From my perspective, light is my primary source of energy. Without enough of it, I simply cannot muster the resources to produce those beautiful, energy-intensive blooms you love. If I'm sitting on a dark windowsill or deep inside a room, I'm in survival mode, focusing only on growing leaves. My leaves might also become thin, dark green, and stretch out leggily as I desperately reach for any available light source. Please move me to a spot where I can receive plenty of bright, but indirect, light for most of the day. An east-facing window is my ideal home.
I am acutely attuned to the length of the day. I am what you call a "short-day" or "day-neutral" plant, meaning I initiate my bloom cycle when I sense longer periods of uninterrupted darkness. If I am constantly bathed in artificial light at night—from a nearby lamp, streetlight, or even a frequently used television—my internal clock gets confused. I cannot tell that the seasons are changing, so I don't receive the signal to start flowering. To encourage me, ensure I have at least 8 hours of darkness each night to simulate the natural light cycle I crave.
You might think a spacious pot would make me happy, but it actually causes me great stress. My roots are delicate and prefer to be slightly crowded, or "pot-bound." When planted in an overly large home, I expend all my energy growing a massive root system to fill that empty space. All my resources go underground, leaving nothing in reserve for the demanding work of blooming. A good rule for me is a pot that is about one-third the diameter of my leaf spread.
If you are feeding me a fertilizer high in nitrogen, you are telling me to grow leaves, and leaves only. Nitrogen promotes vigorous green growth at the expense of flowers. To encourage blooming, I need a fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus, the middle number on the fertilizer bottle (e.g., 15-30-15). Phosphorus is the nutrient that specifically supports strong root systems and, most importantly, flower production. Please feed me with a balanced or bloom-booster fertilizer every 4-6 weeks during my active growing season.
I hail from the tropical, humid highlands of Tanzania. The air in my modern home, especially with heating or air conditioning, is often painfully dry for me. Low humidity stresses my systems and can cause my buds to dry up and fall off before they ever have a chance to open—a deeply frustrating experience for us both. Placing my pot on a pebble tray filled with water (ensuring my roots are not sitting in the water) or grouping me with other plants can create a much more comfortable microclimate that encourages flowering.
Pouring cold water directly onto my crown and leaves is a shocking, unpleasant experience. It can cause unsightly white, bleached spots on my foliage and can even lead to crown rot, a fatal condition. More subtly, the cold shock can stress me, diverting energy away from blooming. Always water me from below by placing my pot in a saucer of room-temperature water for about 30 minutes. This allows me to drink what I need through my roots without getting my leaves and crown wet.
Supporting old, spent blooms (called deadheading) and maintaining too many offshoots (called suckers) drains my energy. If I am constantly trying to sustain these non-productive parts, I have nothing left for new flower production. By gently removing old flower stalks and carefully pruning away the small suckers that grow from my sides, you allow me to redirect all my vitality into creating magnificent new blooms from my central crown.
