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| Lipstick Plant Flowering at Maturity |
Who knows
why Lipstick plants flower?
The flowering response; that is,
what triggers flowering of Lipstick plants (Aeschynanthus), remains a mystery.
With this admission of defeat, I
hope that all of you Gesneriad growers out there jump up and say; “What do you
mean? My Lipstick flowers regularly
every Winter. It must be day-length or
the cooler night temperatures. Or maybe
it’s the cooler day temps. Of course, I have
had it for years, so maybe it’s maturity (old age). And now that you mention it, sometimes it
doesn’t flower at all.”
It may seem naïve to believe that no
one knows the flowering response to the common Lipstick plant. My only proof is that no commercial grower is
producing 4” – 6” pots of Lipstick in flower.
Green foliage --- sure, but no flowers.
If they could be produced, plants would be sold by the thousands. It’s
not happening.
Many years ago, I concluded that
flowering is so uncertain that Lipstick plants should be abandoned as a
commercial flowering crop.
The most successful flowering seems
to be when the plant is propagated and grown out as a hanging basket. This allows for the shoots to get length and
maturity for flowering on the terminals.
I want to have flowers on small
pots. If we only knew how to do that?
My method for Nematanthus ‘Cheerio’ could
be adapted to Aeschynanthus. Grow stock
baskets until buds and flowers are set, take tip cuttings, root in small
pots. When the cuttings are rooted, the
flowering will be there, --- sell.
This will be attempted with
Lipsticks. What we don’t know yet, is if
the buds will stay on until rooting occurs.
The budded cuttings are coarse and take a long time to callus and root.
My friend Bob believes that flowering
is due to short days (Winter) and that tip cuttings will have small buds set. Thus, less likely to fall off before rooting.
This basket shown is flowering
now. Can we create a 4” pot with
delightful red flowers on command next year?
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| Lipstick in flower in small pot |
