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Aeschynanthus speciosus

Basket plant

A large trailing lipstick plant with fleshy dark green leaves up to 10 cm long and clusters of 6–20 tubular flowers about 10 cm long, shading from orange-yellow to orange-red. It is an epiphyte of the forests of Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and southern Thailand, and most wild records come from the lower montane forest around Mount Kinabalu at about 1,000–1,800 m. That habitat is mild, very humid and wet all year, so it does best with bright shade, warm days, cool nights and steady moisture.

Aeschynanthus speciosus
Photo: C T Johansson, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows as an epiphyte, trailing from branches and trunks in humid forest, mostly in lower montane forest where mist and rain keep the air moist all year.

Records range from 150 to 1,829 m, with a median of 1,372 m, so most plants grow in cool, humid lower montane forest. A few lowland records exist.

BorneoPeninsular MalaysiaSumatraJavaThailand

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 3.0 licence, unmodified.