How to Repot Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe plants provide beautiful spring blossoms to add color and vitality to your indoor sunny windows. Give the kalanchoe plant enough water and light, and it will thrive for years in the same container. Watch the growth of the plant to know when the kalanchoe outgrows its current container. When the container becomes too snug for the kalanchoe’s root system, repot the kalanchoe in the spring before the beginning of the next growing season.
Check the kalanchoe plant in the early spring to see how much growing room the plant has in its container. Gently invert the container and pull the plant from the container. If you find little soil between the outside perimeter of the roots and the inside edge of the container, with the roots growing to within 1/2 inch of the container, repot the kalanchoe.
- Kalanchoe plants provide beautiful spring blossoms to add color and vitality to your indoor sunny windows.
- When the container becomes too snug for the kalanchoe’s root system, repot the kalanchoe in the spring before the beginning of the next growing season.
Fill the bottom of the larger container with 2 inches of gravel for drainage. Add enough potting soil to fill the container approximately halfway.
Remove the kalanchoe plant from its current container, and transfer it to the larger container. Situate the plant so the crown is just below the top of the container. Add potting soil in around the roots to fill the container to the top and cover the roots up to the crown of the plant. Firm the soil down lightly with your fingers.
Provide water for the newly repotted kalanchoe plant immediately after you transplant it, moistening the soil evenly.
- Fill the bottom of the larger container with 2 inches of gravel for drainage.
- Add potting soil in around the roots to fill the container to the top and cover the roots up to the crown of the plant.
Place the kalanchoe plant into a location that receives a minimum of four hours of sunlight. Keep the soil evenly moist by providing water when the top 2 inches of potting soil dries out.
Transplant Kalanchoe
Prepare a flower bed or pockets in a rock garden that receives full sun with afternoon shade and has sandy soil. Pop transplants out of their nursery packs in late fall or early winter when temperatures are not expected to drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Kalanchoe bloom for about six weeks, then rest until prompted to bloom by winter's cycle of short days and long nights. Slide your hand over the top of the potted kalanchoe with your fingers parted around the central stem of the plant and your hand against the rim of the pot. Turn the pot on its side gently and pull back the pot. Flowering kalanchoes grow relatively slowly and do not often need repotting. Fill a terracotta pot 2 inches larger in diameter than its current pot with pebbles and a soil mix intended for potting cacti. Pinch off any dark brown or black mushy roots. Firm soil around the pot and water well. Place the pot in a sunny window where it can receive at least four hours of direct sun each day.
- Place the kalanchoe plant into a location that receives a minimum of four hours of sunlight.
- Fill a terracotta pot 2 inches larger in diameter than its current pot with pebbles and a soil mix intended for potting cacti.
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References
- Univerisity of Florida Extension Miami Dade County: Flowerbeds: Some Water-Wise Choices for Miami Dade
- University of Illinois Extension: Plant Palette - Kalanchoe
- Purdue University Extension: Indoor Plant Care
- Bachman's: Kalanchoe
- University of California Marin County Master Gardeners: Low-Water Succulents Offer Textures, Shapes, Colors and Sizes to Enhance Any Garden
- Bluebird Nursery: Rock Garden or Alpine
Writer Bio
Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.
