If you are prone to forget to water houseplants or are a frequent
traveler and unable to provide daily care for houseplants, try growing
Kalanchoe.
Kalanchoe is a succulent that loves bright light, is at
home either indoors or outdoors, covers itself with colorful bell-shaped
flowers when in bloom, and best of all, this houseplant will go for up
to two weeks without water and still look good.
Familiar Houseplant
You may have never heard of Kalanchoe, but you've probably seen the
houseplant. It's as close as the floral department in the local grocery
store. Small pots of Kalanchoe, with it's various bloom colors, are a
staple in floral departments and garden centers due to it's fuss-free
care requirements. A small pot of Kalanchoe is inexpensive also.
Kalanchoe Care
Place Kalanchoe in a location where it will receive the morning sun, but be shaded from the hot afternoon sun.
Wait until this houseplant's soil has thoroughly dried out before
watering, then saturate the soil with water. This watering will last the
Kalanchoe for two weeks, longer if the temperature is mild. If the
houseplant goes longer than two weeks between watering, the fleshy, dark
green leaves will begin to wither. But give it a drink of water and it
will rebound nicely.
Propagation
Propagation for
Kalanchoe is as simple as placing a broken stem into a glass of water.
Kalanchoe is a very dense houseplant and it's easy to accidentally snap
off a stem during routine watering, which does not harm the houseplant
in any way. Take the broken stem and place it into a glass of water
until a root system forms, then plant the newly formed Kalanchoe in a
container of potting soil.
Feeding And Keeping
Feed Kalanchoe once per month from spring until fall with an
all-purpose, balanced, water soluble plant food. The houseplant will
maintain full bloom throughout the growing season.
In the fall,
when the Kalanchoe houseplant is done blooming for the season, it will
go into dormancy and can easily be kept until next season.
Remove all spent blooms and place the Kalanchoe in a semi-dark location
where it will receive no more than ten hours of filtered sunlight per
day. Reduce watering to once per month during winter dormancy.
In spring, place the Kalanchoe back into the sunlight, water and feed and the houseplant will come back to life.
Fuss-free Kalanchoe is a perfect houseplant for busy, on-the-go people
who want living color in their spaces, but can't be tied down to a
rigid houseplant care regimen.
