I have a new lipstick plant and a question . . .

How big does the pot need to be? I have one that is about 4" but is really deep, probably about 8-9". Would this be sufficient? I also have a Kohleria "Longwood" if you could tell me if this one needs a larger pot also. Thanks, Jennifer

Hi Jennifer! That 4" pot is awfully deep, probably too deep, in my opinion. What size pot they need really depends on what size the plant and root ball are. Could you post a picture of the plants? That would help us more easily help you if we could see what size the plants are, and what size pot the Kohleria is in now.

A general rule for many of the Gesneriads is that they don't like for their pots to be too big. It can hold too much water, stay too wet, and eventually rot the roots.

Thanks for the reply. I will post a pic as soon as possible.

If it helps, I bought it from Logees and it came in a 2.5" pot.

Here is a picture of the plant in the big pot. It is not potted, jujst sitting in the pot inside it's little 2.5" pot. Maybe I could pot it in a 4" pot and put it inside the bigger container?

That's a great idea! Lovely container you have there and a nice height for those trailing stems. They're long enough that you could take cuttings and root them up to fill up that 4" container even more, if you wanted to. They'll branch out from where you cut them and will be fuller, too. Beautiful plant!

I really can't take the credit for it, but thanks anyway : ) I think I will put the plant in a 3-4" container and put another container in the bottom upside down for it to sit on.

Thanks so much for your help : ) Jennifer
Here's one more picture that I took (don't know why, I guess I felt like I needed a shot of the plant with a roll of paper towels ;P

Lovely -- both plant and pot!

I've got some cuttings from my new lipstick plant... Do you root them in water, or do you stick them in moist potting mix? I wasn't sure what to tell people at a recent swap...

Jennifer, I forgot to mention one thing... if you're going up to a 4 " pot you should use a lighter potting mix (as in put in a little extra perlite) just to be sure it's not staying too wet.

LOL on the paper towels. At least they have a nice design! ;o) What's the plant to the right of the paper towels, just barely in the picture?

critter, I don't root much of anything in water. Ideally you would put the cuttings in moist potting mix and keep them domed until they root, but the lazy person's way (that would be my way...LOL) is to just stick the cuttings in the same pot as the plant and be sure to keep it moist. Either way they should root up fairly quickly.

Raingazer- That plant is a Kohleria "Longwood" which I also bought from Logees. I bought 4" pots for both of them this morning. I am going to mix in some vermiculite. Is that OK or should I get some perlite? Thanks again, Jennifer

Here is a pic of some of my other babies, I raise most of my plants from seed, but I wanted something for my bathroom window : )

Vermiculite is good, but I always put in a bit of perlite. I think most of the Gessie people use at least some perlite. Vermiculite, in my experience, does make the mix a bit looser and "softer" for lack of a better word, but the perlite, being larger pieces, helps to make the mix a bit more airy and it won't compact so much. My recipe (and every person has a different one! LOL) is 2 parts store-bought potting mix, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite. Some people don't use vermiculite at all, and some use a good bit more perlite. A lot of it has to do with the conditions in your home. Main thing is, just make sure you're not overwatering them and they'll be fine. :o)

Kohlerias are very easy to start from cuttings, too. Just lop off a piece of it, with at least one set of leaf nodes to go under the mix and it will root right up! You may not be ready to start cuttings, but Kohlerias tend to get leggy, so at some point you might need or want to cut it back to keep it a bit more compact.

Your babies look good! I love to start things from seed, too, and leaves and cuttings... LOL I'm pretty much a propagation nut! The good thing about propagating your plants is that you'll have extras to trade for other plants. If you hang around this board much, you're almost certain to see other plants you want and most everyone here is more than happy to trade! :o)

OK, thanks! I told the folks who took cuttings home that I thought moist potting mix was probably the way to go, but they could keep a couple in water and see what happened...