What are the cultivation methods for making a Kalanchoe bloom in a full pot?

Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) has a long blooming period and carries the meaning of longevity and good fortune, and its blooming period coincides with Christmas and spring, so everyone especially likes to buy one or two pots to take home, not only because they are beautiful, but also for the good omen. When it comes your turn to grow Kalanchoe yourself, how can you make it grow into a full pot and bloom into a full pot? Actually it is very simple, just these few tricks are enough!

1. Choose a suitable flower pot. This is a mistake many flower lovers often make, either because there happens to be a rather large flower pot at home, or for convenience, thinking that using a large flower pot will let the Kalanchoe keep growing and growing, so that it will not need soil or pot changes for several years.

Actually it is not so. An overly large flower pot is actually unfavorable for the plant's growth. An overly large flower pot does not match a smaller plant and affects its ornamental value. Too much space in the pot will make the plant keep putting effort into growing roots, growing all the way until it reaches the edge of the pot, so too many nutrients are supplied to root growth, and instead the branches and leaves above the soil grow poorly.

2. The concentration of fertilizer should be low, and you should apply thin fertilizer frequently. Kalanchoe is a plant that likes fertilizer, so ordinary fertilizing is certainly indispensable, otherwise it cannot bloom in a full pot, but one very contradictory point is that its nutrient absorption rate is also very low. If you give it high-concentration fertilizer all at once, it simply cannot absorb it.

If the fertilizer concentration exceeds the absorption rate of the root system, it will instead burn the roots, thus causing the opposite effect. So fertilizer should be applied, but the concentration must be low, once every 15 days to 20 days. After fertilizing, do not use the soaking method to water the flowers; use the pouring method to water them, as this helps let the excess fertilizer remaining in the soil flow out of the pot with the water.

3. Pruning and pinching out the growing tips. Spring is the growing season for Kalanchoe, and at this time many new branches and leaves will grow. First, prune off those shoots that grow very fast and very tall, removing their apical dominance; second, for the other branches, you can also pinch off the very top buds, which is the so-called pinching out the growing tips, to encourage them to grow more new buds. In this way, you achieve the effect of branches and leaves filling the pot, and later more flower buds may also emerge.