Houseplant · Crassulaceae
Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe
A tough little succulent that keeps handing you bright, long-lasting blooms for barely any effort.
Bright indirect
50–86°F · 10–30°C
USDA 10–12
6–35 in · 15–90 cm
Overview
So what exactly is a kalanchoe? It's a succulent from the stonecrop family, and most of the houseplant types come from Madagascar. It tucks water away in thick, fleshy leaves, and that's exactly why it shrugs off the odd missed watering and doesn't ask much of you. The flowering kind you'll spot at the garden center carries dense heads of small, bright blooms that stick around for weeks.
There's a lot more to the genus than that one florist plant most people picture, though. Some are grown for their fuzzy silver leaves instead of flowers, others stack their leaves into red-edged paddles, and a few even line their leaf margins with tiny plantlets that drop off and root by themselves. However different they look, they all want the same couple of things: good strong light and a pot that drains fast.
One thing to flag before you bring one home. Every kalanchoe holds cardiac glycosides that are toxic to cats, dogs, horses, and other animals, so if you've got pets, it's worth putting real thought into where it goes.
Care
The short version: bright indirect light, a gritty pot that drains fast, and water only once the soil's dried out completely. Keep it warm, feed it lightly through the growing season, and ease off the water come winter.
Light
Give kalanchoe bright indirect light, and once it's settled in it'll happily take a bit of direct sun too. Not enough light is usually why a plant stretches out and stops blooming, so a bright windowsill is your safest bet.
Water
Let the soil dry out completely before you water, then water it well and tip out anything that pools underneath. Those fleshy leaves keep their own water stash, so it's the standing wet, not going thirsty, that finishes these plants off through root rot. Come winter, ease right off as the growth slows down.
Soil
Pot it up in a gritty, well-drained cactus or succulent mix so water zips straight through and never sits around the roots. Honestly, sharp drainage is the single best thing you can do for it.
Temperature
Keep it somewhere between 50°F to 86°F (10°C to 30°C), which is just comfy room warmth. It's got zero tolerance for frost, so bring any outdoor plant back in well before the cold shows up.
Humidity
Plain low household humidity is exactly what this succulent's after, so there's no number to worry about here. Damp, stuffy air actually does it more harm than good.
Feeding
Feed it monthly from spring through summer while it's actively growing, using a balanced water-soluble fertilizer at half strength. Then just let it rest and skip feeding through winter.
Pruning
Deadhead the spent flowers and pinch the leggy stems back after blooming to keep it nice and compact and bushy. And if you spot any soft, rotted growth, cut it out right away.
Repotting
Pot kalanchoe on every 1 to 2 years, or sooner if it's outgrowing its container. Roots poking out the drainage holes, water running straight through, growth that's stalled? All signs it's ready for a bigger home.
Size & spacing
Depending on the type, a kalanchoe gets 6 to 35 inches (15 to 90 cm) tall and spreads 6 to 18 inches (15 to 45 cm) wide. Pick a pot to suit, and keep in mind the tidy florist kinds stay well below that top height.
Troubleshooting
Just about every kalanchoe problem starts down at the roots or comes back to light, and the good news is that catching it early usually makes it an easy fix. Have a look through the signs below, find the one that matches yours, and step in before it spreads.
Soft, blackening stems and a mushy base
What you're looking at is root and crown rot, and it almost always comes from water sitting in soil that just won't drain. Slip the plant out of its pot and have a feel of the roots; the healthy ones stay firm and pale, while the rotted ones go brown, soft, and a bit sour-smelling. Trim off everything that's gone mushy with clean tools, pot it back up in fresh gritty mix, and then just leave the watering alone until it picks up again.
Fix:
- Remove the plant from wet soil
- Cut away all rotted tissue with clean tools
- Repot into fresh gritty, well-drained mix
- Withhold water until the plant recovers
Long, stretched stems that just won't rebloom
Stems getting long and stretchy with big gaps between the leaves? That's too little light, plain and simple, as the plant strains toward the nearest window. Flowering kinds also need long, dark nights to set their buds, so shift yours to a brighter spot and pinch those lanky stems back. Want the blooms to come back? Give the plant about six weeks of roughly 14 hours of complete darkness each night.
Fix:
- Move to a brighter spot with bright indirect light
- For flowering kalanchoes, provide about six weeks of roughly 14 hours of complete darkness each night to trigger budding
- Pinch back leggy stems
White cottony fluff where the leaves meet the stem
Those cottony little clumps with the sticky stuff next to them? They're mealybugs. Grab a cotton swab, dip it in 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, and dab each bug you can find, then follow up with insecticidal soap and keep at it until the plant's clean. It's a good idea to move it away from your other succulents so the bugs can't hop over.
Fix:
- Dab insects with a cotton swab dipped in 70 percent isopropyl alcohol
- Treat with insecticidal soap and repeat until clear
- Isolate the plant from other succulents
Toxicity
This one's best kept away from your animals. Every part holds bufadienolides, cardiac glycosides that bring on drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea, and in bigger amounts can throw off the heartbeat. None of it's edible, so treat it as toxic to pets and livestock, and keep it somewhere kids can't reach.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Toxic
If your cat has a go at the leaves, you'll usually see drooling first, then some vomiting and diarrhea. A big mouthful is where it gets serious, because the cardiac glycosides can mess with the heart rhythm.
Dogs Toxic
A dog that nibbles any part of it might drool, throw up, get the runs, and just seem worn out and flat. Larger amounts can slow down or scramble the heartbeat, so that's your cue to call the vet.
Horses Toxic
Horses cop the same bufadienolides pretty hard. You'd be looking at drooling, colic, and loose manure, and if a horse eats enough, the toxin can throw off the heartbeat and turn genuinely dangerous.
Rabbits Toxic
Don't ever let a rabbit try kalanchoe, not even a nibble. Even a tiny taste sets off drooling and a dodgy tummy, and the cardiac glycosides make it a real risk for something that small.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, goats, and sheep can get poisoned if this plant grows near them or clippings end up where they graze. It starts with drooling and diarrhea, can move on to staggering, and a heavy dose can stop the heart.
Birds Toxic
Keep pet birds well away from the leaves. The cardiac glycosides are just as rough on them, so a bird that pecks at the foliage can end up with an upset gut and heart-rhythm trouble.
People Caution
None of this plant is food, so nobody should be eating it. The sap can leave your skin a little itchy, and swallowing any amount tends to upset the stomach, so keep it well out of reach of small children.
Sap can cause mild contact irritation; keep the plant out of reach of pets that chew foliage.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Kalanchoe is a much bigger family than the flowering plant most folks know. These are the types you're most likely to run into.
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Flaming Katy)
This is that florist kalanchoe you see just about everywhere, and you'll know it by the glossy scalloped leaves and tight clusters of small bright flowers.
Kalanchoe tomentosa (panda plant)
It's grown for the leaves, not the flowers, which makes sense once you see those thick, fuzzy silver leaves edged in soft brown felt.
Kalanchoe daigremontiana (mother of thousands)
Every leaf margin is lined with rows of tiny plantlets that eventually drop off and root wherever they happen to land.
Kalanchoe luciae / thyrsiflora (paddle plant)
Its rounded paddle-shaped leaves stack up like a flower, and they'll flush deep red along the edges once the light gets bright enough.
How to propagate
Kalanchoe is about as easy as succulents get to multiply, whether you fancy rooting a stem tip or growing a whole new plant from a single leaf.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Spring to summer during active growth · 2 to 3 weeks to root
Snip a healthy stem tip in spring or summer while it's growing, then leave the cut end to dry and callus for a day or two before it goes in the pot. Push it into gritty, barely damp mix and it'll root in about 2 to 3 weeks. That little callus step is the whole secret to keeping the stem from rotting.
Leaf cuttingsEasy
Spring to summer · 3 to 6 weeks to form plantlets
Here's a fun one: lots of kalanchoes will grow a whole new plant from just one leaf laid flat on well-drained mix in spring or summer. New plantlets and roots show up at the leaf base over the next 3 to 6 weeks. Let the leaf callus before you start, and keep that mix only barely damp.
Myths
Kalanchoes are harmless succulents that make safe gift plants around pets.
Nice idea, but no; the ASPCA lists kalanchoe as toxic to cats and dogs, and the rest of the genus is just as risky. The plant's full of bufadienolides, a kind of cardiac glycoside that brings on drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea, and in bigger amounts can throw off the heartbeat. A pretty bloom doesn't make it a safe pick for a home with animals in it.