Lipstick plant, Aeschynanthus radicans, is actually in the same family as African violets,
and has velvety leaves, with beautiful scarlet tubular flowers in the summer.
Typically it should be cut back heavily after bloom to keep it contained and
also to give it a rest. The cuttings you take off can easily be rooted for more
plants. Cutting it back hard now, may reduce your blooms this summer, so you
have two options, pruning now and rooting new plants, or waiting until after
bloom this summer and prune it back to within six to ten inches of the pot. It
likes to be kept moist, and thrives in heat and humidity provided it doesn’t get
direct sunlight during the hottest times of the summer, doing best with bright
indirect light.
Could you tell me
something about the ‘lipstick plant’? A friend gave me a cutting 10 years ago.
For seven years it looked healthy, but didn’t grow much. A couple of summers
ago, I hung it outdoors under my porch and it grew a lot and had a few blooms.
Last summer, I hung it outside again, and it has grown like crazy and bloomed up
a storm all summer. It is getting so big now, and I’m wondering if it is ok to
prune it back? How much could be cut off? I hang it inside in a south window for
the winter.