This Mexican Butterwort Plant Can Help Solve Your Gnat Problem

The best time of year to buy a Mexican butterwort plant

You want to buy Mexican butterwort during the late spring and summer. In the fall and winter, this fly-eating plant goes into a sort of dormant stage where it doesn’t trap as much. If you buy one between October and March, you’ll receive the plant during its “winter succulent phase,” as California Carnivores describes.

How to care for a Mexican butterwort houseplant

Before buying your plant, know that Mexican butterwort is not the easiest to take care of, but a little attention goes a long way if you like plants and hate bugs.

These succulent plants are native to Mexico and love full direct sunlight. They’re also rare in that they’re a part of the succulent family, but don’t need any special soil. Similar to soilless plants, the Mexican butterwort attaches to rocks and hillsides, grabbing nutrients from the air and anything around them, so this little carnivorous plant can live without much assistance. However, they do love moist environments in contrast to their desert succulent cousins.

You’ll want to imitate the plant’s natural humid climate and have a constant pool of water for it to stay moist. This plant is definitely one to keep with the other humid-loving plants in the bathroom (especially if you have drain flies.) Once the plant enters its dormant phase, water it like a regular succulent and only after the soil has dried out.

Since Mexican butterwort plants take nutrients from their surroundings, you don’t need any plant food. Fertilizer can even hurt your carnivorous plant, so leave the fertilizer for your other plant babies. Instead, Houseplant Central suggests putting dried bloodworms on the sticky leaves during the growing season for extra nutrients.