-potting my Pinguicula annually to prevent mineral build-up in the soil... honestly I'm not sure when I got my gigantea and it's been in the same pot and media this entire time! I will definitely be re-potting this Spring! I also don't remove old dead leaves until they are complete dry - pulling too hard on an old leaf could result in the entire plant coming out of the soil! These things really have very limited root systems!
Current Growing Conditions: South-Facing Living Room Window Light: ~260 - 460 PPFD or 16530 - 20110 Lux (depends on the weather outside) Humidity: ~80% night and 55% day Temperature: ~68F night and 90F day (depends on weather outside) Water: Keep ~1/4" of water in the tray, occasionally flush from above Potting Mix: 50% peat and 50% sand/perlite - should re-pot in fresh media every year! Fertilizer: MaxSea (1/4 tsp/gallon) once a month as foliar spray Additional Notes: Very large, vigorous, and beautiful! Always in flower (except in winter). Never loses stickiness during shorter daylight hours, but the rosette does get smaller and growth slows.