Kalanchoe is a popular representative of succulents with carved thick leaves and beautiful flowering. The plant, like most cacti, crassula and zamioculcas, is able to accumulate moisture in the tissues, which provides it with nutrients in the absence of watering.
The main causes of transplantation
For Kalanchoe, transplanting is always stress, so it must be done when there is an urgent need, so as not to injure the plant again. This feature is inherent in all varieties, including the most popular of them:
Blooming Kalanchoe
- Kalanchoe growing;
- Kalanchoe Degremon;
- Kalanchoe Laciniata.
The natural reason for organizing transplantation occurs when the flower has grown from its pot and can no longer be in it. But in this case, there are situations when it is impossible to transplant Kalanchoe.
Transplant after purchase
You can think about how to transplant Kalanchoe brought home from the garden store only after the completion of the adaptation period. Under new conditions, the plant may become ill if the microclimate of the room is very different from the one in which it grew while in the nursery. Additional discomfort associated with the transplant can destroy the plant.
Important! Bringing Kalanchoe home after purchase, you must give him at least two weeks to adapt, during which time the flower will get used to new indicators of temperature, humidity and light exposure.
In order to make the flower easier to move, the negative impact of additional factors should be minimized. Therefore, in order to exclude possible infection with infections and pests, the pot of Kalanchoe should be placed away from other flowers, providing a certain quarantine zone.
Illumination plays an important role in the life of flowers, Kalanchoe is no exception. The eastern side is best suited for it, as it is fairly light, but does not threaten sunburned leaves from direct rays. If it is not possible to put the pot on the east side, you can place it on other windows, but growing on the south side should be accompanied by protection from the dangerous scorching sun. It is safe to place on the southern windows in the winter, without fear of burns.
Important! You should not make any fertilizers during the adaptation period, because in nurseries the soil is saturated with growth and flowering stimulants in large quantities.
If after a two-week period, the Kalanchoe does not begin to drop leaves, does not wither and does not turn yellow, it can be transplanted into a new, wider pot.
Transplant during flowering
A flowering plant directs all its forces to the formation of inflorescences, redistributes nutrients in such a way as to ensure proper budding and lush flowering. How to transplant Kalanchoe without causing harm at home should be considered only after the plant has flowered.
Kalanchoe Degremona
Settling in another pot and fresh substrate, Kalanchoe should adapt the root system to new conditions. Having received more free space, the roots begin to grow actively, wasting a significant part of the nutrients, depriving flower stalks of a large portion of food.
If the bush has not yet bloomed and it has been transplanted, there is a risk of losing it. Having received stress, Kalanchoe tries to sharply redistribute food, adapting to new conditions.
Choosing a pot for a transplant
Before you plant Kalanchoe in a new pot, you need to make sure that the procedure is necessary. The main criteria for organizing resettlement are:
- a lushly overgrown bush, the aerial green part of which is significantly larger in size than the volume of the pot, and it is at least 3 times larger than it;
- the roots have grown so much that their ends can be seen through the drainage holes;
- the foliage of an adult plant turns yellow, wilts, does not respond to fertilization with recovery;
- many entrenched children formed in the pot, rapidly growing green mass.
The beginning of flowering, the formation of buds
The new capacity should not be significantly larger than the previous one. It is optimal to choose a pot 2-3 cm wider than the one in which the plant grew. If the pot for transplanting Kalanchoe is much wider and deeper, it will actively develop the root system and build up green mass. The first buds with such a planting can be seen only after the root system occupies the entire earthen lump, reaching the maximum possible size.
When deciding which pot is needed for transplanting Kalanchoe, it is worth remembering that any plant needs natural materials. Therefore, you can choose plastic models only as a last resort, when the budget does not allow you to purchase a ceramic or clay specimen. There are many wooden pots studded with rings, which are also suitable for the successful cultivation of Kalanchoe.
Landing options for planting
Kalanchoe, according to botanists, is classified as a succulent, like cacti. This suggests that in many respects it coincides with representatives of prickly plants. The same applies to the choice of soil for Kalanchoe. The best will be the finished composition, purchased in a garden store or nursery, on the packaging of which is marked "for succulents" or "for cacti."
Soil mix for Kalanchoe
The roots should receive a sufficient amount of air and moisture, develop freely throughout the entire volume of the pot. If the ratio of components is incorrect, the water will not saturate the soil for Kalanchoe, instead, it will drain through drainage holes in a short time, leaving the soil empty, and the plant without nutrition. The composition of the soil must necessarily contain sand, which is able to hold the required amount of water.
Land for Kalanchoe should contain:
- 1 part peat;
- 3 parts of soddy soil;
- 1 part of sand;
- 1 part of leaf humus;
- 0.5 parts of compost.
In order for the soil acidity to meet the requirements of Kalanchoe, crushed limestone can be added to its composition, which will not allow the soil to be acidic. With increasing acidity, the plant may not bloom or lose foliage. The amount of stone powder should be 1/10 of the total volume of the pot. Excessive application of an alkalizing mixture may render the soil unsuitable for plant development.
Land quality
Before transplanting Kalanchoe, it is important to convince the quality of the soil. To test for suitability, you can use the simple way:
- Fill the pot with the intended soil, after laying the drainage on the bottom.
- Pour the soil with 500 ml of water.
- Wait 15 minutes.
- Check how much fluid is in the sump.
If the amount of liquid leaked during this time is more than 250 ml, add more sand or coconut flakes to the soil. These components are able to retain moisture, while not bogging the substrate.
After drying, the earth should not be taken in a single lump. If 3-4 days have passed after watering, it must be checked for friability. Among gardeners, there is a little trick that allows you to determine the degree of softness and friability of the soil: on the 4th day after watering, they take an ordinary plastic disposable fork and loosen the top layer with it, without applying much effort. If at least one tooth from the fork breaks off, the soil is not suitable for growing succulents. Suitable soil can be loosened without breaking the teeth. Carrying out the procedure earlier than after 4 days is wrong, because the earth will still be wet, and the test may give a false result.
Additional Information. The state of the earth in the pot must be constantly monitored, preventing cracking of the soil. As soon as the earth in the pot "crusted" and began to crack, it must be loosened, letting air to the roots.
Features of a transplant at home
Before you start planting Kalanchoe in a new pot, it must be inspected for damage to individual parts. Taking the plant out of the pot, you need to carefully examine the roots, whether there are rotting or dead. If there are such fragments, they must be removed with a small secateurs or ordinary stationery scissors so as not to transfer the fungal infection to a new place. After trimming the damaged roots, the places of the slices must be treated with charcoal crumb, thereby disinfecting the ends.
The trunk and leaves also need to be preliminarily examined, ridding the plant of yellowed and rotting fragments. One of the indicators of the necessary inspection of the root system is a soft and flabby trunk. As soon as the plant began to become limp, it is urgently necessary to take it out of the pot and inspect the roots, removing rotted branches.
If a large percentage of the entire root system is affected after removal of the diseased areas, the remaining healthy part is treated with a weak potassium permanganate solution (light pink potassium permanganate solution). The pot in which the plant will be placed after processing should be washed with boiling water, thereby disinfecting it.
Overly wide pot
If the entire root system and the lower part of the trunk have undergone fungal infection, the plant can still be saved. To do this, make an incision 1 cm higher from the line dividing the healthy part of the trunk from the patient. Then treat the cut with coal dust. The resulting stem will easily root, allowing the plant to develop further. To do this, put it in a glass with water at room temperature. In order for the infection to not multiply in the water, one must not forget to change it every day.
When a transplant is needed
Succulent grows faster than other indoor plants, actively generating young buds and daughter shoots. Therefore, experienced flower growers recommend every spring, after flowering is completed, to transplant young plants that are rapidly developing their aerial parts.
If this is not done on time, by the fall the flower will become crowded in the pot, the transplant will be carried out out of time, which can lead to withering and loss of vitality, after which the plant will recover for a long time without showing flowering.
Often, in the varieties of Kalanchoe, which multiply by the kidneys that appear on the leaves, the real processes that arise from fallen buds appear independently in the pot. Like other succulents, Kalanchoe is easily rooted, even when no one cares for a fallen baby. A densely populated pot must be planted, otherwise young sprouts will not allow the mother plant to receive nutrients, which will lead to inevitable death.
The formed buds on the leaves
Every year, Kalanchoe should not be planted in a new container if the plant is more than 5-7 years old. After this age, it does not develop so rapidly, the rate of formation of new leaves and shoots is significantly reduced. It cannot be said that older specimens freeze in their development, they still have young foliage, though the truth is not as often as before.
Therefore, a young plant is allowed to be planted in a plastic pot, given the fact that next spring the capacity will have to be changed again. Aged plants should be planted mainly in products made from natural breathing materials, since the next transplant can take place only after a few years.
Further flower care
After it was possible to plant Kalanchoe, it is important to think about the place on the windowsill, which will occupy the plant. Kalanchoe does not tolerate close proximity, so you need to put it no closer than 30 cm from undersized plants and even further from tall neighbors so that their foliage does not block sunlight.
note! If a flowering succulent variety is grown at home on the window, but it does not form buds for several years, the plant can be affected by the correction of the length of daylight hours, which will ensure the formation of flowers and will make it possible to love a homely man even more.
To do this, you need to arrange a twilight month for the plant, that is, remove it from the windowsill on a pedestal against the wall. For healthy growth, this amount of light is enough for him, but such shading will not go unnoticed for chemical processes occurring in the tissues. Once the pot is returned to the sunny windowsill, the plant will immediately respond to this with the formation of colorful buds.
Breeding Kalanchoe fascinates many beginner gardeners. On the one hand, this is an ordinary plant that can be found on almost every window sill, on the other hand, the variety of varieties with the most different types of inflorescences can not be called boring, which is why many species of Kalanchoe collect.
