Gorgeous, and great job!

Surprised there weren't more comments. I have about a dozen Kalanchoes & the Blossfeldianas are definitely the most thirsty. There's at least 10 more that are very high on my wish list.

I get bummed too when I hear about these being treated kind of like Poinsettias, disposable, seasonal. IDK where this reputation comes from, it's one of my least demanding plants & most fun to propagate. I think there may be 2 primary factors. The first being that house plants are (until recently anyway,) almost strictly entities from moist, shady areas. Folks used to those might not understand the different preferences of a Kalanchoe, more light, less water (without the hydro you mentioned as part of the equation.) Second, when they stop blooming, a lot of people may think they are dying.

Well I appreciate your interest and enthusiasm in my little rebloom even if nobody else is interested. :-D

You're probably right that a lot of people may not realize how easy it actually is to keep a kalanchoe. Especially since they often are not potted in properly draining soil when people get them, so I imagine a lot of people end up overwatering them.

I personally feel that one of the fun parts about growing plants is to see the progress the plant makes in growing over time, so I never purchase plants with the intention of throwing them away.

The flowers on your kalanchoe are just beautiful! I don't know anything about this plant. I have had two of them and after they were done blooming, they didn't seem to last long. I'm sure I must have watered them too much because I didn't know it was a succulent. The last one I had came from an arrangement for a funeral. I replanted it in miracle grow potting soil and watered it pretty good. That was probably all wrong. I must learn to investigate new plants before assuming what they need. Thanks for your post.

This is the only kalanchoe I have ever grown but based on my experience I'd say that it is definitely a plant that prefers neglect rather than "too much love". :)

I've read that if you can provide them with complete darkness for approximately 16 hours every night, that will encourage them to bloom like crazy. Commercial growers cover them with a black cloth each night in the greenhouse. That's why the ones at the store have tons and tons of blooms all over them. Street lights and household lights at night can be enough to stunt their bloom output.

jpciii is right, provide them complete darkness of atleast 12-14 hours a day, and they will bloom, its just that you are tricking your plant to bloom on demand.

I just put mine as close to an E/S/W window as possible during winter. That seems to do it, unless the 'Calandiva' cultivar is quite diff from the plain species. I have a bunch of regular K. blossfeldiana plants, but haven't yet found a Cal for sale.

Nice!

I've always wanted to try growing kalanchoe but I don't have any room anymore. They seem to be everywhere though, individually and in those easter/Christmas plant basket things.

I keep mine in the bathroom along with the Christmas/Easter/thanksgiving

Cactus. They are in a window, protected from artificial light. Bring them out when in bloom. The cactus bloom off and on all year. The kalanchoes bloom almost all the time.

The kalanchoe (mother of thousands?) goes outside and gets watered, whenever, they come in just before frost an proceed to bloom like crazy.

2 to 3 foot tall blooms.

Those Mother of Thousands types are all called Bryophyllum now

Greenlarry: Yes, my understanding is that Calandiva is a variation of the typical blossfeldiana. It seems to behave the same except for having double flowers.

Purpleinopp: I am surprised you don't have these kalanchoes around you. If you want to discuss a possible trade let me know.

TY. ;) There's not much around where I live at all, rural area.

to OP,

it is Kalanchoe blossfeldiana 'Calandiva White' - i have one just like that. and i keep it next to my thaxgiving cactus - it has the same light requirements (similar to poinsettia). it needs short days for rebloom and dark longish nights. i keep it in west window and the room is dark at night. it rebloomed for me nicely (and is still going in fact).

so far it's been indoors only. and i think it can stay indoors and bloom too (just like my xgiving cactus). but i want to put it outside to see if it grows bigger leaves. i trimmed it and new foliage is good , but small. i am feeding it too with balanced fertilizer . i am wondering how they manage to produce incredibly thick blooms and giant leaves - it must be growth hormones or smth? my blooms are ok, but not anywhere as thick as when i bought it.

I think you're probably on to something with the growth hormones thing.

These are southern hemisphere plants hence the flowering issue

Larry, in the N hemisphere, things work the same, just opposite (regarding time of year.)

Josephene, K. blossfeldiana doesn't make leaf-edge babies, so wouldn't be referred to as a "mother of" plant. It also doesn't make the tall bloom stalks you describe. If yours is doing that, it's a diff species.

K. blossfeldiana blooms are photoperiodic, and happen annually. Here's info used by commercial growers:
"Kalanchoes can be manipulated to flower on a specific finish date, 52
weeks of the year much like pot mums. Kalanchoes are qualitative
short-day plants for
flowering with a critical photoperiod of 12� hours depending on the
cultivar. However, more rapid floral initiation occurs using a 10-hour
photoperiod
(optimum critical photoperiod); the daylength most often used
commercially. Some Kalanchoe cultivar can minimally initiate flowers
with as few as two
consecutive short days; however, as the number of consecutive short days
increases, the number of flowers initiated increases exponentially up
to 14 to 21 short
days. For commercial production, however, at least 42 short days (6
weeks) are recommended for complete induction of the wide variety of
cultivars available.
Flower buds are usually visible at the end of this period. Returning
plants to long days once the short day treatment is completed has the
added benefit of
reducing elongation of the terminal cyme and producing a more compact
plant."
- http://www.ag.auburn.edu/hort/landscape/Kalanchoe.htm

Purple I know, Ive grown a few weird succulents in my time