Can ordinary soil be used for stem cuttings of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana?

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is very well suited to having its branches cut for propagation, and you can take cuttings from the stems, from the side branches, or even from the flower stems as cuttings, and they usually root and survive very easily. Moreover, compared with leaf cuttings, stem cuttings have more obvious advantages. After stem cuttings root, they can generally continue to sprout, whereas with leaf cuttings, after rooting, they usually need to be grown for several months before they can successfully sprout.

However, there are quite a few factors that affect the survival rate of cuttings. Not only does the cut stem branch need to be robust and fully mature, but also factors in the cutting environment such as temperature, humidity, light and ventilation will have a certain effect on the rooting and survival of the cuttings. Not only that, the choice of cutting medium is also very critical, so?

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana roots and survives very easily, but if the medium is not good, although you cannot say it will fail to root and survive, it can easily have a relatively large impact on its rooting and survival, thereby reducing the survival rate. If you use ordinary soil for cuttings, survival is generally not a problem, it is just a matter of sooner or later.

This is because ordinary soil is generally neutral, has a certain stickiness, and has poor permeability, and these factors usually only affect the growth of the cuttings after they have rooted and survived, and generally do not play a decisive role in their rooting and survival. Therefore, even if we use ordinary soil, Kalanchoe stem cuttings can still survive.

But precisely because ordinary soil has poor permeability, is not loose and airy enough, and also affects drainage, it is not conducive to the respiration and growth of the root system of young seedlings, and it also easily causes waterlogging in the medium. Because the root system of young seedlings is very tender and fragile, and Kalanchoe is naturally drought-tolerant and not water-tolerant, when the medium becomes waterlogged, it is very easy for its tender roots to be damaged.

Moreover, Kalanchoe has many fine capillary roots, and at the same time they are very fragile and easily damaged. Whether it is our usual management of water and fertilizer during care, or when we transplant into pots, we must protect its root system, otherwise it will affect its survival.

To improve the survival rate of Kalanchoe propagated from stem cuttings, we generally need to choose a loose, airy and highly water-permeable medium as the cutting bed, preferably a clean, nutrient-free inert medium. Media such as sand, perlite and vermiculite are all very good, and can all be used as the medium for Kalanchoe stem cuttings.

These inert media contain no nutrients or few nutrients, so they are relatively very clean and not likely to cause wound infection or damage to the cuttings, so they can greatly improve the rooting and survival rate of the cuttings. But at the same time, because these media lack nutrients, they are not suitable for the long-term growth of the rooted cuttings, so after the cuttings have rooted and survived, they should be transplanted into pots in time, using fertile, loose soil with better air and water permeability for growing.