Kalanchoe: home care and basic types of the family

If there is a desire to revitalize your house with indoor plants, then Kalanchoe will be a great option. Its species have more than 200 names, and among them there are medicinal varieties. Below is all the information about Kalanchoe, home care, what diseases can affect the flower.

Kalanchoe flower: types and description

Caring for Kalanchoe at home is not difficult. Here are the most popular perennial species:

• Kalanchoe Degremon. In the conditions of the apartment it reaches a length of up to 70 cm, has plain jagged sheets. The juice of the plant has healing properties in the treatment of rhinitis, sinusitis, etc. The variety is unpretentious, quickly gives children, roots and even blooms with miniature bells;
• Kalanchoe pinnate - another medicinal variety. Leaves are rounded, plain green. Outwardly they resemble feathers, hence the name;
• Kalanchoe tubal or tubiflora. It forms a single stem up to a meter long, leaves and flowers are twisted into a tube;
• Kalanchoe Magnini - ampelous flowering bryophyllum. The flowers may be orange or red;

Kalanchoe Degremona

• Kalanchoe Blossfeld. The most popular variety in stores is most often found with the inscription "Kalanchoe mix" or "Kalandiva." The last series was bred by breeders. The flower has 32 petals, so it looks like miniature roses. With proper care, the plant blooms continuously for up to four months. Kalanchoe Kalandiva can have red, pink, orange and white flowers. Bushes reach a length of up to 50 cm, there are also more compact varieties (Rosalina). There is also a series of Grands with larger inflorescences;
• Kalanchoe Fedchenko. Succulent reaches up to 60 cm in length, fleshy leaves are dark green with a pink border. In intense sunlight, a hue spreads across the entire sheet plate;
• Tomentosa. In the species, the stem is covered with hairs. This decorative Kalanchoe is often used for street gardening;
• Kalanchoe Laciniata. A common type of room, the popular name is "deer horns." The leaves are elongated with a fairly dense surface.

Kalanchoe pinnate

This is not the whole list, because, as mentioned above, the family has more than 200 species.

Kalanchoe Laciniata

Kalanchoe Kalandiva: home care

Decorative varieties of Kalanchoe are great for landscaping a home. In addition to beautiful flowering, the plant benefits - it cleans the air of harmful toxins. However, many do not know the intricacies of caring for a flower. Result - the bush does not bloom and stretches. Kalanchoe care is as follows:

• the temperature of the content is not important, if we are not talking about extreme drops to minus indicators. The plant feels great both in heat and at temperatures up to 0 ° C. Some hold a flower pot on the street from May to September;
• Kalanchoe lighting prefers quite bright. It is best to choose the sunniest places, like all succulents, this species is hardy even in the southern regions of the country. Without normal lighting, kidney laying is not possible;
• watering is carried out depending on weather conditions. In the hot season, it is best to increase the amount of water, the plant is watered 2 times a week. In late autumn and winter, if there is no additional lighting, the frequency of watering should be reduced to 2 times a month;
• as for humidity, in conditions of too dry air, yellow dry spots or the invasion of a spider mite can be observed on the leaves. It is useless to spray the sheets, as due to the smooth surface, the water just slides down. It is best to put a jug of water next to it or put wet expanded clay in a pan. It is worth noting that such cases are quite rare, since Kalanchoe does not have special requirements for air humidity;
• soil is best purchased for succulents. Sand is added for greater looseness, and a small amount of humus is added for nutrition. Fertilizers should be applied no more than once every three months. The plant immediately responds to an excess of fertilizing: you can see yellowing and wrinkling of leaves.

How Kalanchoe propagates

There are two ways to propagate a plant - seeds and cuttings. The first method is longer, but the resulting copy has more stamina. Good for rare species. Germination of seeds is as follows:

1. The loose soil is made up.
2. A small layer of earth is placed in small containers.
3. Seeds are laid out on top.
4. Sprinkled with a thin layer of soil.
5. Next, the ground with seeds is sprayed and covered with a film. It’s best to pick up a sufficiently lit place without drafts.

As for the cuttings, the home indoor varieties of Kalandiva, Blossfeld, etc., perfectly reproduce even from one leaf. Sometimes on an adult plant you can see aerial roots, in which case the stalk is cut and placed in loose soil. A small cup is ideal. Pour down the drainage layer. In a week you will be able to notice new shoots.

Aerial roots in cuttings

If the stalk is cut without roots, then it must be prepared: the cut is dried for half an hour. Next, the process is placed in light soil with a good drainage layer and put the container in a sunny place. In the first days, you can notice a decrease in leaf turgor, but as soon as the root growth begins, they will return to normal.

Landed cuttings

Almost all varieties, including medicinal ones, are easily propagated by cuttings. If we are talking about a sheet, it is important to completely cut off the damaged and rotted places, and then place one third in the ground. It is preferable to build a greenhouse from a bag or a transparent lid.

How to achieve flowering

Thus, caring for Kalanchoe is simple, but why do many gardeners complain about the lack of flowering? How to care for Kalanchoe in this case:

• the plant must often be trimmed and pinched shoots. It is after such procedures that flower buds are laid, in addition, the bush will be lush and more compact. If the flower began to stretch in length, it is worth paying attention to lighting, it may not be enough. Basically, pruning will be enough to add splendor;
• another secret of forcing flowers is strictly limited daylight hours. 7-8 hours of bright lighting are enough, then the pot is covered with a box, bucket or other suitable object for 10 hours. After a couple of weeks of manipulation, peduncles will be noticed. It is best at this time to slightly increase the frequency of watering;
• A common mistake of many gardeners is to arrange a flower drought. In nature, many plants can easily tolerate the lack of moisture, but in an apartment, even succulents can die. The soil should completely dry between watering, but its complete drying will lead to the death of the root system. Further, with abundant watering, Kalanchoe simply decays, it is no longer necessary to talk about flowering.

The use of peat tablets

Transfer

If we are talking only about bought Kalanchoe, then you need to transplant it in a couple of days. Shop soil is absolutely not suitable for growing plants, as a rule, it is used only for transportation purposes. You need to purchase a pot that is suitable in size, expanded clay, soil for succulents, sand or perlite. It is not superfluous to add a little activated carbon to the soil for additional disinfection. It will help to avoid rotting, reproduction of some microorganisms.

Expanded clay is poured at the bottom of the pot with a layer of 2 cm. It is better to choose not small balls, but rather large ones. Top is added a little soil. As for the pot, it is preferable to plastic. In ceramic, it is easy to subcool or overheat the root system. The size of the container should be a couple of centimeters larger than the transport.

The plant itself needs to be removed and the roots carefully removed from peat. To facilitate work, they are placed in water. The soil will completely go into the liquid. It is necessary to dry a little Kalanchoe on a paper towel. Next, the plant is placed in a pot and carefully sprinkled with earth. It’s best to tamp it a little as the soil settles. Watering is carried out in a couple of days.

Main problems

Often, beginner gardeners are confused by some problems:

• yellowing of leaves, dry ends. Sunburn or spider mite infection is likely. If the place is too hot, the flower needs to be moved to partial shade. If pests are detected, the leaves are treated with special preparations;
• leaves lose turgor, dark spots appear. Unsuitable soil (too dense and heavy), overflow, ceramic pot on a cold windowsill. The soil must be replaced with a lighter and loose, change the capacity to plastic;
• Kalanchoe extends. This is due to a lack of light and nutrients. The solution to the problem is additional exposure, pinching and feeding;
• the leaves become smaller. This is not a problem, as a rule, in stores every flower has large leaves, at home they become smaller.

If you take care of Kalanchoe correctly, then he will certainly thank the lush and long flowering. And then no problems and pests are not afraid of him.