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getting a goldfish plant to flower. . . (pic)

15 years ago

Hi

I got this plant from my neighbor when it was in very bad shape. I successfully nursed it back to health. It has only had 1 flower (fish) on it since I got it, quite some time ago. Since then I can't seem to get it to flower for me.

It lives in front of an east facing window,(the sheers don't block the light as it appears) it goes thru water pretty fast (every 4 - 5 days), maybe due to the clay pot it is in. I started feeding it w/ Eleanor's VF-11 everytime I water for the past month. Before that it didn't get fed much. It grows good as far as new leaves. I keep it trimmed back so it doesn't touch the table (and DH hits it when he opens his laptop as you can see in the photo).

{{gwi:71253}}

Any opinions here? Thanks to any and all.

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Comments (6)

maidinmontana
Original Author
15 years ago
Update, I just took the plant out of the basket which I haven't done for quite sometime, and I noticed there are roots coming out of the bottom of the pot, do these plants protest to being root bound? Should I repot it, it is in a clay pot, should I put it in a plastic pot? How big of a pot should I go? I guess there was more to it than I originally thought.
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Mentha
15 years ago
I would put it in a more sunny spot if you have it, a south window if possible. They also like temps above 60 degrees at all times. You might want to put it in a hanging basket, since they bloom on new growth. If you keep cutting it off, you won't get blooms.
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I can't tell if it is a Columnea or a Nematanthus from the picture. Both are sometimes called Goldfish plants. Nematanthus are also called Flying Dolphin Plants. Puglvr1's plant above is a Nematanthus. The plant in my profile pic is a Columnea (a NOID that I think is a C. gloriosa). It's really easy to tell them apart by the flowers, but you can usually tell by leaves too. I haven't grown Nematanthus if that's what it is, but I do have two Columneas. First, your plant looks very leggy to me. A lack of light would keep it from flowering. I grow mine in a northish corner window (a French door and a floor-to ceiling picture window) that gets a ton of indirect light all year long. I take them outside and hang them on my southeast-facing covered porch when temps are above 50F at night. I also think you're watering too much. In the summer, I keep them damp, but not wet. When they were in a 50/50 Pro-Mix/perlite media, I watered them about once a week or so in the summer. In the winter, I let it dry out completely before watering (about every other week or so), but you have to be careful about that because not all of them like to get that dry. I killed a C. "Aladdin's Lamp" by letting it get too dry. Keep in mind that these are epiphytes in the wild, so they grow on the side of trees. Lots of air around the roots. I use Better-Gro Orchid Plus Fertilizer on mine. I use a TINY bit with each watering (a little less than 1/4 tsp to a gallon) year round. If your gallon of water is blue, it's too much. Can you post a close-up of the leaves?
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birdsnblooms
15 years ago
Debi, your GF is beautiful! It's huge. Wowee!
Removing from a basket was a good idea; some baskets tend to rot depending on the material.

I bought a Goldfish plant, (nowhere as nice as yours) last spring. It's in a 4" plastic pot, totally rootbound, stopped blooming some time in December. So, I feel they're more likely to bloom when rootbound.

Like Mentha says, more light, and perhaps a blooming fertilizer? Toni
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greattigerdane
15 years ago
I agree about giving it more direct light.I bought a new one in small hanging basket, and as of yet, no flowers, but the one I had before was hanging in a south window and it had lots of blooms!!!

Billy Rae
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puglvr1
15 years ago
MM...What a gorgeous Gold fish plant!! The leaves are so healthy, you did an awesome job nursing it back to health!!

I have a small 4" plant, a couple of cuttings last year. I have it outside under some palm trees(I live in Fl) where it gets some filtered sun a few hours a day(never direct sun). Mine didn't like direct Fl summer sun (too harsh).It has been blooming off and on for the last several months. I don't think it will ever reach your size though,lol. I fertilize it every two weeks from March thru Oct(my zone). Good Luck!
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maidinmontana
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you Toni & Pug. Hmmm, south window huh? My only S window is in my guest bedroom. How 'bout a west window? I may be able to finangle that. I guess I'll give it more sun and see what happens before I repot it. And also quit trimming it. Now that it's out of the basket and won't be whre DH can bump it I will be able to just let it grow as it chooses. Thanks to everyone :) Happy Spring ~
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