Introduction to the Lipstick Plant and How to Grow It: Teaching You to Care for This Flower That Loves to Wear Makeup
The lipstick plant is an excellent trailing plant of recent years, and both its flowers and foliage have high ornamental value. As a small indoor foliage-and-flower plant, the lipstick plant has a graceful form, lush stems and leaves, and brilliant flower colors. It can be placed on a table or desk, or hung up for trailing display. It is a fashionable fine plant for home growing. Now, let us take a look at what we know about the lipstick plant.
I. Introduction to the Lipstick Plant
The stems of the lipstick plant trail down to about 1 m long. Its deep green leaves, paired with bright red and unusual flower crowns, make it much loved by people. The lipstick plant mainly blooms in summer. The lipstick plant is an epiphytic evergreen trailing vine. It is epiphytic by nature and is often grown in hanging baskets. The stems trail down to about 1 m long. The flowers are borne in pairs at the tips of the branches, with short pedicels, and the corolla is tubular and bright red. The lipstick plant has opposite leaves; the blades are ovate, elliptical, or obovate, leathery and slightly fleshy, 4.5 cm long and 3 cm wide, with entire margins, a prominent midrib, and hidden lateral veins; the leaf surface is deep green and the underside is light green. The flowers are axillary or clustered at the tips. The flowers are borne in pairs at the tips of the branches, with short pedicels, and the corolla is red to red-orange, about 6.5 cm long. The calyx is tubular, dark purple and covered with fine hairs. When it grows to about 2 cm, the corolla emerges from the mouth of the calyx, tubular and vivid red, just like lipstick, hence the name. The stems of the lipstick plant trail down to about 1 m long. Its deep green leaves, paired with bright red and unusual flower crowns, make it much loved by people. The lipstick plant mainly blooms in summer.
II. Cultivation Techniques for the Lipstick Plant
1. Cultivation Management
The lipstick plant likes a warm, brightly lit, semi-shaded environment. Insufficient light easily causes leggy branches and makes flowering difficult; too much light turns the leaves reddish brown. For a lipstick plant grown at home, it is best to hang it about 1 m from a south-facing window. For potting soil, slightly acidic soil is preferable. You can use a potting mix made from peat soil, sand, and vermiculite, with an appropriate amount of superphosphate added. You can also use 8 parts leaf mold mixed with 2 parts coarse sand; or cultivate it with rotted cow manure and horse manure mixed with 30% coarse coal furnace ash. In midsummer, it can be placed outdoors under a shade awning or in a ventilated spot under tree shade, with about 50% shading; for those living in apartment buildings, the pot can be hung under a trellis on the balcony with bamboo blinds above for shade, or hung on the inner side of a south-facing door or window where scattered light is plentiful. The lipstick plant usually needs little fertilizer; apply some rotted liquid fertilizer every two weeks, and it is better to keep it diluted rather than concentrated. When potting, you can add an appropriate amount of livestock hoof and horn pieces and crushed bone pieces as a base fertilizer, which can help it grow well. Solutions such as 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate, as well as 20-fold solutions of rotted fish offal water and bone water, can all promote the opening of autumn flowers. After potting, keep the potting soil moist, but not overly wet, especially when the pot has poor aeration, as the roots are prone to rot or leaf drop. Frequently spray water mist on the leaves to keep the air humidity at about 80%. Avoid wind blowing on the branches and tendrils, so that the trailing stems are not worn through by the rim of the flower pot. In autumn, as the weather gradually turns cool, gradually reduce watering and fertilizing. In winter, the potting soil should be slightly dry. Apart from appropriately applying some fertilizer solution containing a little more phosphorus before budding and flowering, in general you should fertilize little or not at all.
2. Temperature Management
The growing temperature for the lipstick plant is 18-30℃, with the optimum temperature at about 25℃. It has poor cold tolerance, and the overwintering temperature should generally be above 12℃. In winter it needs to be brought indoors to overwinter. If you find the leaves of the lipstick plant turning red, it is mainly caused by too low a room temperature or too strong light, and at this time the room temperature should be raised promptly. If the room temperature is too low, it can also cause leaf drop and withered branches. The lipstick plant is not cold-tolerant and needs to be brought indoors to overwinter in winter. The lipstick plant is not strict about air humidity and can adapt as long as the indoor air is not too dry. Its optimum growing temperature should be about 25℃, and the overwintering temperature should be above 12℃. If you find the leaves of the lipstick plant turning red, then if it is not too strong light, it is too low a room temperature, and at this time the room temperature should be raised promptly. If the room temperature is too low, it will cause leaf drop and withered branches. If the room temperature is suitable, the flowering period of the lipstick plant will be concentrated from December to February of the following year. At this time, apply less nitrogen fertilizer, increase the intensity of indoor light, and control a relatively low room temperature, which helps promote the flowering of the lipstick plant. After the winter flowering period, promptly cut off the spent stems that have flowered, which can save the plant's own nutrient consumption and stimulate new branches, so that it forms more buds and blooms more.
3. Growing Medium
For the potting medium, loose, fertile, slightly acidic humus soil is better. You can use a potting mix made from peat soil, sand, and vermiculite, with an appropriate amount of superphosphate added as a base fertilizer. You can also use 8 parts leaf mold mixed with 2 parts coarse sand as the medium; or cultivate it with rotted cow manure and horse manure mixed with 30% coarse coal furnace ash. The lipstick plant needs little fertilizer during growth. When potting, you can add an appropriate amount of livestock hoof and horn pieces and crushed bone pieces as a base fertilizer, which can help it grow well.
4. Watering and Fertilizing
When growing the lipstick plant, the potting soil should often be kept moist, but never allow water to accumulate in the pot, especially when the pot has poor aeration, so as to avoid root rot. In winter, the potting soil should be slightly dry. In summer, frequently spray mist on the leaf surface to increase the humidity of the leaves and the surrounding environment to benefit its growth. The lipstick plant usually needs little fertilizer; apply some rotted liquid fertilizer every two weeks, and it is better to keep it diluted rather than concentrated. When potting, you can add an appropriate amount of livestock hoof and horn pieces and crushed bone pieces as a base fertilizer. During the vigorous growth period, the lipstick plant can be given a rotted organic fertilizer solution once every 15-20 days. After summer, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, such as a 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution and 20-fold solutions of rotted fish offal water and bone water, which can promote the opening of its autumn flowers. In autumn, as the weather gradually turns cool, gradually reduce watering and fertilizing. Apart from appropriately applying some liquid fertilizer containing a little more phosphorus before budding and flowering, in general you should fertilize little or not at all. Under conditions such as suitable room temperature, the lipstick plant's flowering period will be concentrated from December to February of the following year. At this time, apply less nitrogen fertilizer.
5. Pruning and Propagation
After the winter flowering period, promptly cut off the spent stems that have flowered and prune the overly long trailing branches once. This can save the plant's own nutrient consumption and stimulate new branches, producing more flowers the following year.
The above is what we know about the lipstick plant. I hope it can help you.
4. Watering and Fertilizing
When growing the lipstick plant, the potting soil should often be kept moist, but never allow water to accumulate in the pot, especially when the pot has poor aeration, so as to avoid root rot. In winter, the potting soil should be slightly dry. In summer, frequently spray mist on the leaf surface to increase the humidity of the leaves and the surrounding environment to benefit its growth. The lipstick plant usually needs little fertilizer; apply some rotted liquid fertilizer every two weeks, and it is better to keep it diluted rather than concentrated. When potting, you can add an appropriate amount of livestock hoof and horn pieces and crushed bone pieces as a base fertilizer. During the vigorous growth period, the lipstick plant can be given a rotted organic fertilizer solution once every 15-20 days. After summer, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, such as a 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution and 20-fold solutions of rotted fish offal water and bone water, which can promote the opening of its autumn flowers. In autumn, as the weather gradually turns cool, gradually reduce watering and fertilizing. Apart from appropriately applying some liquid fertilizer containing a little more phosphorus before budding and flowering, in general you should fertilize little or not at all. Under conditions such as suitable room temperature, the lipstick plant's flowering period will be concentrated from December to February of the following year. At this time, apply less nitrogen fertilizer.
5. Pruning and Propagation
After the winter flowering period, promptly cut off the spent stems that have flowered and prune the overly long trailing branches once. This can save the plant's own nutrient consumption and stimulate new branches, producing more flowers the following year.
The above is what we know about the lipstick plant. I hope it can help you.