Could you suggest a flowering plant that will be easy to grow and will provide a few weeks of color to brighten up my home for these dreary winter days?
– Beth Jenson, Highland Park
Kalanchoes are popular, easy-to-grow flowering houseplants with flowers that come in a wide variety of colors, including red, white, yellow, lavender, pink and orange. The flowers are in clusters at the end of stems held above the foliage and can last several weeks if the plant you purchase has lots of buds and not just flowers.
Prune off spent flowers as you see them to help extend the flowering period and keep the plants looking their best. Deep green leaves with scalloped edges set off the flowers and persist after flowering is completed. Kalanchoes are readily available to purchase so should be easy for you to find — your grocery store may even have them for sale.
Kalanchoes are succulent plants that are native to arid areas, so they are sensitive to overwatering and will decline in a moist growing medium that is not allowed to dry out between watering. (A cactus is an example of another succulent plant.)
When you do water, do so thoroughly, with the water coming out of the drainage holes of the container. Be sure to give the plant time to dry out before the next watering. They do not need extra humidity, so the generally drier winter air in a house is good for kalanchoes. There is no need to fertilize the plants during the flowering period.
Kalanchoes need lots of sunlight, so place them in a south-facing window in winter if possible, and move them to an east or west window for bright indirect sunlight in summer — too much sun may burn the foliage. Kalanchoes prefer temperatures above 55 degrees Fahrenheit, so they are well-suited to the indoor environment.
Most people discard the plants after the bloom is over, though you can try to rebloom them yourself if you are willing to put in some effort. Your plants will need about six weeks of short winter days next year to flower again, so you will need to put the plants in a closet or cover them with a box to shade them from house lights.
Professional growers force kalanchoes to bloom throughout the year by giving them short days, which means about 12 hours of darkness each day to stimulate the formation of flower buds. When all the flowers have dried, cut off the flower stalks, move the plants to a shadier location and reduce watering to force it into a dormant period. When new leaf buds appear in one to two months, move them back into bright light, resume regular watering and begin to fertilize twice a month with a diluted, balanced houseplant fertilizer.
You may want to move the plants outside in summer to a partly sunny location when temperatures remain above 50 degrees; while outside, the plants will need more frequent watering.
Tim Johnson is director of horticulture for the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.
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