aka mother of thousands! and i do mean thousands!! all those little bits along the edges of the leaves are babies. all they need is to fall off onto the soil and they'll root within days. so, if you don't want to be overrun, you need to keep up on removing them from the top of the soil. it's very easy-care. let the soil dry well between waterings and give it some decent light. this plant puts up a really pretty flower, too!!
Thank you, dear Joclyn! Yea it is really a mother of thousands - at the moment I have a whole nursery of small babies gathered together around their mommy :) - and yea - I noticed - as you take one of them off the plant, it is already 'equipped' with something of a root - two tiny little white strings, one very small (1, 1-5mm), the other one a bit longer (1cm almost)... what a strange plant: I love it! I also noticed that it likes the sun very very much and it prefers outside to inside - and also, that they catch/grow better when they fall off by themselves, than when you pick and plant them yourself..? I have an idea where I went wrong :/ ... ironically, it's a mother of thousands - and I (almost) can't grow one single plant myself :D 'Almost', because I managed to grow 2-3, all in the same small pot - and it's the only successful pot - one of 10 really :( ... I think this pot has been the 'most watered' one and that's why it survived - unlike the other ones I didn't water that much because I thought 1. kalanchoe doesn't like/need much water (but now I guess that one applies to the already established, grown-up plants?), 2. i read somewhere, that when you transplant cacti you must not water them for some 6-7 days because of the shock .. and i thought it was valid also for the succulents - but I guess I was wrong .. Anyway, is it true? About the transplanted cacti and watering? Thanks again people, I look forward to your answers ... ;)
cacti are succulents; not all succulents are cacti. most cacti do better when the soil is left dry for about a week after they've been repotted. a lot of succulents as well. some succulents will do better if watered within a few days of being in the new container. generally, kalanchoe don't need all that much watering - every 10-14 days is usually good for them. and yes, that is in reference to established plants. the baby plants do need a bit more frequent watering until they get their roots going. and yes, kalanchoe does like the sun!! oh!!! wait until it flowers!!! you're going to love it - it's a really beautiful display!!
Joclyn forgets to add that it's also a really TALL display; I was growing this exact kalanchoe in my xeriscape garden (which meant that I never watered them) and it did amazingly well; they took over a hillside in about three months. When mine bloomed (as have yours, photo #5 shows), they shot up to 4 or 5 feet tall with brilliant red dangling flowers. Then the blooming plant died. Yours might not, I'm not sure as I've never had them in pots. Don't let it get into your garden. You'll never get it out again.
Yes, yes - I know cacti are not succulents, I just thought they might behave in a similar way - and, yea, it bloomed already - but the flowers are not as red as you Lorax said (hmm maybe that's a different kalancho?) but somewhere inbetween pink and orange .,. and yes, unfortunately I think the old mama is going to die soon :( - just as you said: as it started to bloom, the stems (leaf-lookalikes) began to look like pulled by gravity, and it doesn't get any better :( Good that it has a young daughter, and at least some grandchildren left behind ...
It could be the soil chemistry as well. The soils where mine were growing were pretty alkaline; this affects flower colour in a lot of different plants, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if kalanchoes are in that grouping. Like many succulents, the mother dies when she flowers but the babies go on and on and on. And ALL cacti ARE succulents; it's just that all SUCCULENTS aren't CACTI
Oh yes, now you put it right ;) Yea, could be the soil .. you live in Equador? Are kalanchoes common in Equador?
yes, i DID forget to mention that the flower spike can get a bit tall ;) i've only seen them with pink flowers - i'm surprised to hear that yours bloomed red, lorax! maybe you're right and it's the soil...
