Lipstick plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called Basket Vine and Lipstick Vine.
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.
H1A — warmer than 15°C 15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam; pH Acid or Alkaline 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
- Buds that yellow and drop on a leafy plant
Buds appear on the lipstick plant and then fall while still closed, often within days of the plant being moved, turned or left to dry out.
A bud is the most expensive thing on the plant. Kept below the partial shade its source names, or moved while in bud, the lipstick plant abandons buds before it abandons leaves.
Telling it apart: A fallen bud under a magnifying glass. Insects or scarring point at pests; a clean bud points at a change or at water.
RHSLipstick plant leaves turning yellow: causes- Dry, curled edges on leaves near a heater
Leaves on the side of the lipstick plant nearest a heater or vent brown at the edges while those on the far side stay clean.
Dry air takes water from the leaf surface continuously, and the tissue at the edge is last in the queue for what the roots send up. Penn State Extension notes there is no single humidity figure that suits every indoor plant.
Telling it apart: Look at the pot rim and the soil surface. A white crust points at a build-up from tap water or feed rather than at the air. Penn State also reports misting and pebble trays do little to the humidity around a plant.
Penn State ExtensionLipstick plant brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Long bare stretches of stem between leaves
Nothing browns and nothing drops; the lipstick plant simply makes less, and what it makes is stretched and thin.
A plant stretches when the light is short of what it evolved for. Its source describes partial shade, and a room darker than that sets the plant reaching.
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.
RHSDiagnose leggy growth on this Lipstick plant- Yellow, limp leaves at the base
A sour smell from the compost is common on a lipstick plant, and the lowest leaves on each stem come away when pulled. The surface may look dry while everything beneath it is not.
Soil described as moist but well-drained is a drainage instruction as much as a watering one. Compost that stays saturated suffocates the fine roots that do the drinking.
Telling it apart: The soil, not the leaf. Wet compost under yellowing leaves points one way and dry compost the other, and the leaves alone will not tell you which.
RHSLipstick plant leaves turning yellow: causes
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Lipstick plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- Water often, but make sure the potting soil drains well.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Between mid spring and late summer, water generously and feed monthly with a general liquid feed at half strength. Give little water in winter.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Feeding
- In the growing season, a dilute liquid fertilizer (an orchid one, for example) promotes leaves and flowers.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Between mid spring and late summer, water generously and give a general liquid feed at half strength each month.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- It is easy to propagate and share: take a soft stem cutting with three nodes.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Root softwood cuttings during spring, or semi-ripe cuttings during summer.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Trim weak or overlong shoots when needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by aphids, mealybugs and scale insects.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Can be troubled by mealybugs and aphids. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Aeschynanthus radicans is a vine-like plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is native to the humid tropics of the Malay Peninsula south to Java.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- S. Myanmar to W. & C. MalesiaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Peninsula Thailand to W. & Central MalesiaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Thailand to MalesiaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- epiphyte or lithophyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Epiphyte, Herbaceous Perennial, Vine; habit arching, cascadingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Trailing (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 12–36 in; width up to 8 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers red/burgundy; blooms in fall, spring, summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers red in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Lipstick plant
Other Aeschynanthus
More of the Gesneriaceae family
African violetBrown tips on the newest leaves first
Goldfish plantCrisp margins that appear in winter
AcajouSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Canterbury-BellSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Cape PrimroseSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
Chocolate SoldierSourced 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.