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desertsusie64

my goldfish plant won't bloom

desertsusie64
9 years ago

I have had my goldfish plant for over a year. It is healthy and bushy. The plant is on a side wall of my solarium.I live in New Mexico so humidity is just not something I can provide. I have started [1 month] feeding it a 10-15-10 liquid plant food when I water. I still see no blooms. Any suggestions?

Comments (13)

  • puglvr1
    8 years ago

    I am very new to this plant myself...was told it needed to stay in bright indirect light and water when its slightly dry...I fertilize it weakly "weekly"...mine is blooming now.

    Good luck with yours!


  • desertsusie64
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Thanks, I,ll try to feed weakly weekly!

  • Roxanne Belecque-Gravelle
    8 years ago

    This is my goldfish plant. It hasn't had flowers in about 8 years and I have had it for about 12 years. It is very nice in colour and drinks a mini ball of water a day. I always left it in front of this window, which receives the morning sun. I should also mention that I live 4 hours north of Toronto, Ontario, so our climate varies

    I just transplanted it into a bigger pot last week to freshen up the soil in hopes that this would help. Any ideas would help! Thanks gang :-)

  • puglvr1
    8 years ago

    Hi Roxanne...its a very pretty plant and certainly looks very healthy!! Like I said I do not know very much about them...I've only had mine for almost a year...but do you think its possible that its not blooming because it gets too much water? I let mine dry out a few days and then water it well...it sounds like yours stays wet/moist all day long...it could be why its not blooming...again this is just a guess? Maybe someone else that's more experience with this plant will chime in...Good luck!!

  • Roxanne Belecque-Gravelle
    8 years ago

    It's possible. I've only been watering it on a daily basis for about 1 year though and I still didn't have flowers on it before that when I used to water it every other day or so. (before I got the watering bulb) I will try to decrease its water intake and see :-) Thanks for the insight publvr1

  • puglvr1
    8 years ago

    You're so welcome and truly hope it works!! Also I would guess the more "light" you can give it the better chances it will bloom...espcially since you grow yours inside. Since mine is outside under large Oak trees and is in shade most of the time...it does get very bright indirect light most of the day...

    Good luck! Your plant is way too pretty not to bloom...fingers crossed

  • ashley05
    8 years ago

    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?

  • Roxanne Belecque-Gravelle
    8 years ago

    Hi Ashley05. My plant is the same as puglvr1. Its flowers are the exact same as well. Not like the flowers from your profile pic at all. Maybe I am giving it too much water? I will water it once a week or just ensure the soil is moist and not too wet. When I used to water it less, it didn't look as healthy as it does now, so I thought I wasn't watering it enough. It seems like nothing I do gets it to bloom lol

    As far as lighting, it sits in a north/east facing window which receives direct sun for a few hours in the am, then indirect sunlight for the rest of the day.

    As for the watering bulbs, I thought they were meant to only 'feed' the plant water when it needed it? I guess it doesn't and can still give it too much?


  • ashley05
    8 years ago

    It's a Nematanthus then :-) The leaves in the new picture look good to me. It sounds like it should be getting enough light. The ones right in front of the first picture still look leggy to me. Do you turn the plant regularly? That might help.


    I'm not sure how those bulbs work. I've never used one. I am a terrible overwaterer, so I am afraid to try anything like that. I usually stick my finger in and when it feels dry to about my second knuckle, I give it a good soaking.

  • ashley05
    8 years ago

    I just thought of something else. Some plants will only flower on new growth. I'm not sure if this is one of them. Is it branching? Maybe a trim would help?

  • nahetzel
    8 years ago

    I agree with Ashley about the watering and the trimming.

  • Patti King Gould
    6 years ago

    I have a Goldfish plant with bright orange flowers and gave one to my sister. We know they say they should get indirect light but we both put ours outside in full sunlight in the summer. Both of our plants are completely covered with flowers. I feed my with Miracle grow every 2 weeks in the summer. Maybe once or twice I do every week when there are a lot of buds.