Kalanchoeis a very attractive potted plant with beautifully colored flowers. It can enjoy its beauty for a long time, provided that we take care of it properly. See what the correctcare for home-grown kalanchoe looks like , what are the bestkalanchoe varieties for pot growingand whether amateur breeding is possiblekalanchoe reproductionat home. Find out how your Kalanchoe will grow he althy and bloom profusely for a long time!
Kalanchoe - single-flower variety
Kalanchoe - home care
The homeland of Kalanchoe is Madagascar. This location forced the development of specific adaptive features characteristic of a group of plants called succulents.Kalanchoe is an easy-care plant , provided of course we meet its basic environmental requirements.
The most important thing is to provide plenty of sunlight. The bestkalanchoegrowing site will be the windowsill of the south or south-west window. In the sun, the edges of the leaves will turn red. Sufficient light, especially in winter, is very important for flowering. An insufficiently lit plant will not bloom again.
The most commonmistake when caring for Kalanchoe is watering too much.Kalanchoe does not require a lot of water as it stores it in the leaves and fleshy stems. These potted plants with decorative flowers should only be watered when the soil in the pot is dry from the previous watering.Usually not more often than every 10-14 days in winter and every 6 days in summer. The symptom of too much water in the substrate iswilting of the leaves of kalanchoe(especially in winter). Flooded roots rot and the plant dies.
Fertilizing kalanchoeis recommended from May to August. Once every two weeks, we add a multi-component liquid fertilizer for flowering plants to the water. This type of fertilizer is offered by the majority of well-known fertilizer manufacturers, such as Biopon, Florovit or Pokon.
Anotherimportant factor in the cultivation of Kalanchoe is the constant air temperature , between 18-22 ° C. In winter, the temperature of the room in which the Kalanchoe is located may be slightly lower - approx. 16 ° C. Too low temperature (below 15 ° C) in combination with too moist a substrate quickly leads to rotting of the roots.
Kalanchoe - full-flowered variety
In winter, the Kalanchoe potshould not be placed near radiators, as this causes the substrate to dry out too quickly and accelerates water loss through the leaves.If the Kalanchoe pot is placed in a strongly heated room, we can increase the air humidity within the plant by placing the pot in a larger pot filled with moist peat.
Note!Kalanchoe leaves must not be sprinkled with water or polished.
An important element of Kalanchoe care is removing the tops of the shootsThis treatment is performed in May. Its purpose is to ensure more branching and more flowering in the next season. Unpatched specimens quickly lose their attractive appearance, as Kalanchoe shoots tend to grow excessively in length.
Kalanchoe inflorescences , in the form of umbels placed on the tops of fleshy twigs, appear in the winter months - from December to February. After flowering, remove the inflorescences. We prune them just above the topmost pair of leaves. After flowering is completed (March-April), if necessary, we can transplant the kalanchoe into a larger pot.We will recognize this moment by the fact that the plant, after removing the flowers, produces only small leaves.
Good to know!Kalanchoe is very sensitive to the presence of ethylene in the air. Ethylene is the gas that produces fruit during ripening, and it is also found in cigarette smoke. This gas causes the flowers to turn pale and wilt, and the leaves of the Kalanchoe to turn yellow and fall. That is why the kalanchoe should not be placed in a small kitchen where fruit is stored, or in a very smoky room.
Breeding kalanchoe
Kalanchoe reproducesvery easily and quickly, using for this purpose the top shoot fragments obtained at the time of pinching out. We select seedlings with at least two pairs of leaves and 5-7 cm long. Remove the lower pair of leaves and cut the ends of the cuttings diagonally with a sharp knife for about 3-5 mm. Place the prepared seedlings in pots with a substrate for cacti or in a mixture of ordinary garden soil with peat and sand (in a proportion of 3: 1: 1).We water the planted seedlings and place the pots in a bright, warm place (21-22 ° C).Kalanchoe seedlings take rootvery quickly and after 3 weeks we have new plants. The plants obtained in this way will bloom in February or March of the following year.
The second way to reproduce kalanchoe is to sow seeds.Breeding kalanchoe from seedsis more difficult and less effective. This method is mainly used by breeders, but for hobby purposes, we can also try to propagate the kalanchoe at home.
To obtain kalanchoe seedsit is necessary to pollinate the flowers. At home, we use a soft brush for this purpose. When the flowers are in full bloom, gently take pollen from the stamens of one plant with a brush and transfer it to the flower post of the other. After flowering, do not remove the inflorescences, but wait for the seeds to form.
Kalanchoe seeds are ready for sowingin March-April. The collected seeds are sown directly onto a moist substrate (mixture for succulents).Place the dishes with sown seeds in a sunny place and keep the temperature in the room at 21-22 ° C. Moisten the substrate with a sprayer only when it is dry, to prevent the growth of mold on the seeds. After about 10 days, the seeds begin to germinate. After another 6-8 weeks, when the seedlings are about 3 cm tall, they should be transplanted into pots with cactus substrate.
Kalanchoe - a botanical variety with bell-shaped flowers, hanging
The most beautiful varieties of kalanchoe
In recent years, manynew kalanchoe varieties have appeared on the marketNew varieties with full flowers, deceptively reminiscent of tiny florets, sold under the brand name Calandiva, Rosalina or Rose Flower. They practically replaced cultivars with single flowers (there are 4 petals in a single tubular flower).
Among thefull-flowered kalanchoe varietiesthe most interesting are: 'Bisset' (blooms in salmon), 'Cher' (carmine flowers) 'Casablanca' (miniature variety with white flowers) 'Don Juan '(red variety with velvety petals) and' Weaver '(light pink petals with a dark pink base).
Particularly attractivesingle-flowered kalanchoe varietiesare: 'Monaro' and 'Lican' (purple bloom), 'Meru' (light pink petals with a dark base), 'Klabat' (orange petals with yellow base) and 'Wevano' (dark pink flowers with a light tint of the tops of the petals).
An interesting fact is the less available and less popularbotanical varieties of Kalanchoe , characterized by flowers in the shape of drooping bells, a soaring habit and narrow serrated leaves. Examples of such varieties are: 'Lucky Bells' (red flowers) and 'Magic Bells' (yellow flowers).
When looking for interestingkalanchoe for potting , you should also be interested in the species having healing properties, widely used in natural medicine. I mean the world-famous Kalanchoe Pinnata and Kalanchoe Daigremontiana, occurring in Poland under the name of the Featherfish.
MSc Eng. Agnieszka Lach
