Goldfish plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called Candycorn Plant, Clog Plant, Gold-Fish Plant and Hypocyrta.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
- Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
- Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam, Sand; pH Acid or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Crisp margins that appear in winter
The goldfish plant shows browning on many leaves at once, all at the margin, with no spots or soft patches anywhere.
Leaf margins are the end of the water supply, so they are the first tissue to run short when the air takes more than the roots can send. Penn State Extension cites 30% to 60% as the recommended indoor range, and a heated room in winter sits below it.
Telling it apart: Whether the damage advances. Dry air marks a leaf and stops; rot keeps going.
Penn State ExtensionDiagnose brown tips and edges on this Goldfish plant- Flowering stops while the foliage carries on
The goldfish plant looks well in every other respect: green, firm and growing. What is missing is the flowering.
Buds are formed only when the plant has energy to spare. Its source places it in partial shade, and in less light than that the surplus that pays for flowers is missing.
Telling it apart: The rest of the plant. A healthy, leafy plant without flowers is short of light or of a season it needs; a plant that is also yellowing has a root or water problem first.
RHSDiagnose no flowers or dropped buds on this Goldfish plant- Pale, undersized leaves at the tips of the stems
Older leaves on the goldfish plant keep their colour while each new one comes in thinner, with a longer stretch of bare stem below it.
Placed darker than the partial shade its source describes, the plant invests in length rather than leaf, because length is what finds a window.
Telling it apart: What the newest growth looks like beside the oldest. Light changes what arrives next; feeding changes what is already on the plant.
RHSGoldfish plant leaves turning yellow: causes- The older part of the plant yellows while the compost stays soaked
The goldfish plant yellows from the base up. Affected leaves bend rather than snap, and the pot is still heavy several days after watering.
Water held around the roots for days leaves them without air, and a root without air stops working within a week. Its source describes moist but well-drained soil for good reason.
Telling it apart: Lift it from the pot. Firm pale roots mean the water is not the problem; brown soft ones that smell sour mean it is.
RHSGoldfish plant leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Goldfish plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- As a houseplant, give it bright, filtered light, a peat-free potting compost, and soft water.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Keep under glass, or grow indoors as a houseplant, using peat-free potting compost; give bright, filtered light and water with soft water.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Root cuttings, stem cuttingsNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026In spring, root softwood (stem-tip) cuttings.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed, but pinch shoot tips on young plants to promote branching.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Young growth in particular can attract aphids. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Nematanthus gregarius, also called the clog plant or goldfish plant, is a species of flowering plant from Brazil in the gesneriad family, Gesneriaceae, making it a relative of such genera as Streptocarpus and Aeschynanthus.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- SE. BrazilWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026BrazilNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026BrazilRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- epiphyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Epiphyte, Perennial, Shrub; habit creepingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Trailing (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height up to 18 in; width up to 39 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers orange; blooms in summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers orange in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Goldfish plant
More of the Gesneriaceae family
African violetBrown tips on the newest leaves first
Lipstick plantBuds that yellow and drop on a leafy plant
AcajouSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
- No photograph yetBasket VineSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Canterbury-BellSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Cape PrimroseSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Plants with similar care
Bigleaf hydrangeaA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Bird of paradiseCrisp margins that appear in winter
Busy LizzieBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Calla lilyEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
CamelliaBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Cape leadwortCrisp margins that appear in winter
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.