Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Lipstick Plant (Aeschynanthus radicans)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Lipstick plant, Lipstick vine, Basket vine.

More about lipstick plant

About Lipstick Plant

Aeschynanthus radicans · also called Lipstick plant, Lipstick vine · flowering

The lipstick plant is a trailing tropical epiphyte from Gesneriaceae, grown for cascading stems tipped with tubular scarlet flowers that emerge from dark "lipstick-tube" buds. Its one defining need is a cool winter rest near 15°C with reduced water, which sets the buds that drive its showy summer bloom indoors.

Cold limit: USDA 10a-11b (frost-free; grown outdoors only in truly tropical climates) (18-27°C)

Watch for — No flowers: Almost always caused by too little light or by skipping the cool, drier winter rest near 15°C that sets the flower buds. Give brighter indirect light and a genuine dormancy period to trigger summer bloom.

What lipstick plant's hardiness rating actually means

Lipstick Plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10a-11b (frost-free; grown outdoors only in truly tropical climates) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Lipstick Plant has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for lipstick plant as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can lipstick plant go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when lipstick plant can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Lipstick Plant hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is lipstick plant cold hardy?

Lipstick Plant is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Lipstick Plant can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10a-11b (frost-free; grown outdoors only in truly tropical climates)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature lipstick plant can survive?

What hardiness zone is lipstick plant?

Lipstick Plant is rated USDA 10a-11b (frost-free; grown outdoors only in truly tropical climates) and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can lipstick plant survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to lipstick plant below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.