Kalanchoe grows in the arid climate of South and tropical Africa, Southeast Asia and the tropical latitudes of South America, has more than two hundred species. Due to the ability to accumulate moisture inside the tissues, the plant belongs to the group of succulents and it has long won the hearts of flower gardeners, since home care is not difficult.
Types and varieties of Kalanchoe
Despite the variety of existing varieties, four main types of Kalanchoe are cultivated in indoor floriculture:
| View | Description | Height (m.) | Leaves |
| Pinnate | Grown as a decorative or medicinal variety. Propagated by children, which are formed on leaf plates. | Up to 1. | Oval, thickened with rounded denticles, upper unpaired. |
| Felt | So-called for its resemblance to a chocolate soldier and cat ears. Inflorescences are in the form of a panicle or umbrella. Corolla flower purple or red. | 0,3. | Covered with a viscous felt coating, have a pointed ovoid shape, fit snugly to an erect stem. |
| Blossomfeld | Breeders bred several varieties with yellow, scarlet, pink and orange flowers. The wild ancestor has red inflorescences. | In natural conditions up to 0.6, in indoor - 0.3. | Glossy, egg-shaped, located on erect stems. |
| Degremona | Perennial. Elongated pink-purple flowers are collected in a large inflorescence. Propagated by rosettes located on the edges of the leaves. In most cases, the baby socket takes root roots and falls away from the mother plant, with a favorable entry into the soil, it roots itself. | Under natural conditions, up to 2, and at home - 50 cm. | Green or bluish with purple or brown dots. |
Kalanchoe care at home
Regardless of which variety is selected for home cultivation, Kalanchoe needs proper care, which includes the following basic principles:
- Since the plant is photophilous, the best place for it in the house will be the brightest window. But direct sunlight is contraindicated, so you should shade the pot.
- With the beginning of spring, watering is carried out 1 time a week in small portions, all flowering crops need to be fed at least 1 time per month.
- In the summer, fresh air is needed, and after flowering create conditions for the growth of stems and leaves.
- By the rest period, the culture begins to be prepared in August, cutting off the faded receptacles and forming the desired shape of the shoots. Gradually reduce the temperature in the room to +18 ° C, while watering is reduced by 2 times, and daylight hours to nine to ten hours.
Kalanchoe transplant
The key to the successful growth and development of Kalanchoe is its proper transplantation. And here the following factors are important.
Pot selection
Flowerpots - no matter what age the flower is, the pot is selected from glazed clay, since this material has a porous structure and allows the roots to breathe.
For young plants, take containers from 12 to 20 dm, observing the rule: each subsequent should be 2 cm larger than the previous one.
For adult plants, it is recommended to choose dishes in which the previous pot is placed inside close to the selected one. If you choose a larger volume, then the culture will not form flower stems, but build up both them and flowers.
Amateur gardeners note that over time, salt deposits form on the outside of the dishes. Therefore, you have to decorate it with a cache-pot and other elements.
It is important to choose pots without chips and damage with a wide pan, which will provide convenient watering. Before transplantation, the vessel is washed with laundry soap and rinsed with hot water.
It is necessary to completely dry it, so as not to cause root decay after transplantation.
The soil
Specialists recommend buying a special one for succulents, which is sold in flower shops. It has a neutral or slightly acidic structure. If it is impossible to acquire such soil, the composition is formed independently from turf and leafy soil, peat and sand, observing a ratio of 4: 2: 1: 1. Two tablespoons of charcoal are added to the prepared mixture. Before placing the soil in the pot, standard drainage is poured down, using pebbles, gravel or expanded clay for it. 
Blossomfeld
Transplant time
April and May. At other times, transplantation is contraindicated, since it is during these spring months that active growth occurs. Young Kalanchoe are transplanted every year. Adults - once every 2-3 years.
Indicators for transshipment into new dishes are roots that have crawled to the surface from the holes of the old pot.
Sequence:
- to disinfect a new container for transplantation with laundry soap and boiling water;
- place a drainage layer of 2 cm;
- put the prepared earthen mixture into two-thirds of the volume of the new flowerpot and moisten it;
- remove the kalanchoe from the old pot, turning it over, then gently tap on the walls and carefully remove it;
- old land is recommended to be removed with a stick;
- check the roots, remove damaged ones, sprinkle wounds with activated carbon powder;
- Kalanchoe placed in a new dish, add soil and compact, the root neck should be at the level of the soil;
- water the plant, the top layer of soil should recede from the edge of the pot by 1-3 cm;
- After watering, place the flower in the space provided for it.
DegremonaExperts recommend transplanting Kalanchoe immediately after purchase, since in stores this species is placed in a peat substrate, which is not suitable for long-term maintenance. Therefore, it is better to acquire a culture in April-May - at the time of the best biological cycle. When transplanting an adult plant, there is no need to clear the roots of the earth. It is placed in a large bowl with an earthen lump.
A flowering plant is not transplanted under any circumstances.
Kalanchoe pruning
To form a beautiful shape, Kalanchoe needs regular pruning and pinching. Elongated shoots are cut after winter, shortening them by ⅔ length or half - depending on the state of the plant. The second procedure can be carried out after flowering. Young shoots pinch in the summer.
Breeding Kalanchoe
The plant is propagated most often by leaves, cuttings and daughter rosettes. A seed method is also possible, but it is less popular.
Leaves
Use both freshly cut and fallen, but not dried. Prepare nutritious soil, cut a healthy leaf and drip the petiole zone into it, cover with a cap or a plastic bottle from above. The soil is moistened, the mini-greenhouse is periodically aired. Within ten days, the leaf will take root and begin to form a new plant. 
Felt
Cuttings
They are obtained as a result of trimming, the optimum length of the chubuk is 8 cm. It is placed in a container with water, activated carbon is added to avoid decay and wait for the roots to appear. Next, the cuttings are planted in a mini-greenhouse, and after rooting, they are grown under ordinary conditions.
Child sockets
They are formed along the edge of leaves, fall off and root themselves. Some species form babies in the axillary kidneys. In this case, it is better to wait for the process to form and deposit it.
Seeds
They are recommended to be used only to get a new look in your collection. In addition, seeds collected from a hybrid culture do not convey all its properties, so it is better to use the vegetative method after all.
Flowering stimulation
If the three-year plant does not bloom, then you need to analyze the reasons for the delay in the period of budding. These include:
- Improper watering - drying of an earthen coma or its overmoistening. Irrigation should be regular and gentle so as not to cause root decay.
- Excess or lack of lighting - on not shaded windows, leaves can get sunburn, and in a dark room - stretch out and die.
- Excess fertilizing - the more often a plant is fertilized, the more energy it will have to spend on processing nutrients, and not on the formation of flower buds.
- Disproportionate daylight hours - Kalanchoe needs less than ten hours "to sleep."
If all these factors are absent, and the plant still does not bloom, then methods of stimulating this process are used. Conventionally, they can be divided into:
- artificial - with the help of spraying with the preparations Ovary and Bud;
- natural - by reducing daylight hours: in the evening after 17.00 the plant is covered with a cardboard box, and in the morning no later than 7.00 it is removed.
With this effect, the culture begins to actively form flower buds. After the end of budding and decay of the flowers, it is necessary to give the Kalanchoe to relax in a cool room under seven-hour daylight.
Diseases and pests of Kalanchoe
Despite its unpretentiousness, Kalanchoe is susceptible to pests and diseases:
| Title | Signs | Treatment and care |
| Kalanchoe virus | New leaves become faded, and old leaves become curved and coarse. | Not treated. |
| Gray rot | The grassy parts of the plant become watery and are covered with a gray coating. | The affected parts are removed, reduce air humidity, sprayed with fungicides. |
| Late blight | The leaves fade, dry, fall off, spots of black rot appear on the lower part of the stem. | A diseased plant is isolated from healthy ones, lowers humidity, diseased parts are removed and treated with special preparations. |
| Stem rot | First, black and watery spots appear, then the shoots die off. | The diseased plant is separated from others, treated with Rovral and Soprol, lower the humidity in the room. |
| Ring spotting | Light rings appear on the leaf plates. | Not treated. |
In cases of severe fungal infection and stem rot, it is better to separate a healthy sprout from a dying plant and transplant it than to treat it. In addition to diseases, insects can parasitize on Kalanchoe. They can move from plants of other species, especially if the room has too dry air or the soil is too moist. 
Pinnate
Kalanchoe pests
| Insects | Manifestations on the leaves | Disposal methods |
| Spider mites | First, yellow dots appear, a thin cobweb, then they turn completely yellow, new shoots are deformed. | With a primary lesion, the leaves are washed with soap and water, with a massive lesion they are treated with acarides. |
| Aphid | The entire grassy part turns yellow and deformed, becomes covered with a sticky coating, twists. | Apply tobacco dust, and insecticides: Commander, Bison, etc. |
| Multi-claw ticks | They are bent down, covered with brown bark, their fabric is bent and hardens. | With a minor lesion, the leaves are washed with soap and water, with a strong one, they are sprayed with Fitoverm, Vermitek, Akarin. |
| Mealybugs | Covered with white wax. | The affected parts are removed, sprinkled with mineral oil M-30 and insecticidal preparations. |
Mr. Dachnik recommends: the healing properties of Kalanchoe
In folk and official medicine, the medicinal properties of plant juice are used very widely: due to its anti-inflammatory properties, they are used in gynecological and dental practice, while healing ulcers, burns and frostbite. It is indispensable for the treatment of tonsillitis and stomatitis.
