Can Kalanchoe still be pruned after the start of autumn? Will it affect the flowering period? The answer is here

Kalanchoe buds in autumn and blooms in winter and spring. It is now mid-to-late September, and some flower lovers are asking whether Kalanchoe can still be pruned during this period. In fact, pruning Kalanchoe depends on its plant shape.

Some flower lovers' Kalanchoe plants are not growing well after a summer. Although pruning at this time may delay its flowering time, if the plant is weak, it will bloom little or not at all in winter and spring even without pruning. So if your Kalanchoe is not growing well and temporarily cannot meet the conditions for blooming, you can prune it once, cutting off diseased and weak branches to encourage more strong branches and side shoots to grow, which helps the plant shape become full.

After pruning, apply a compound fertilizer with comprehensive nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium twice, or use your own fully rotted organic liquid fertilizer. After new branches grow, use a potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution for root watering and foliar spraying. You can also bury an appropriate amount of rotted chicken manure around the pot in advance. Together with sufficient light (Kalanchoe is a short-day plant, and in the early stage of flowering it must receive no less than 6-8 hours of light per day), this can promote rapid flower bud differentiation.

Generally, after surviving the summer, a normally growing plant can be pruned once before September. If the plant shape is not full enough, pinch the tips promptly. Pinching means removing the tips of new growth to encourage more new branches to sprout. After September, pruning is not recommended. Because this period is exactly its flower bud differentiation stage, pruning at this time may cut off the flower buds that are differentiating, delaying or affecting flowering.

If your plant is growing robustly and has a full shape, what you need to do at this time is give it plenty of fertilizer and water, that is, keep the potting soil slightly moist, supply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer once a week, and provide sufficient light at the same time, to ensure it smoothly completes flower bud differentiation and bud formation and flowering in winter.