Q.My question: is it safe to cut the vines on a flowering goldfish plant now or should I wait until it stops flowering?
I have a goldfish plant that is hanging in front of a south-facing window, over my kitchen sink, where it gets lots of moisture, and I only water it about once every 2 weeks. I have had it for several years, and it always flowered in spring/summer, except for last year, when it only produced 1 “fish”. I took it down, cut it back and replanted it in fresh soil. It started producing “fish” in April 2017, and flowered all summer. The vines are very long, and I had to wind them back up into the plant, or cut them. I didn’t want to cut them because I thought it would stop flowering, so some of the vines, if let down, would be about 6-8 feet long. For about a month, it seemed to be going dormant, then suddenly it started flowering again, even more abundantly than ever. I have friends who want cuttings. I don’t have any photos yet, but plan to take some soon. My question: is it safe to cut the vines now or should I wait until it stops flowering?
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
You will want to wait. The reason I say this is because you are trying to get cuttings. The hormones responsible for flowering will inhibit rooting. So it would be best to wait until the blooms drop to do this. It would not hurt the vine, but would drastically decrease cutting success.
