Ok, I have solved it myself by inserting the QwtPlot into a layout:

Qt Code:
  1. QVBoxLayout * layout_plot = new QVBoxLayout(ui_frame_for_plot);
  2.  
  3. // build object of class "Plot", which will plot the 2D surfaces
  4. d_plot = new Plot();
  5. layout_plot->addWidget(d_plot);
  6. d_plot->showSpectrogram(true);
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Now the plot is displayed.