Why Doesn't Kalanchoe Bloom?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Kalanchoe is an incredibly cute leafy succulent, endowed with the ability to store moisture in its bright green leaves with stems. It also blooms very beautifully! But, unfortunately, not always and not everyone succeeds in admiring its beautiful flowering. Why does the Kalanchoe refuse to bloom? There may be several reasons - from errors in care to the lack of comfortable conditions necessary for this handsome man

Incorrectly selected soil composition

Quite often, it is the “wrong” soil that prevents the flowering of the beautiful Kalanchoe. As you know, in nature, Kalanchoe grows in deserts - there soils are characterized by an extremely low level of acidity pH, and they are all extremely rich in various mineral salts, but at the same time there is almost no humus in their composition (there is only about two to three percent of it) and there is no microflora habitual for the overwhelming majority of ordinary indoor vegetation. So, it is best to prepare the substrate for planting Kalanchoe yourself - as a rule, store soil mixtures are made on the basis of peat, and peat is absolutely contraindicated for succulents!

To prepare a substrate for the subsequent planting of Kalanchoe, a clay base is needed - as such, you can safely use garden or forest land, as well as clay soil taken under the most ordinary street trees or from fresh trenches. You will also need a good mineral baking powder, which can be pebbles, pebbles, as well as perlite or granular river sand. These components are mixed in equal proportions, in addition, such a soil does not need any fertilization at all immediately before planting Kalanchoe.

Before planting the plant, the soil is simply slightly irrigated with water, after which a small depression is made in the prepared soil mixture, the plant is placed there and carefully added to it, and a small centimeter layer of pebbles is placed on top, the cross section of which also does not exceed one centimeter. Fertilizing Kalanchoe is extremely rare - usually fertilizers are applied during irrigation once or twice a year.

Lack or excess of lighting

Both of these factors have an extremely negative effect on the full-fledged growth and development of the handsome Kalanchoe - this especially applies to the process of formation of very vulnerable flower ovaries. Despite the fact that in the desert, that is, in the natural habitat of the Kalanchoe, daylight quickly and rather abruptly gives way to night darkness, thereby significantly reducing the period of natural illumination, the plants there are well heated by the scorching sun and are well illuminated throughout the day. So in indoor conditions, it is also important to try to create conditions as close as possible to natural conditions - throughout the day, but no more than ten hours, the plants should be in well-lit warm rooms. If a suitable place in the apartment that meets these criteria was not found, it makes sense to resort to such additional measures as the use of heating or LED lamps.

And if it is necessary to artificially reduce daylight hours, then the Kalanchoe is either transferred to a dark place, or simply shaded with the help of special light-protective caps. At the same time, it is important not to forget that protection from light must be accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in air temperature by about two to three degrees - to create such conditions, some people simply put the flower pots in a cool closet for the whole night. By the way, on cloudy autumn days or in winter, this need disappears by itself!

Excess watering

Kalanchoe is a plant perfectly adapted to an arid climate, therefore, it does not need too frequent watering at all, since excessive waterlogging can easily provoke not only root rot, but also the complete absence of flower ovaries. The usual watering regime for this plant is as follows: in the summer it is watered twice a week and a half, and in winter the number of waterings is reduced to one per week. If the weather is particularly hot, from time to time you will also need additional soil moisture in the pots. However, the top layer of the substrate should dry out quickly enough - its surface should always be dry. To achieve a similar effect, either sand permeable to moisture is usually used, or pebbles that dry quickly in air.

And, of course, when growing Kalanchoe, one should not forget about such important factors as the timely removal of excess inflorescences and ovaries that have had time to bloom, as well as proper pruning during the formation of bushes. If all these conditions are met, the handsome Kalanchoe will delight you with its amazing flowering for many years!