This summer, I received a Kalanchoe as a gift plant, and I’m having trouble getting it to blossom again. Kalanchoe is a native of Africa that has become a popular houseplant in North America. To force budding, these plants require low light conditions. To enhance budding and blooming, the plant should be exposed to 14 hours of lightless conditions. To get Kalanchoe to bloom again, you’ll need to give it some time to relax, the right lighting, and some decent fertilizer to help it along. A few pointers on how to rebloom a Kalanchoe will ensure success and a lovely flowering houseplant in the winter.
How do I get my kalanchoe to rebloom?
You’ll need to plan ahead if you want your plant to bloom at a specified period, such as Christmas. Reduce watering and give the plant a 14-hour period of darkness every day for 6 weeks before the target bloom time. For 14 hours, place the plant in a closet or under a box with 10 hours of bright light.
Maintain a warm environment for the plant by keeping it free from drafts. Because the plant is dormant, do not water or feed it for 6 weeks. Move the plant to better lighting and begin watering as soon as you detect flower buds. To encourage new buds, feed the plant in the spring and remove wasted blossoms.
These plants are simple to maintain and produce beautiful, little flowers as well as thick, elegantly scalloped leaves for up to 6 months.
How many times does kalanchoe bloom?
On a small, upright plant approximately 6-12 inches tall, kalanchoe flower heads bloom in vibrant oranges, pinks, yellow, red, and white. The flowers last for months, while the green plants look good all year.
The most popular kalanchoe variety is K. blossfeldana, although there are many more to select from, including pendant (hanging) variations and nonflowering cultivars grown for their distinctive leaf. Growing conditions are the same for all kalanchoes.
Kalanchoe Growing Tips
Kalanchoes are low-maintenance plants that thrive in low-humidity environments like winter homes. Choose Kalanchoe plants with a lot of unopened flower buds instead of ones that are fully bloomed, and be sure to offer them:
Kalanches require a lot of light in the winter, particularly from a south-facing window, and intense indirect light (from an east/west window) in the summer. It’s likely that your Kalanchoe plant isn’t getting enough light if it’s lanky and thin.
Soil: Kalanchoe plants thrive in a well-draining cactus and succulent potting mix, or add plenty of perlite or sand to promote drainage.
Temperature: Kalanchoes perform well in average household temperatures, although drafts should be avoided. Keep your kalanchoe above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Overwatering is the most common cause of kalanchoe death! Between waterings, let your kalanchoe dry out. Then, after properly watering until it runs out the bottom, empty the drainage tray. It’s never a good idea to leave the plant submerged in water.
Fertilizer: Feed your kalanchoe with a balanced organic fertilizer every few weeks while it is blooming.
Pots: Kalanchoes grow best in clay pots with a drainage tray that can be emptied. They’re little plants that don’t need to be repotted too often.
Summer care: In the summer, you can bring your kalanchoe outside, but make sure it is protected from the rain.
Kalanchoes can be propagated easily from stem or leaf cuttings. Plantlets are produced by some kinds, which can be removed and potted.
To keep your kalanchoe looking tidy, remove any wasted blossoms. Dust can also be removed by wiping or lightly spraying them.
How to Make Kalanchoe Bloom
Many people treat kalanchoes as annuals, discarding them once they’ve bloomed. It takes some discipline to get them to bloom again, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to make your kalanchoes bloom on demand! Here are some suggestions for re-blooming your kalanchoe:
Flowering is Light-Dependent: Kalanchoes are photoperiodic, meaning they bloom in reaction to the length of the day. They blossom in the early springtime. Six weeks of simulated winter illumination conditions are required to force your plant to set bloom buds.
Put your plant in complete darkness for 14 hours a day and brilliant light for 10 hours a day for six weeks to simulate night. To obtain complete darkness, you can bring it in and out of a closet or use a cover. When you observe blossom buds opening after six weeks or so, you can move your plant back into regular light conditions and continue watering. Check out our articles on how to grow poinsettias and Christmas cactus for more information on photoperiodic blooming.
Should I cut back my kalanchoe?
For xeriscaped and drought-tolerant gardens, kalanchoes provide both vegetative interest and brilliant blossoms. These succulent plants are native to Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and Africa, but they have spread throughout Southern California. Naturalized varieties look just as good in your garden as nursery-grown variants. Chunky kalanchoes with thick, succulent leaves and shrubby variants with thin, shiny, oval leaves are both available. The blossoms come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from little clusters of vividly colored flowers to huge panicles of bell-shaped flowers. Kalanchoes need to be pruned to remove dead or damaged branches and shape the plant, as well as to stimulate repeat blooming. The most important reason to trim kalanchoes is to control their spread because they multiply fast and quickly, especially in dry, frost-free areas.
Will a kalanchoe flower again?
It is feasible to re-flower a kalanchoe, but it will require some effort. Kalanchoes are’short day’ plants, which means that in order to develop buds, they require a’rest time’ of short days and long nights. That is why they begin to bloom organically around February. You can get around this natural propensity by allowing them only eight or nine hours of daylight every day for at least a month you can do this by putting it in a cupboard or a windowless room and only watering sparingly. After two months, you should notice fresh flower buds and can resume routine watering and feeding.
Why is my kalanchoe not flowering?
Kalanchoe plants can flower for several months at a time, but they must shed their blooms at some point in order to rebloom. They will enter this dormant stage depending on the time of year and the length of the days. They usually lose their leaves at the end of the summer or the beginning of the fall season and begin growing new buds. The buds will bloom into beautiful blooms as the days grow longer in late winter and early spring. Don’t be concerned if your plant’s blossoms fade. It will bloom again in due time. Just make sure your plant gets adequate light in the spring so it can flower. A window facing south or west is great.
If a Kalanchoe plant has dead blooms on it, it may be spending its energy attempting to keep a section of the plant alive that is already dead. The plant will begin to spend its energy to generate new buds to replace the dead flowers if the dead blossoms are cut or pinched away.
Kalanchoe is a low-maintenance plant that should only be watered when the soil is completely dry. Allowing the plant to become too dry will cause it to wilt. Wilting can have a significant impact on future flower production. Also, take careful not to overwater the plant, as this might cause root rot. Check the soil on a frequent basis to check whether it needs to be hydrated! You can irrigate the soil if it is completely dry.
You may get the Kalanchoe to bloom at any time of year if you don’t want to wait for spring. Controlling the quantity of light the Kalanchoe receives will encourage it to blossom and bloom. Place the Kalanchoe in a dark closet for 12-14 hours every day, then return it to strong light for the last 10-12 hours. Buds will appear in 6-8 weeks if this procedure is successful.
How do you revive kalanchoe?
Because it’s a cool-season blooming, you can locate this plant in a variety of locales, especially in the winter. Even at Home Depot, you can get these for under ten dollars.
As you can see, this one is weakening, and it’s losing some of its punch. I’ve let it dry and let the flowers go on this one, so it’s even further along. Cutting away some of the old growth and letting it dry down is the key to encouraging it to come back and flower for you. Allowing it to dry and then storing it in a cooler location is also important. Perhaps you have a window where you could place it at night to help initiate a new set of buds.
So I’m just going to chop everything back, removing any large leaves that don’t seem appropriate because it’s already sprouting fresh small little foliage. Don’t be frightened to make a slash. This aids the plant in completing its tasks. So you just keep cutting until you reach the point where the fresh leaf emerges.
This is the one I made, and it looked exactly like this one. It came from the same batch as the others. This was done ten days ago, and it’s already starting to blossom. So there’ll be another moment when I can trim back some of the larger leaves that are no longer appropriate. I’m going to cut these back and give them a light fertilizer now that they’re starting to bloom. Simply use whatever name brand Miracle Grow I have on hand; I buy on sale, so it doesn’t have to be a name brand.
Then place it in the light, fertilize it, and you’ll have a full new bloom on your Kalanchoe, or Kalancho, that you might have picked up for ten dollars.
So, take pleasure in your plants. Don’t dismiss this as a complete failure. Trim it back and give it a chance to blossom again. If you let them, they can go on for years.
Why is my kalanchoe leggy?
One of the main reasons a Kalanchoe plant seems lanky and grows excessively tall is that it does not get enough sunlight to promote healthy growth. Etiolation is the term for this procedure. This is a regular problem with Kalanchoe plants and other succulents kept indoors. The Kalanchoe plant will begin to strive for the sun, becoming lanky and scraggly in appearance.
Move the Kalanchoe plant to a location with more natural light so it won’t feel compelled to stretch toward the sun. This can aid in the production of healthier buds and blooms, giving the plant a more ‘full’ appearance.
If your Kalanchoe appears leggy while receiving plenty of sunshine, the leggy appearance could be due to too many dead flowers. The Kalanchoe plant may stop growing in a healthy manner if dead flower branches remain attached. Remove dead leaves, blossoms, and branches from the Kalanchoe plant from the crown down. This frees up the plant’s energy to focus on healthy new growth.
When your Kalanchoe plant starts to appear a little wilted, check the moisture level in the soil. Test the soil with your finger every few days; when it has dried completely, you can give it more water. Underwatering can induce withering and overwatering can cause root rot, both of which are detrimental to good growth.
Where do you cut kalanchoe?
After the blooming period, prune your Kalanchoes to 1/3 the length of each stem to promote better and healthier growth plants for the following season. If a stem looks to be dead or damaged, cut it down to the point where the branch meets the stem at the base.