Kalanchoe - a common houseplant, familiar with all its wonderful medicinal properties. Particularly famous in the fight against the common cold - a few drops in the nose causes a violent reaction in the form of sneezing and lacrimation, but then comes a significant improvement. No less successful succulent is used in gynecology, dentistry and surgery, and for a family with a child who often develops ARD, Kalanchoe is just a find - it purifies the air with antiseptic effect.
Description of the plant
The plant is widespread in the tropical zones of Africa, South Asia, America and Australia, there are about 200 of its species in the world, many of which feel great in human habitation. They are unpretentious, adapt easily to changing environmental conditions.
The leaves of the Kalanchoe, like most other succulents, are thick and fleshy, the stems can be erect and ascending. Height, depending on the variety, can vary between 20-150 cm.
How to propagate Kalanchoe?
It is well known that this plant not only benefits, but also delivers aesthetic pleasure, especially for flowering varieties. It is noteworthy that the period of its flowering often falls on the months of winter, which allows you to diversify the gray cold everyday life, drinking compositions and even whole flower beds on the windowsills. In this case, the issue of reproduction takes on special urgency.
Traditionally, this plant can be propagated in two ways - through seed and vegetative. Let's consider each of them in more detail:
- Propagation of Kalanchoe by seeds. The method is suitable even for those who have never kept this plant at home and want to try to grow a full-fledged healthy specimen from scratch. Seeds of Kalanchoe have excellent germination, they are best sown in late winter - early spring. Seeds simply scatter on the surface of the tank, filled with soil, slightly pressing them with your finger and not sprinkling the earth. Next, cover the container with paper and glass. Twice a day it needs to be opened for ventilation. The temperature of the content should be stable within the limits of 16-20 ° C, it should be watered regularly with warm water, not allowing the substrate to dry. After the appearance of germs, the glass and paper are removed. Then the shoots are transplanted, screening out the weakest ones. The second transplant is carried out when 2-3 leaves appear on the sprout - into a constant container filled with a mixture of soil, peat and sand.
- Vegetative reproduction of Kalanchoe at home. Compared with the previous, a faster method that can be implemented in the following ways:
- the reproduction of a Kalanchoe by a leaf - for this even old, falling leaves are suitable, which are well established. In order for the leaf to take roots, it is enough to place it in the water, and when the first roots are pierced, it is possible to transplant the leaf into a container with an earthen
substrate; - reproduction of calanchoe by cuttings - for this, apical shoots, 5-8 cm high, are used, cutting them diagonally. The finished stem can immediately be placed in a quality soil, in which it will germinate with moderate watering and good lighting;
- the reproduction of Kalanchoe blossoming "children" - is possible for those plant species that have daughter shoots. For this, the "children" are separated from the mother plant, placing them in a soil with a high content of sand. When they take root and germinate, they can be transplanted into a permanent container. It should also be borne in mind that such a method of reproduction can be performed by the Kalanchoe itself - shoots fall off and, growing up, form independent plants.