Therapeutic and decorative Kalanchoe - care for the plant at home

Many of us are literally from childhood familiar with the amazing plant - Kalanchoe. For many years, caring parents have been treating their children with a runny nose with the help of a "home doctor", broken knees, and much more, lubricating it with juice.

And thanks to the hard work of breeders, there are now so many decorative species that successfully grow and bloom at home.

It is only necessary to create suitable conditions for them, nothing special will have to be invented, because this plant is not whimsical.

Briefly about a houseplant

Kalanchoe is a succulent, belongs to the family Crassulaceae (with thick leaves), this plant appeared in Europe thanks to the sailors (used for medicinal purposes), who brought it from the island of Madagascar. It spread very quickly, because the healing properties of Kalanchoe were highly appreciated. Decorative species began to be popular much later.

Necessary conditions

For both therapeutic and decorative Kalanchoe, you need to create a comfortable environment (it is almost the same for all types), suitable for their development. Consider the basic necessary conditions:

• shine - should be bright, intense;
• air - quite normally perceives dry air;
• humidity - it is not required to spray additionally;
• temperature - can withstand up to 28 degrees in summer, and in winter should be at least 15 degrees;
• pot - you need a shallow, but wide enough, the material does not matter;
• priming - for succulents;
• top dressing - ensure the application is not more than 1 time per month;
• pest protection - Once a month, you need to look at the plant for harmful insects.

Watering

The worst thing for Kalanchoe is overflow, when a plant is simply poured, it tolerates "drought" much easier, and from severe waterlogging of the soil can die completely. Proper watering implies:

1. Watering should be done very carefully, pour water under the root, not on the leaves. You can also water through the pan - pour water, wait until it is absorbed, and then drain the excess, do not allow residual water in the pan.
2. Water should be soft, always defended. Strongly not recommended to pour cold water.
3. In winter, you can not water more often than once every two weeks, you need to dry the earthen lump. In the summer period, watering occurs more often - about once a week, you also need to navigate by the state of the soil (if the heat is hot, it can cost more often).

Pruning

It is always worth remembering that if the plant is not formed properly, then it can stop blooming, so any Kalanchoe bush must be nipped and trimmed.

• Pruning - pruning must be carried out about a month after the end of flowering, cut off all elongated processes, all peduncles. If necessary, it is possible to cut the bush too much, it will recover normally and become only more magnificent. Also in the spring, when the plant begins to grow rapidly, you do not need to allow it to stretch up, you need to cut it in time.
• Topping - should be carried out throughout the summer period, so that the bush is formed more lush and, accordingly, flowering in the future will be more voluminous and chic. It is also worth noting that young bushes that only bloomed for the first time, after flowering, it is better not to prune, but to pinch.

How to care?

At home, of course, decorative Kalanchoe does not feel so at ease, as in nature, but nevertheless it’s quite possible to create suitable conditions for it, you just need to take care of it, taking into account some subtleties:

1. Lighting - Kalanchoe loves light very much, it is a native of the tropics, but not direct sunlight, but better diffused bright light, therefore it is best to place the plant on an eastern or western window.
2. Watering - you need moderate, it is sometimes better to forget to water the flower than to do it once again.
3. Humidity - there is no need to spray the flower, you can only periodically remove dust from the leaves - wipe them, if you want to bathe the plant under a warm shower, then after this procedure you need to wipe each leaf so that not a drop of water remains on it.
4. Top dressing - use special for succulents, to make little by little, once a month is enough. Also, at the very beginning of the appearance of buds on Kalanchoe, you can make complex fertilizers for flowering plants, just not the full dosage (as in the instructions, but divide it in half).
5. Temperature - the temperature regime for this plant is quite loyal, in the summer it is good for it 25 - 28 degrees, but not higher than 30, otherwise it will suffer, and in winter you need a cool temperature - 16 - 18 degrees, approximately, but not lower than 10.
6. Bush formation - do not be afraid to prune, the more pruning and pinching the Kalanchoe bush, the better for him (for lush flowering), only you need to do this in spring and summer, but not in the autumn-winter period; By the way, these cropped cuttings can be used immediately for propagation.
7. Breeding - it just happens, there are several ways: seeds, cuttings, even leaves can be propagated, but rooting by cuttings is considered the most convenient way:
   • In spring, the stalk (about 6-8 cm long) can be put into water - roots are quickly released and after a week or two it can be planted in the ground.
   • It’s easy to root immediately in the ground - insert the stem into moist soil, cover with a jar on top (greenhouse effect) and wait for young leaves to appear at the top of the stem. With the formation of 4 leaves, the plant is ready for planting.
8. Priming - The best option is to buy ready-made soil for succulents in the store and you can add a little sand or vermiculite to it.
9. Pot - in principle, anyone is good for Kalanchoe - even ceramic, even plastic, you just need to choose the shape, let it be wide, but not very deep, so that the root system is convenient to develop.
10. Transfer - since the flower grows fast enough, then, naturally, it will have to be transplanted into another pot often, almost every year, choosing the pot several cm (2 - 3) wider from the previous size. Here is how to transplant Kalanchoe after purchase and properly care for the plant at home.
11. Bloom - Kalanchoe usually begins to bloom from the middle of winter, the flowering time is different, because there are many varieties, it can last from 2 weeks to several months, and the quality of flowering (abundance) will depend on the quality of the cutting of the bush.

    IMPORTANT! Faded flowers dry up, but do not fall to the ground on their own, you need to help them - be sure to pick them off, thereby stimulating longer flowering.

As for the care of therapeutic Kalanchoe (these are the varieties: Kalanchoe Degremona and Peristoe), there are very few differences from the care of decorative species:

• Healing Kalanchoe can normally grow and develop in partial shade, he does not need bright light.
• Its reproduction can very well occur by rooting the “children” - they are formed along the edge of the leaf, they themselves fall to the ground and root there, as soon as they grow up a bit - you can plant them, these are ready-made independent plants.
• Top dressing, of course, is introduced only for succulents.
• Pruning is also needed, it must be carried out in the spring.

And all the other subtleties of care for these types of plants are the same.

Photo

Next, you can see the photo of this indoor flower, namely, with its decorative and medicinal varieties.

Possible problems and illnesses

I must say right away that Kalanchoe is not very susceptible to attacks by insects, nda and oh, however, sometimes such a nuisance happens, it can be:

1. Mealybug - sucks the juice from the plant, leaves behind white wax traces. Mineral oil can help, which need to spray a flower.
2. Aphid - these little bugs very quickly suck out the juice from the leaves and the stem, leaving a sticky mark. If you notice aphids on the flower, immediately treat it with either laundry soap or potash.
3. Shield - urgent need to take measures to destroy it - to process soap and then an insecticide.

Also among the diseases it is worth highlighting late blight (occurs due to heavy watering) and “powdery mildew”, it is necessary to treat plants with fungicides.

Conclusion

What can be said in the end? This incredibly attractive plant should grow in everyone, and it is better to have at home and medicinal look Kalanchoe and decorative. So much benefit and so much beauty at once, and leaving will only be a pleasure, the main thing is to love him. The bonus is also the quick reproduction - you can easily grow and give "living and healthy gifts" to your friends and acquaintances.

Watch the video: Lovely Root Growth - Rooting Fittonia, Coleus and Kalanchoe In Water (November 2024).