Kalanchoe - potting questions

October 10, 2011 6:44 AM

When, if, and how should I repot my new kalanchoe?

I bought a kalanchoe about a week and a half ago. It's in the sunniest south-facing spot in the house (filtered sunlight) and I'm being careful not to water it too much. I'm in New England and indoor temps right now are 63-77 degrees - I don't have the heat on yet. I have forced-air heat which will dry things out considerably.

More flowers are opening by the day, and while I'm a little concerned about how some of the leaves look (brown edges/breakage on a few), I swear it's taller than it was when I bought it.

The poor plant looks cramped: it's in one of those little 4-inch green plastic pots. Should I repot, and if so, when? What size pot, and which growing medium (regular potting soil)?

posted by Currer Belfry to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

If you ease the plant and its rootball out of the pot, can you see much soil, or just a mass of roots winding round and round? Kalanchoes flower better when they are fairly rootbound, so it's best not to re-pot until there's very little soil visible through the rootball.

I think with kalanchoes the best time to re-pot is when they're dormant. So Feb/March, before it starts to want to flower again.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 7:14 AM on October 10, 2011

Two tips I can offer. First, transplant up slowly. Succulents actually prefer to be rootbound, and if they're in too big a pot, they'll root out too far and get a little weaker.
Potting soil will be just fine. Basically, anything well-draining will work.
posted by Gilbert at 7:54 AM on October 10, 2011

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I asked, since I was ready to do it now and it sounds like that would have been exactly the wrong thing to do.
posted by Currer Belfry at 4:22 PM on October 11, 2011