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Gardening

Controlling Leggy Kalanchoe

(11 Posts)
BradfordLass72 Wed 05-Jun-19 05:53:58

My dil gave me a beautiful, flowering Kalanchoe from which I've taken cuttings but the wretched thing grows so quickly and gets leggy, rather than forming the compact plant which came from the nursery.

How do I keep the branches short and encourage it to flower?
Pinching the tops out doesn't work.

tanith Wed 05-Jun-19 06:36:33

I’ve never grown them outside as they are tropical plants but they need lots of light or they will grow leggy they may need protecting from direct sun , they won’t tolerate the Winter though.

AliBeeee Wed 05-Jun-19 11:01:40

Mine does very well on the (west facing) kitchen window sill. It flowers constantly and doesn’t get too leggy.

tanith Wed 05-Jun-19 11:08:21

I’m sorry I somehow assumed you meant they were outside I don’t know how that happened. They need lots of light indoors but not so much artificial light.

NotSpaghetti Wed 05-Jun-19 17:00:43

I think they need direct sunlight actually - and lots of it. Maybe they also need early pruning to make them bushy if they are cuttings...

SparklyGrandma Wed 05-Jun-19 17:07:18

Pinch out the growth tip when they have grown enough...

reelashosser Wed 05-Jun-19 18:28:10

I can keep Kalanchoe houseplants going for quite a long time, simply by snipping the dead flower branches off. This keeps them trim and they flower again readily.

BradfordLass72 Wed 05-Jun-19 21:20:23

Thanks for these ideas. No they're not outside at the moment.

I shall have to find some way of giving them more light; my window ledges are far too narrow for pots although the room itself get sun all day.

Callistemon Wed 05-Jun-19 21:59:14

I'd better move mine then - it's on the dining room table.
It's not leggy yet but I've only had it for a couple of weeks.

BradfordLass72 Thu 06-Jun-19 04:49:42

I have to say the original plant didn't go leggy - it's the cuttings I've taken from it since which do that.

NanTheWiser Fri 07-Jun-19 17:37:41

All succulents require as much sun as you can give, otherwise they etiolated (grow leggy). Unfortunately even the sunniest windowsill indoors is sadly lacking in the amount of light such plants need.