Wake = 4+ new plants
Posted 04-29-2009 at 09:02 PM by Shelli
Tags plants
My mother-in-law passed away about a month ago resulting in the usual wake which resulted in the unusual in my house. One of my husband's co-workers, rather than send flowers to the wake, sent a plant arrangement consisting of four plants: Kalanchoe, Dumbcane, Croton, & Maidenhair Fern.
Two of the plants, the Kalanchoe and the Dumbcane need to be let to dry out in between waterings. The other two plants, the Croton and the Maidenhair Fern, need to be kept moist at all times. All four plants also have different lighting needs.
After things settled down after the wake and my husband's kids flew back to New Mexico, I started researching how to re-pot and take care of these plants. I received some help regarding the plants on the Calling Plant Woman thread and I also did a lot of research on the net which paid off.
Then, it was time to do the deed and I found that I actually had fun doing it as shown in the following post from the Calling Plant Woman thread.
I had the
turned up and had a good time with it. 
A few days later, I went to my father-in-law's apartment and re-potted his Kalanchoe that he inherited from his late wife.
I re-potted it using cactus potting soil and a pot that, unlike the pot that it was in, has good drainage. When I was done, I put it where it'll get more sun and provided my father-in-law with a moisture meter with the number marked that it needs to reach before he should water it. He seemed to get it. Here's hoping so.
Before I re-potted his Kalanchoe however, I took cuttings for cloning which I planted last night.
I explained how I went about this in the Calling Plant Woman thread.
I'm trying propagation both from leaf and stem cuttings. I took two 4" stem cuttings, cutting off the lower leaves as instructed, so I saved the the lower leaves that I cut. I took the cuttings and leaves with a sharp razor blade sterilized in alcohol. The reason for this, I read, is because you want a clean cut without ragged or pinched edges. Then I let them sit in a container until callouses (similar to a scab on a human cut) formed on the cut edges which can take anywhere from a couple days to a week. Mine took about 3 days to callous over. You need to let them callous over before planting them so that the leaf or stem is protected from bacteria entering it's system and so that the cuttings don't leak out their vital plant juice.
So last night, I planted the stem and leaf cuttings in a cactus soil mix, putting a little extra top soil around the cuttings to prevent soil loss and then watered thoroughly until the water ran through.
They need lots of light and they like it warm so, I waited until this morning, and then I put them on the front porch in the
.
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I printed out a couple of excellent sites that I went by but they're at home, so I'll post the links to them tonight.
In the meantime, if you were looking to do a search now, my best information came from looking up "succulent propagation" rather than specifying "kalanchoe propagation" in my search.
So, in a month, I went from plant-less to having three plants hanging downstairs and one upstairs along with possible Kalanchoe clones on the front porch. 
Next, I'm going to get a philodendron for work.
Two of the plants, the Kalanchoe and the Dumbcane need to be let to dry out in between waterings. The other two plants, the Croton and the Maidenhair Fern, need to be kept moist at all times. All four plants also have different lighting needs.
After things settled down after the wake and my husband's kids flew back to New Mexico, I started researching how to re-pot and take care of these plants. I received some help regarding the plants on the Calling Plant Woman thread and I also did a lot of research on the net which paid off.
Then, it was time to do the deed and I found that I actually had fun doing it as shown in the following post from the Calling Plant Woman thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelli
It was kinda fun playing with the dirt and mixing up different types of potting soils. I felt like I was a little kid again playing in the dirt. 
The Kalanchoe I gave a premixed succulent potting soil. The Croton is now nestled in a mixture of regular potting soil and added peat moss. The Maidenhair Fern is snuggled in it's mixture of the same as the Croton except more peat moss than the Croton. The Dumbcane is sitting pretty in a mixture of regular and succulent potting soil.
I couldn't take the plants out of the original container the instructed way because turning the pot upside down and trying to grab a-hold of all four plants without hurting them was never going to work. Instead, I watered the original pot well and let it sit while I got the dirt mixtures ready in each pot. (I had to label the pots or I never would have remembered which was which) Then, when I was done with that, I took a butter knife and went along the outside edge of the pot, loosening the packed dirt from the pot. While I was doing that, I noticed that the fern was becoming nice and loose .. 
.. so I carefully removed the fern from the rest first and potted that, then moving on to the next loosest plant and so on until I had re-potted them all. That was a lot of work! 
But, now it's done and I don't have to fret anymore about it.
The Kalanchoe I gave a premixed succulent potting soil. The Croton is now nestled in a mixture of regular potting soil and added peat moss. The Maidenhair Fern is snuggled in it's mixture of the same as the Croton except more peat moss than the Croton. The Dumbcane is sitting pretty in a mixture of regular and succulent potting soil.
I couldn't take the plants out of the original container the instructed way because turning the pot upside down and trying to grab a-hold of all four plants without hurting them was never going to work. Instead, I watered the original pot well and let it sit while I got the dirt mixtures ready in each pot. (I had to label the pots or I never would have remembered which was which
) Then, when I was done with that, I took a butter knife and went along the outside edge of the pot, loosening the packed dirt from the pot. While I was doing that, I noticed that the fern was becoming nice and loose .. .. so I carefully removed the fern from the rest first and potted that, then moving on to the next loosest plant and so on until I had re-potted them all. That was a lot of work! But, now it's done and I don't have to fret anymore about it.
I had the
turned up and had a good time with it. A few days later, I went to my father-in-law's apartment and re-potted his Kalanchoe that he inherited from his late wife.
I re-potted it using cactus potting soil and a pot that, unlike the pot that it was in, has good drainage. When I was done, I put it where it'll get more sun and provided my father-in-law with a moisture meter with the number marked that it needs to reach before he should water it. He seemed to get it. Here's hoping so.
Before I re-potted his Kalanchoe however, I took cuttings for cloning which I planted last night.
I explained how I went about this in the Calling Plant Woman thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelli
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crumb
So how did you do it? A coworker of mine has a Kalanchoe and it would be cool to steal a start.
So last night, I planted the stem and leaf cuttings in a cactus soil mix, putting a little extra top soil around the cuttings to prevent soil loss and then watered thoroughly until the water ran through.
They need lots of light and they like it warm so, I waited until this morning, and then I put them on the front porch in the
.--------------
I printed out a couple of excellent sites that I went by but they're at home, so I'll post the links to them tonight.
In the meantime, if you were looking to do a search now, my best information came from looking up "succulent propagation" rather than specifying "kalanchoe propagation" in my search.
Next, I'm going to get a philodendron for work.
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Woo hoo! I got quoted in Shelli's blog! Now I'm famous! 
Philodendron's are so easy! I'm rooting some now as we type.
Posted 04-29-2009 at 10:07 PM by Crumb 
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Quote:Originally Posted by Crumb
Woo hoo! I got quoted in Shelli's blog! Now I'm famous! 
Yeah, they're pretty easy. I don't know anyone with one though, so I'm going to pick up a starter plant from the nursery.Quote:Philodendron's are so easy! I'm rooting some now as we type.
Posted 04-29-2009 at 10:25 PM by Shelli
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Wot's with the pink? You gay or summat?Posted 04-29-2009 at 10:28 PM by Watser?
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Posted 04-29-2009 at 10:29 PM by Shelli
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I hope that don't cost money.
I totally ripped off a tiny runner from a plant at a local department store. If that puppy roots it will be so cool.
Posted 04-29-2009 at 10:44 PM by Crumb
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Crum is a 
Posted 04-30-2009 at 01:06 AM by Watser?
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Huh, I didn't even think of that. :think2: Well, the baby plants at the nursery are only
3 or 4 so, I'll just get it there. 
Posted 04-30-2009 at 01:08 AM by Shelli
