changes in goldfish plant

18 years ago

Hi everyone,

I have a fairly young GF plant. By that I mean, when I bought it last Feb., it was in a 4 inch pot and blooming. I potted up to a 6 inch pot in late Spring because the roots were circling the 4 inch pot. It has filled out nicely, but has not bloomed again. I'm sure the roots are still filling the pot.

Last night while inspecting my goldfish plant, I noticed that the newest leaves are now developing reddish undersides. None of the older leaves have this marking. I wondered if this is a sign that it's going to flower soon? Probably just wishful thinking on my part.

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Comments (5)

irina_co
18 years ago
Hello - Growhappy,

Goldfish - you mean Nematanthus? (It can be confusing - in some stores you get Columnea with the same tag).

In my experience it likes to be rootbound - after it filled your 6 inch pot - now it is ready to bloom. They like lots of sun, BTW.

Keep growing them happy

Irina
GrowHappy
Original Author
18 years ago
Hello Irina,

Yes, it's Nematanthus for sure. When yours is ready to bloom, do the top most leaves change colors? Meaning, do they take on a reddish hue underneath?

GH
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what you have witnessed in you oranda is very common. goldfish often change color with age, it has little or nothing to do with any environmental factors. let me clarify. you cannot change a fishes color by changing the environment. you can enhance it by feeding it color enhancing food, exposing it to UV light or keeping it in green water. but you can no more change its color than you can change your own. that said, i was a toehead when i was a child and now have dark hair. goldfish go through stages as well. they all start clear, change to a muddy color then the adult colors begin to show at about 6 months to over a year in age. from my experience orange is the final color to manifest itself and often comes after passing through a black stage. some fish take over a year to change and if the fish has been well fed, what you think is an old fish can be quite young. next time you are at a large chain pet store, take a look at the feeder gold fish. you will see many in various stages or coloration. you will notice many with brown to black stripes down the back. this will never last. from you description, it sounds like yours had a similar dorsal striping. the color usually stablizes from the belly up with the lips, dorsal fin and tail being the last to hold juvinile coloring. chocolate and black are not stable colors in most gold fish. black moors and some black ranchu lines are about the only places where black appears stable. chocolate orandas can be stable as well as not. you never can tell especially with goldfish sold in the US. i have had fish change too. whay i thought was a chocolate lionhead changed to black and gold and then for no apparent reason turned solid gold with a dark red wen (head growth) in a matter of a week. he is a more beautiful fish now but not what i bought. he was 5 inches when he changed. i have another that was supposed to be black, turned red, then dark violet with orange belly, who knows if she is done. i have yet another red and white that occasionally gets black stripes in its tail that last a month or two. they are just funny that way. i would bet yours will stay orange. orange is a very stable color, but you never know. you can enhance the orange through lighting, yes, the tan (the orange is melanin just like our skin) or through diet. a deep dark red is a sign of good health. if you fish were to fade that might be a sign of something going wronglike us they get a little pasty when they are ill, stressed or asleep. how the fish acts, swims and feeds is a better sign of health than color or changing there off. and a parasite such as ick will not affect the color other than a temporary fade no more than the flu will change the color of your eyes. you fish is obviously healthy as the color change is a sign of maturity which requires health. don't be alarmed, all is well. also i disagree with the salt is bad for goldfish. pond/aquarium salt is very beneficial if not vital to their health and development. follow the instructions. you can put them in 3% salt solution to medicate them or quarantine a new fish to make sure they are not caring anything from the nasty pet store tankÂfar safer than any medicine. again follow the instructions. don't know where the no salt advice came from, it is standard practice by top breeders and collectors who keep fish worth more than my car.
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irina_co
18 years ago
I think it depends on the variety and amount of sun.
My noname nematanthus with dark leaves does exactly what you describe when it is happy and ready to bloom. I didn't see it on N. Christmas Holly. Yeah - N. Nervosus seems to have reddish tips too - since it started blooming - it blooms all the time but not very abundantly.

I think they are very tough and provided enough sun, loose soil and not too much water - just grow happy, leaves are shiny and very attractive - just do not let them grow too long stems - they start getting bald - just snip the tips and stick them in a new pot - the more the better - and an attractive new plant is ready in no time.

Irina
jon_d
18 years ago
The coloring up of the leaves is a good sign but doesn't have anything to do with the plant's blooming cycle. It indicates that the plant is getting good light, and cool temperatures. But, that is a good sign for flowering as well. Nematanthus are quite hardy, doing well outdoors in my cool sub-tropical winter climate. They even flower all winter, in temperatures that only briefly dip into the upper 30's, and warm into the 50's and low 60's during daylight. The seem to like regular watering, feedling and good humidity for flowering. In my dry summers, I can't seem to get them to flower well. It may be that they dry out too quickly and I don't water them enough. Or it may be a more direct consequence of low humidity triggering a non-flowering period. In their native habitat the low humidity season would be in winter, whereas here it is in summer. On the coast here, the summer temperatures are cool and humid, and nematanthus are even easier to grow there.

In the late 70's my best friend was hybridizing nematanthus and his hybrids are still being grown. He was aiming for a dense ever-blooming compact type plant. His hybrids have small flowers, close to the stem, and small shiny foliage. They include 'Christmas Holly', 'Black Gold', 'Freckles', 'Saturn'. The first two are the most commonly seen. Black Gold has dark bronzy foliage and light orange flowers. His hybrids were based primarily on gregarius and wettsteinii.

Personally I especially like the oddballs of the nematanthus group--those with big flowers on long dangling pedicels (up to 6" long). But these are big growers, with big leaves, spare branching, and needing of a goodly amount of space. Of these, the species, fluminensis, crassifolia and brasiliensis are the best. Fritchii is another--its flowers are a little smaller than these three but dangle on very long pedicels. The first has beautiful large dark glossy succulent leaves with a big maroon blotch on the backs. Its flowers are bright yellow on 1" pedicels. Grown with lots of pinching makes a choice specimen.

With nematanthus you must be patient. They may not flower for a year or two and then suddenly burst into heavy bloom for a very long season. Meanwhile, enjoy the foliage. I grow mine in sizes up to 8" baskets.

Jon
irina_co
18 years ago
Jon...

You are living in the gesneriad paradise. Streptocarpus - outside, nematanthus - outside - you can afford to have them in a bucket size pot with 6 feet spread stems...

Green from envy

Irina

changes in goldfish plant

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irina_co

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changes in goldfish plant

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irina_co

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