Getting Started with Kalanchoe

Let me start by saying, "Kalanchoe's are very easy to take care, the only tough part is to pronounce it the way your local garden center employee does". You don't need to throw the plants after the blooms are dead. Remove the dried up flowers and take care of the plant following the instructions below and you will have bright long lasting vibrant flowers blooming year after year.

Kalanchoe are part of the succulents family, just like other succulents they are arid condition loving plants and are typically low maintenance. Even though there are many species under the Kalanchoe genus, the ones that we find in Department stores right around the time for holidays along with poinsettia's are Kalanchoe blossfeldiana.

Kalanchoe Beginners Guide and Tips. 

Pot & Soil : Kalanchoe have a shallow root system and thrive well in a good draining potting mix. They should be potted in small pots to avoid root rot and also it makes it easy to move them around the house as and when you want. Cacti/succulent soil mix can be used as substrate and you can add some extra perlite/peat moss/sand along with a  few pebbles at the bottom of the pot to increase drainage. While choosing pots, go for ones which have a draining hole at the bottom to avoid water stagnation.

Light : Kalanchoe do well in bright light but no more than 2 hours in direct sunlight. Look for etiolation, If your plant is having large gaps between each nodes with thin stems, it probably isn’t getting enough light. Fix this by moving the plant to a brighter part of the house next to a sunlit window. Read the rebloom section to learn more about on how to take care of them during winters.

Watering : Avoid rookie mistake by over-watering, let the surface get completely dry between each watering just like in the case of succulents. In winters you need to place the plants in rest so that they can conserve energy and recover for the blooming so reduce the frequency of watering.

Rebloom : Kalanchoe are photoperiodic, which means they need to have specific light conditions to get them to trigger budding. Essentially they are short day plants and naturally bloom when the nights are cooler and are longer than 14 hours. We can force Kalanchoe to bloom indoors by simulating their natural conditions, during winter keep them in dark for more than 14 hours in a given 24 hour period. For the 14 hours they should not be exposed to any sort of artificial or natural light. Also reduce watering during these times. The flower buds usually appear on 5th or 6th week after which you can start increasing the duration of light and resume watering.

Propagation : Kalanchoe are very easy to propagate, Once all the flowers have dried up and the plant has put up new leaves in spring you can get some stem cuttings. Prepare the cutting by removing the leaves on the last node and place the plant on a piece of dry paper until the cut has healed, this may take anywhere between 1 to 2 weeks. Once the cut is well healed you can plant them and increase your collection or gift the new plants to your family and friends.

Fertilization: In the growing season feed the plant with a liquid fertilizer and stop fertilizing during the winter months when the plants are resting. Resume once the buds are formed.