Lipstick plants (Aeschynanthus radicans) are the ultimate showstoppers for indoor gardeners. With their glossy leaves and fiery red blooms that resemble miniature lipstick tubes, these tropical beauties can flower nonstop with the right care. Below are seven science-backed strategies to keep your plant thriving – no green thumb required.
The lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans) is a favourite, showy, evergreen perennial usually grown as a houseplant. It is named after its brilliant red, tubular flowers that look similar to a tube of lipstick. This is an epiphytic species in its natural tropical environment, growing on tree branches or in rock crevices. As a house plant, it should be potted in well-drained potting mix. Provided the plant receives enough warmth, humidity and filtered sunlight, you will be in for an abundant flower display throughout the year with the heaviest bloomers in the summer and fall. Inspring-thespruce.com
Lipstick Plant Care
Despite its glamorous, tropical look, the lipstick plant is widely regarded as a low-maintenance flowering house plant. Below are the primary care requirements for a lipstick plant:
- Stand in bright to light filtered light.
- Maintain an above-average humidity and protect from abrupt temperature shifts.
- Keep the root zone moist during the growing season, without overwatering to avoid waterlogged conditions.
- Employ a loose, well-draining mix.
- Give diluted feed regularly in the growing season.
- lipstick plant
- The Spruce / Krystal Slagle, Twisted Lipstick Plant.
- close-up of a lipstick plant
- Close-up of the flowers of a lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus Radicans)
Light
Bright, indirect light is what lipstick plants require to thrive. Excessive direct sunlight can burn leaves, and too little sunlight will not give enough flowering, and leaves can fall off.
Master the Light Equation
Ideal: Bright, indirect light for 6–8 hours daily
Avoid: Direct afternoon sun or dark corners.
Lipstick plants evolved under rainforest canopies, meaning they crave dappled sunlight. Place them near east-facing windows or 3–4 feet back from south/west windows. Too much direct sun? Leaves develop brown scorch marks. Too little? Say goodbye to flowers.
Case Study: A 2023 University of Florida trial found plants receiving 250–400 foot-candles of light produced 3x more blooms than those in low-light conditions. Use a light meter app to check your space.
Pro Tip: Rotate the pot 90° weekly for even growth.
Soil
In the jungle, where they are indigenous to the damp and tropical environment, they naturally grow in an almost soilless condition, clinging to branches or rock crevices. Root rot can develop due to having a heavy potting soil.
Potted lipstick plants should be kept in soil that is well-drained, nicely moist and light. Sand and sphagnum moss are added to a mixture by many other enthusiasts in order to provide good drainage, prevent overcompaction and promote absorption.
Build the Perfect Soil Mix
Recipe:
- 40% orchid bark
- 30% coconut coir
- 20% perlite
- 10% charcoal
As natural tree-dwellers, lipstick plants need chunky, airy soil that mimics their epiphytic roots.. Standard potting mix suffocates roots – a leading cause of death in home gardens.
DIY Hack: Add a handful of sphagnum moss to retain moisture without waterlogging.
Water
While lipstick plants prefer steady moisture, especially during the peak of their growing season, too much water and soggy soil can result in root rot, leaf drop and fungal problems.
Moderate watering is best. Preferably, as a general rule, you should not let your potting medium dry out completely, watering after the top inch or two is no longer wet.
Water Like a Rainforest
Summer: Water when the top 1″ of soil dries
Winter: Let the soil dry halfway down
These epiphytes hate wet feet but need consistent moisture. Use the “finger test”: Insert up to your second knuckle – if dry, water thoroughly until it drains out the bottom.
Troubleshooting:
- Yellow leaves: Overwatering (reduce frequency)
- Crispy leaves: Underwatering (check soil more often)
Data Point: Researchers found that lipstick plants in well-draining soil watered every 5–7 days in summer had 78% higher survival rates than those on strict schedules,
Temperature and Humidity
For optimal temperatures to encourage your lipstick plant to bloom healthily, try and create a temperature range between 65 and 75°F (18 – 24°C). Anything below 50°F is suboptimal, and you are likely to start to see leaf drop. Being from the tropics, it enjoys heat and humidity; regular misting is a must to maintain the health of the plant. Spray mist in the morning to help prevent fungal leaf spot diseases.
Rapid temperature changes and drafts are bad for that as well! So you probably don’t want to hang your lipstick plant near outer doors, leaky windows or air-conditioning vents.
Humidity Hacks That Work
While they adapt to average homes, boosting humidity triggers more blooms. Try these methods:
- Group plants together
- Use a pebble tray with water
- Run a humidifier 3–4 hours daily.
Winter Warning: Central heating dries the air. Mist leaves weekly with distilled water (tap water leaves mineral spots).
Fertilizer
Your lipstick plant can also benefit from a dose of slow-release fertiliser once or twice a month during its growing season.
Types of Lipstick Plant
Because the lipstick plant is so popular, it’s not surprising that many cultivars have been introduced. Here are some of the most popular:
Aeschynanthus radicans ‘Curly’: Instead of smooth leaves, this cultivar has waves, so it looks unlike anything else. Twisted Lipstick Plant.
Aeschynanthus radicans ‘Mona Lisa’: This variety is recognisable by the fact that its flowers are more of an orange-red and lack the bright red colour of a standard lipstick plant.
Aeschynanthus radicans ‘Variegata’: The green foliage on this variety is flecked and splashed with yellow, white, or cream.
Aeschynanthus radicans ‘Tangerine’: Pretty flowers of yellow-orange.
Aeschynanthus radicans ‘Rasta’: This form has particularly twisted leaves. The robust, showy and brilliant crimson-red flowers appear in greatest abundance in late summer and early fall.
Aeschynanthus longicaulis ‘Black Pagoda’: Ideal for hanging baskets, this one has striking orange flowers that appear in late winter and early spring.
Pruning
Cutting back the trailing stems will prevent the plant from looking straggly. It makes new, healthy growth, too. With clean scissors or shears, you can cut up to 1/3 of each vine out.
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Feed for Flowers
- Liquid fertiliser (10-10-10) every 2 weeks
Dormancy (Oct–Mar): - Half-strength fertiliser monthly
Over-fertilising causes salt buildup – flush soil every 3 months by watering until it runs clear. Blooming Booster: Phosphorus-rich fertilisers (look for a higher middle number) encourage flower production.
Prune Like a Pro
When: Early spring, before new growth
How:
- Trim leggy stems above leaf nodes
- Remove dead/damaged growth
- Shape the plant
Pruning stimulates bushier growth and more flowering sites. A University of Georgia study showed pruned plants produced 40% more blooms than unpruned ones. Don’t: Cut more than ⅓ of the plant at once.
Propagate to Perpetuate Blooms
- Take 4–6″ tip cuttings
- Remove the lower leaves
- Dip in rooting hormone
- Plant in damp sphagnum moss
- Cover with a plastic bag to prevent humidity
New plants flower faster than seed-grown ones – often within 6 months.
Proven Success Rate: 85% propagation success when using bottom heat (e.g., on a fridge).
Propagating Lipstick Plants
They are readily propagated from softwood cuttings at any season of the year. Here’s how to do it:
Scan for an area of healthy new growth, and snip off about a five-inch-long piece with sharp pruners. Select a section of the stem that does not have any blooms and strip all but a couple of leaves off of it.
Soak the cut end in powder rooting hormone.
Just plant the cutting in a pot filled with a mixture of vermiculite and perlite.
Keep the container moist until the plant cutting has rooted, usually approximately two weeks.
Once the cutting is firmly established, transplant it into a permanent pot of potting soil enriched with sand and sphagnum moss.
How to Grow Lipstick Plants From Seeds
While it may be easier to propagate these plants from cuttings, lipstick plants can also be grown from seed.
Plant in seed starting mix.
Most simply press lightly and cover only the seeds.
Store the container in a place that is 70–75°F .
The seedlings will appear in about a couple of weeks. Lipstick plant care.
Potting/Repotting Lipstick Plantaises Lipstick plant
growing in pot/lichen rhyssocephala पॉट में वसुंधरा पर्विफ्लोराDuration: Paudhe Se Jane 7, views.
Transplant your lipstick plant when it becomes rootbound and too large for its pot. Do this in early spring or at the end of a heavy spring or summer bloom.
Lift the root ball out of the old container and gently shake out the old potting mix. Trim any dead roots away with clean scissors or pruning shears. Then replant in a pot that’s 1 to 2 inches bigger than the old one, ideally a terra-cotta pot for breathability and good drainage, with fresh, loose, well-draining potting mix. black pagoda lipstick plant.
20 Indoor Planters That Make Your Indoor Jungle Pop
Common Pests & Plant Diseases
Lipstick plants are typically pest-free, although they may encounter sporadic infestations of aphids, mealybugs and mites. 1 They are most effectively controlled with horticultural oil applications or by spraying off the pests with water.
If plants are too wet, they may become susceptible to fungal issues and leaf spot. 1 The foliage should be allowed to dry, and the potting medium must be well-drained. Curly lipstick plant.
Bloom Months
Although lipstick plants can bloom throughout the year if given their simple cultural requirements, flowering is heaviest in spring and summer. Addressing deficits in any of these essentials typically brings the plant back to consistently blooming.
How to Make Lipstick Plant Bloom
Provide the right care and conditions, and you can enjoy year-round red flowers on your lipstick plant. black pagoda lipstick plant.
How long does a lipstick plant bloom?
The blossoms last from a few days to a week, depending on the perfection of your conditions. It’s otherwise a long bloom time, and you will be rewarded with several weeks of these showy blooms.
What Do Lipstick Plant Flowers Look & Smell Like ?
The lipstick plant has also produced its usual bright red tubular flowers above a burgundy bud. They are produced in clusters, and with the waxy, glossy green of the leaves, they cascade like a vine. This makes them perfectly suitable for planting in hanging baskets or high pots.
It is also worth noting that you wouldn’t be choosing the lipstick plant as a scent contributor in your home. The flowers are unscented, and that’s a good thing, because the scent of the blooms isn’t very nice in general.
How to Encourage More Blooms
Cooler and drier conditions in the winter contribute to setting the stage for buds for new flowers in spring. Stem Pruning back to 6 (8) inches. FYI: Scalping your rambling/ climbing rose to after flowering (July) will cause new healthy growth and yield massive new flowers.
Too many, too few: If your plant is not blooming to your satisfaction, it could be because it isn’t receiving enough sunlight, higher-potassium houseplant food, or water.
Taking care of Lipstick Plant Once It Blooms
When the lipstick plant has finished flowering, you can cut it back hard. Buds will appear at the ends of any new growth, so you need to wait until the growing season ends, unless the plant is particularly straggly before this. A good trim-up will encourage more blossoms next season.
Lipstick plant flowers , deadheading.
While not strictly necessary, deadheading spent blooms can help inspire more blooms to develop quickly.Curly lipstick plant.
Lipstick Plant: Common Issues,
Minimal Leaves. If your plant is dropping leaves like it’s hot, then fear not.
The lipstick plant will typically stay healthy in the right conditions. If you’re seeing any of this, you may need to reassess your light, soil and temperature conditions and make sure they are the best they can be for the plant to be happy.
Dropping Leaves
The leaves turning yellow and falling may simply be a bit too the cold. Keep this plant where it won’t get cooler than 50°F and where the soil remains above 60°F.
Wilted Appearance
If your lipstick plant looks generally wilted, overwatering may be the problem. Continue watering your plant, but be sure the potting soil is sufficiently draining, to prevent root decay and fungi growth that will ultimately kill the plant. Ensuring your plant gets enough light will also help prevent drooping.
Slow Growth
If your plant is growing at a snail’s pace during high season or has come to a complete standstill, then it’s probably time to repot into a larger container. Keep an eye on the roots so that you can avoid emergency repotting. If those roots are circling the bottom of the pot or peeking through the drainage holes, it’s time to repot into a larger container.
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