got this for a buck...no tag on it and the guy at the store even looked through all the books they had. couldn't find it. it's in a hanging basket and is viney. don't know if it flowers or not. sorry, didn realize the pics were so dark... the first pic is the underside of the leaf...nice purple colorations...the top of the leaves don't show the purple - just the dark green where it's purple underneath. thanks!!
Joclyn, Great price! It looks like Aeschynanthus longicaulis (lipstick plant) I have the same one which blooms pale orange flowers. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...anthus.+longicaulis&gbv=2&hl=en&sa=G&ie=UTF-8
thank you!! what's the best soil for it? light? does it like to be kept moist or should it dry before watering again? thanks!
I just use reg houseplant soil with Perlite added to keep it draining well and let the soil pretty much dry between waterings.
Bright light for them (not too bright as they seem to burn easilly) and I always thought that you should keep them evenly moist but I'll have to try letting them dry slightly between waterings. I've got three varieties of them but not that one yet! It looks fantastic; kudos on the price! I have heard that they can be a difficult plant to grow but the three that I have haven't been too picky so far. I wonder if it's only certain varieties? I hope that yours is an easy one too :). Cheers, Ryan
Oh yeah, forgot that part! Yes, Ryan's right, bright indirect light/diffused light and maybe a little bit morning or late afternoon is ok, just not too much. Ryan, I tried keeping the soil a little bit moist at first, but lost a shoot to rot, so letting the soil pretty much dry seems a safer way to go, plus, when dry, the leaves don't wilt, another indication it's ok to let it dry:)
thanks, both of ya!! i erred on the cautious side and placed it in a spot where it gets indirect light - mostly late morning. now that i know what it needs, i'll move it to the other side of the room so it gets a tiny bit of direct morning light. i've not watered it since i got it...looked quite shabby and wilty. i know it was overwatered at the store...it's actually perked up a bit since it's been here since it's been drying out and it's hot in the plant room. i'll be repotting it later this week. i have SUCH good luck there with their 'dollar shelf'!! i've revived many, many plants :) that's the first place i look any more!!
Hmm thanks Bluewing I'll have to try that with mine :)! Have you found much in the way of differences between the varieties of lipstick? I'm finding it strange that so many books I've seen say that they're hard plants to keep =/. It seems to like life just a little less than my hypocyrta/nematanthus and that's saying something! Joclyn I'm jealous of this dollar shelf :D! I wish places up here had the same kind of thing. Ryan P.S. I stumbled into this site just moments ago, got some nice pics and info about them. Enjoy! http://www.gesneriads.ca/artaesch.htm http://www.gesneriads.ca/genaesch.htm Not sure how I'm going to find my plants in that list lol as they all look so similar
Ryan, I had another one before this one, that one had all green leaves red flowers and I must say, it WAS hard to keep. It was bought in a hanging basket and looked really healthy. I swear it started dying the moment I brought it into the house! It was dead within a few weeks! Most of the leaves dried up (in bright shade) branch by branch, leaf by leaf fell off, the soil was still moist from the store, so, I didn't even get to water it yet, then it died before it was ever given a single drop. It was in the same room I now keep the second one in which is was doing good. I'm not sure what happened to the first one, it seemed like it was a low humidity problem. I didn't see any pest. Maybe that one would have maybe done better outdoors hanging in a tree. If anything, I would think the variegated ones would be harder! Thanks for interesting the links!
