Kalanchoe care
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana belongs to Crassulaceae family. It is an attractive plant with fleshy, scalloped leaves that bear clusters of star-like flowers and comes in a myriad of vibrant colors. Given the right growing conditions this low-maintenance plant will bloom up to 10 weeks. It blooms naturally in late winter to late spring but growers can make it available any time of year as long as it gets 6 weeks of 14 hours of darkness. This succulent plant can tolerate dry soil and low humidity which makes them an ideal indoor plant during the winter.
Care:
Kalanchoe needs bright light, full sun (south window) in the winter and some shade during the heat of summer (east/west window). The fleshy leaves will blush red when exposed to full sun. Grow it in well-drained soil consisting of peat, sand or perlite and sterile soil. Cooler temperatures and bright light will prolong blooming. Remove spent flowers for a neater appearance. When all flowers are spent, enjoy your Kalanchoe as a houseplant.
Water thoroughly, then allow the soil to dry. They are drought tolerant so allow the top half to dry out before watering again. Don’t over water, soggy soil will cause stem and root rot. If the lower leaves start to shrivel and yellow, then the soil is too dry.
Feed a balanced liquid fertilizer every 3 weeks when actively growing and when in bloom.
Problems: Scale, mealy bugs and root mealy bugs , mites
Reblooming : Some feel it is hardly worth the effort. It is difficult but can be done. To rebloom, remove all dead flower stalks and when new growth appears start feeding with a 15-30-15 fertilizer at 1/2 strength in March-October. Kalanchoe, like Poinsettias are short-day flowering plants which require 6 weeks of 14 hr nights and bright light during the day with temperatures of 60F at night and 70F during the day. Blooming should start within 4 months after treatment.
You can also propagate your plant from tip cuttings taken in spring. Root them in a mix of peat moss and coarse sand and place in bright filtered light.
An exciting new variety is the Calandiva, a double-flower that looks like a cluster miniature roses and comes in a variety of colors. It has the same growing requirements as the Kalanchoe.
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I received a small kalanchoe as a gift last year. It is no longer small! What do people usually do with this plant when its branches are in excess of 2 feet each? Tie it to stakes or turn it into a hanging plant? I like it but am a bit bewildered! : )
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I HAVE A ONE YEAR OLD. IS THIS PLANT POISONOUS FOR HIM? I READ ABOUT MITES. IS THIS A PROBLEM FOR INSIDE A HOUSE AND WITH A CHILD.
I live in Ohio can this plant be put in ground to come back in spring?
I have a new blooming Kalanchoe house plant and am wondering if I could put it in a hanging basket on the outside deck for the summer months.
My Kalanchoe plant has developed brown spots on it’s leaves. What is this a sign of and what should I do?
Michelle
I received an orange Kalanchoe plant the last week in April from a florist shop – I just love it – but my flowers started getting pale and eventually started wilting. I cut them off – it looks like I am still getting some flowers/leaves. Is this the time I would put it in the dark for 14 hours for 6 weeks and will it start to bloom again? Or won’t it bloom now until October? Thanks!
I recieved an orange Kalanchoe plant for a gift, and until recently it was doing fine. I accidently left the plant in the car overnight, and due to the summer heat, the entire plant has wilted. Is there anything I can do to bring this plant back?
I see the plant, Kalanchoe is listed as poisionous to cats and dogs. Do you tink it would be poisionous to a miniature sheep?
By chance can you tell me what the Kalanchoe is hardy to? I’ve looked all over for the dangerouse low temperature.
I just got a Kalanchoe for my room as an indoor plant and I live in the tropics, where it’s hot (average 85 degrees F) and humid every day of the year. Would it be better out on the balcony? Would it survive this heat?
I have a plant that I bought and it stated it was a kalanchoe but it does not look like my other one it has light large green flat leaves. the stem is thick and when it gets colder outside the tips of the leaves turn red. could this be another variety
I just received the Kalanchoe plant for Valentines Day, Its a beautiful plant, but after reading all the questions and problems, it seems like a very difficult plant to take care of. Right now it has flowers and no brown spots.
Propagate Kalanchoe
Hello, I also received my Kalanchoe plant as a gift. I do love it but I have a couple of concerns. I repotted it from the green plastic pot it came in to a pot that’s not very wide but extends 6-7 inches below the lowest leaves. Should I repot to a shorter pot? I would also love to propagate the plant, what is the best way to do so and how often should I water the repotted clipping? Thank you very much for your time!
I have a question regarding removing the old blooms from the Kalanchoe plant….everything I read says ‘remove the old blooms’. Does this mean down to the mother plant or to the first set of little leaves? Will those little leaves grow or should they be removed?
Thanks
I live in Western Canada & have just received a Kalachoe plant as a gift. Can I put it outside in a container for the remainder of the Spring & Summer?
Thank-you
I have a Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana that’s probably over 10 years old. It has developed very long bare branches with leaves on the ends. How do I get it to look like a normal potted plant again? Should I cut everything off and let it start over from the ground up? Believe it or not, it’s in bloom now.
ps I’m not sure how a 10 year
old plant will respond to severe pruning.
Thanks for the reply. What about watering? I have a succulant garden in an old bar-b-que, would the Kalanchoe work there & the rain we so often get—would it hurt it?
I have a Pear Cactus doing famously also spreading Sedum.
Hi, you stated that the Kalanchoe plant needs six weeks of 14 hour nights. I am not clear about where the plant should be stored during this time. I keep it as a houseplant now in front of a huge picture window. Should it be moved in the fall, and if so to where?
Thanks,
Teresa
Put it in a room that you don’t use in the evenings, where you don’t turn on the lights.
I rec’d a Kalanchoe as a gift and it is beautiful, however it is very full in the pot it came in and the leaves are touching the soil. I know it’s only to be watered when the soil gets dry and I’ve being doing that but the leaves near the base of the pot are turning yellow and I want to know what to do. Should I replant in a larger pot? What about the yellow and dried out leaves? Thank you
I just got a kalanchoe blossfeldiana I was wondering about pruning. It is my first plant and thought it would be nice to try to keep alive and as a decoration. I looked on other sights and there is not much info out there. I just need to know how to prune, if I should and when to do so?
I rooted a stem cutting and potted it in soil. It grew well for a while, but now most of the lower leaves are wilting. Could it be because of the summer heat or do you think it’s water logged? Also, do Kalanchoes do well in coastal areas?
Hi I received a Kalanchoe as a bday gift from my dad last year. It was very beautiful for several months and eventually lost its bloom. The leave remained thick and green until recently when I noticed that the stems began to appear black. Its not the whole stem but sections. Yet the sections above and below the blackened stem appear very green and healthy. I don’t know if this means that its rotting and I need to cut and treat it. I need advice in order to keep this plant alive. HELP please.
I have a Kalanchoe on my window sill. I’ve had it some months now and the flowers have been plentiful. I haven’t been removing the faded flowers regularly and at present there are a lot of dried flowers which I’ve just removed. There’s plenty new leaf growth on the plant. I didn’t want to overwater but the latest flowers don’t seem to have got off to a good start as they seem to have become dry very quickly. My Kalanchoe is looking quite bare of flowers but I don’t think it’s stopped flowering yet. What can I do?
I was given a kalanchoe that has “white” stuff all over the leaves and stock. I have wiped it off several times but it keeps coming back. Also a couple fo the leaves are turning yellow then brown at the ends and curling up. It is also starting to get “gangly” looking. Need to find out what to do to help this plant.
Hi! I received my Kalanchoe as a mother’s day present from my husband and the plant still have few flowers on July. How should I take care of it if I have it as an outdoor plant and I live in El Centro, CA where during summer the temperature rises to 110 degrees in average? Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi, I just bought a Kalanchoe about a month ago, the flowers were beautiful, but they stop blooming, now I keep it as a green plant in the kitchen by the window where it can get some light from the sun. I live in San Luis, Az. and the temperature gets pretty high here, average of 110 to 115 degrees. I’m afraid to leave it outside because of the heat. The leaves are starting to die and they look saggy, I guess I overwatered the plant, what can I do now. Thank you for your time.
Hi, I can give an advice on how to make a Kalanchoe to rebloom. It’s easier to do than you think. After blooming let the plant rest for a month or two watering it as usual only when the soil gets dry. Then there should be the period of “sleep” for the plant. So you need to put the plant in very “hard” conditions which means the following: put it in a very dark place without any light and stop watering it just at all. (I put mine in the bathroom without windows) The harder condiotions for the plant are the better. This period should last for about a month. Don’t worry, the plant shouldn’t die providing it was healthy before being put in this “prison”. After about a month you can check on the plant to see if it has got the flower stems on it. If it has got them, you can take it out to the sun light and care about it as usual – water and fertalize it regularly. I did this with my plant and it was sucessful, the plant was blooming for several months. I wish you all good luck and nice blooming of your Kalanchoes!
Hi,
Thanks for this post! I am kinda worried because most (though not all) of my kalanchoe flowers have started wilting and have stopped blooming. The leaves are in great condition. I am in Irvine, southern California and I keep the potted plant ouside in the shade and water it twice a week, making sure it drains well. However, I haven’t fertilized it in the 6 weeks since I bought it.
Has it done blooming naturally or am I doing something wrong? Also, how should I prune the flowers?
Thanks for your help!
Hi. I have had my kalanchoe plant for almost a year. I keep it on my desk at work. There has been a lot of growth but some of the stems are curvy – dip down and come back up. Is this due to needing more light?
Save money on plants tip
Greetings and salutations,
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Most plants have just lost their selling power. Others have problems. That’s when I use this website.
I buy $4.99 to $20.00 plants marked down to $.99 to $4.99. Most are usually Kalanchoe at the end of summer. Some others are: mini-tea rose, and gerbera daisy, gloxina, cyclamen…… Good luck, Celeste
Hi, my Kalanchoe is not doing well and I need some urgent advice. It was doing fine until in the summer it got infested (especially the young leaves) with some small white parasites, looking like small white dots, which I assumed were aphides. I sprayed the plant with an insecticide and the parasites were gone. However, they reappeared about 2 months ago and as I had read that some insecticides were actually poisonous to the plant, I decided to wash away the parasites with water. The operation was successful but the plant started to lose leaves very quickly – some leaves get brown and dry out but a large number get light greenish-yellow circular spots and fall off long before they dry out. The situation has deteriorated dramatically over the last weeks and now the few remaining leaves display some white-grey fluffy spots (which I presume are powdery mildew that, as I realise now, must be due to the water I used to clean the leaves and the fact that the pot is situated on a window sill above the radiator, hence humidity and warmth). On top of this, at a closer look I have just detected the presence of the white parasites once again. I am desperate and don’t know what to do to save my plant. This must be a disease or a combination of diseases. Should I cut back the stems? Could you please help? Thanks in advance.
Hi, the insects (white dots) are mostly on the upper side of the leaf surface, few of them are on the lower side of the surface of the youngest leaves. The white-greyish fluffy spots are always on top of the leaf surface.
Hello. I have a question regarding frostbite. Back in the spring a bought a small Kalanchoe plant from a local nursery. I repotted into a larger pot with better drainage and it has done well and really gotten big all summer long. The leave are thick and a beautiful dark green is very full, but never bloomed. It has been very healthy until recently when I forgot to bring my plant indoors on a very cold night. The forcast didn’t indicate frost but low and behold then next morning there it was. My Kalanchoe was on my porch banister rail under the overhang of the porch roof so it wasn’t completely exposed to the frost, but it did suffer quite a bite anyway. Is there anything I can do to revive or treat my plant to help from the frostbite?
Hi!
My Kalanchoe was really flourishing but more recently new leaves have come through deformed. There are browny patches on the leaves which can be wiped off but if left seem to destroy the leaf. The tips of new growth also seem to be under attack from a light brownish substance which feels powdery to touch.
I had 2 cuttings, one that I’ve left where it is and is suffering more than ever, the other I’ve moved to a warmer, darker location which is doing better although the problem is continuing.
Any ideas? Thanks for your expertise
I have one at home and I just want to know I should keep it indoors till the blooms exist or i can put it out every time that i want??!!
Thank u very much in advance.
Yellowing leaves
Hi, I got a Kalanchoe potted plant that bloomed in early summer and now the leaves are starting to turn yellow. The ends of the leaves are dry and brown. It has always been indoors close to a window for sunlight. How can I save my plant? Pls help!
thanks in advance!
Outdoor Kalanchoe care
Hi. I live in Orange County (Southern California). I am planning to plant several Kalanchoes in my backyard which is east facing. Can it survive the outdoors all year round? Also how often will it bloom if planted outside.
I am notoriously terrible with plants. Unfortunately for my grandmother, I am now the primary care-giver to her houseplants. I keep reading that the kalanchoe plant is hardy, but I seem to still be doing it wrong. All 3 plants are set in a windowsill that is bright but mostly indirect light for most of the day. One is flowering but some of its leaves are curling up and the ends are turning black, almost completely random locations on the stalk. The other is doing alright, but the leaves are not as thick as they used to be and isn’t flowering. The third is leggy but I’m scared to death to trim it as it seems to be doing alright. They all have quick draining soil and I run a bit of water over them and let them drain about every other day. Any suggestions?
I purchased my Kalanchoe about 2 weeks ago while it was blooming, brought it home, repotted it, and have had it setting in a window sill with a lot of indirect light. Within the last few days, I’ve noticed that the leaves seem to be drooping a little and that some of them are turning yellow and some have shriveled up. What could be the cause and what can I do to nurse the plant back to health? I’d like to keep it around for many years.