Pinch back your kalanchoe like this for a prettier look and more flowers
Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) is a fairly easy flowering plant to grow. It blooms from December to around May of the following year and is a succulent herbaceous plant. There are many varieties of kalanchoe, and the wide range of colors makes them very suitable for mixed planting or grafting together. Since it is in fact a succulent plant with relatively thick, fleshy leaves, we habitually classify kalanchoe among the succulents.
Although kalanchoe is not very difficult to grow, it is not a simple matter for many friends who are just getting into growing flowers. So what should you do when your kalanchoe grows unevenly? What should you do when individual branches become leggy? Today Hua'er Gu is here to introduce how to pinch back kalanchoe. This operation is nothing difficult for experienced veterans, but for novice flower lovers lacking experience, it is really worth learning!
For a long period after the flowering season, kalanchoe generally grows relatively quickly. In other countries, kalanchoe is generally not pinched back, but in China, in order to maintain its beautiful appearance, we pinch it back as part of its care.
Without artificial assistance, it will grow unevenly and detract from its overall beauty. So when should we pinch back kalanchoe? What should we pay attention to when pinching back? Let us give a brief introduction below!
Pinching back is generally done when you notice individual branches becoming leggy. To maintain the overall beauty of the potted plant, we need to promptly pinch back the leggy branches, preventing them from wasting too many nutrients and detracting from the overall beauty.
You can pinch back with your bare hands, or use sharp, sterilized scissors. You can directly pinch off the tips with your fingernails. After pinching back, no treatment is needed; the wound will heal on its own.
If a leggy branch has grown a good deal above the overall height of the plant, we can pinch off more of it. If the branch has become semi-woody, we can use tools such as scissors to restore the plant's overall appearance.
The shoots we remove can be used to propagate new plants by cuttings. If you don't want them, you can also throw them in the trash. Never leave cut branches and leaves in the flower pot. We think fallen leaves returning to the roots is best, but for growing flowers this is a major taboo, and bacterial infection can occur in no time.
In addition, after pinching back we must not spray the leaves, to prevent water droplets from falling on the wound and affecting the plant's normal growth. If spraying is needed, wait at least 24 hours until the wound has dried.
The above is Hua'er Gu's introduction to some methods and precautions for how to pinch back kalanchoe. If you also like growing kalanchoe, how do you pinch it back? What do you pay attention to after pinching back? Everyone is welcome to leave a comment and share your good experience with us!