Kalanchoe albino is one pretty amazing plant in the plant world. They belong to the Kalanchoe genus.
Keep on reading this article if you wish to enhance your knowledge on how to care for them properly and how to propagate them.
If you care for them properly and provide them their required growing conditions, they will reward you with beautiful plants in return.
How do I identify Kalanchoe albino?
Unlike other Kalanchoe plants, Kalanchoe albino leaves are white in color. Further you may spot their leaves edges in pink. Size and growth rate of this plant is debatable.
How do you take care of Kalanchoe albino?
Light Requirement
Kalanchoes in general could withstand different levels of sunlight. However Kalanchoe albino lack chlorophyll on their leaves. Therefore they need the green color of the base part of the plant to survive.
Best would be to expose them to bright sunlight for a few hours and then expose for partial sunlight for the rest of the day.
In case, if you expose these plants for low lighting levels, chances are that your plants would become leggy and misshaped.
Temperature and humidity
In terms of the temperature requirement of these plants, you need to grow them under temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius – 22 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit – 72 degrees Fahrenheit.)
However, you should make sure that you do not expose them for frost conditions though.
As such if you have grown them outdoors, you should bring them indoors. To do that you should grow them in a container which you could easily move in and out from the house.
When it comes to humidity, they could thrive in room humidity.
Is it cold hardy?
Kalanchoe albino are quite responsive towards cold temperatures. But as this is a special plant do not keep them out in frosty weather.
Watering Requirement
Kalanchoe albino plants are not heavy dependents of water just like the rest of other succulents.
In fact, Kalanchoe albino have conserved water in their thick leaves and do not require you to water them on a constant basis. So, if you are a forgetful gardener, you could consider growing them.
However, when you water them, you should always check whether their soil is dry. Only if it is dry only you need to resume watering them.
Further when you water them make sure that you are watering them thoroughly and let them dry afterwards.
Moreover, in terms of watering frequency, you should water them at least once every fortnight during summer.
On the other hand, you could water them less often during colder months. No matter what you need to make sure your plant’s soil mix is dry from the previous watering session.
Soil Requirement Type / pH
When it comes to choosing the right soil mix, it is mandatory that you grow them in a soil medium which has good drainage.
If you wish you may add 50 % of the potting medium along with peat moss and perlite mix. If not, you may right away go ahead with a cactus soil mix or with a succulent soil mix at stores.
Pot size Potting and Repotting
You could pot the Kalanchoe albino plants ideally in clay pots. Those pot materials would suit the Kalanchoe albino plants well since they would not retain excess moisture in the pots.
Further when it comes to repotting of the plants, you could consider repotting them when you freshly purchased them from the stores.
Moreover, you need to repot them during their actively growing season. Skip repotting them during dormancy. Generally, you need to repot these plants once every couple of years.
To do that, you need to first take off the plant and see whether the plant roots are healthy. If there are any rotten parts, you need to snip them off.
You could consider treating them with fungicide to treat the cuts. After that you simply have to grow them in a fresh soil mix.
Where to Plant
You should ideally select a place where these plants can gain bright sunlight. So, if you are growing them outdoors, make sure you grow them in a spot where they can gain bright sunlight in the morning and partial sunlight in the afternoon.
Moreover, if you wish to grow them as indoor plants, grow them in a clay pot and place them near a bright sunny windowsill.
Fertilizer and time of year
These are not heavily dependent on fertilizers also. Having said that, if you wish to feed them, you may do that in their actively growing season.
However, when you provide extra nutrients, plant growth would be benefitted from that.
Can be toxic to pets
Kalanchoes in general are toxic plants for humans’ cats and for dogs. It could be so dangerous if you ingest them in larger quantities.
There could be symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.
Common bugs and illnesses
Kalanchoe albino plants usually may come across pests’ attacks. For example, bugs such as mealybugs, spider mites and scales could invade these plants and deteriorate the health of the plants.
If we elaborate further on spider mites, you could hardly spot them. However, you could spot them as white webbings on the plants.
In addition to that when spider mites attack your plants, chances are that the leaves could turn yellow in color and further cause wilting of the plant.
When it comes to mealybugs and scales, you could spot them with your naked eye.
However, it is important that you conduct regular check ups on your plants so that you could see if there are any early signs of any infection or disease.
You need to treat them immediately whenever you spot them. The earlier you identify this issue the better it will be. If you have grown them along with other plants, you need to immediately isolate them.
In addition to the above, root rot is another major concern of these plants. Hence it is very important that you water them appropriately without over watering .
If you supply them excess water, that will create the plant’s roots to be in soggy conditions and ultimately lead to root rot.
Special Care tips
As aforesaid, these are easy care plants and there is nothing you have to do especially when taking care of them.
You simply have to grow them in a place where they can gain bright sunlight and in sandy soil. Water them only when their soil is dry and feed them as appropriate during their growing season.
Kalanchoe albino plant benefits
They are useful as air purifiers and as attractive houseplants.
Recently asked questions
Why is my kalanchoe turning white?
Kalanchoes could turn white due to powdery mildew. This is a fungal disease which could infect the kalanchoes.
You could identify it very easily due to its powdery white growth. This is something which you could overcome easily and not severely too. To overcome this, you need to place them in a humid place.
Conclusion
Before winding this up, trust you were able to clear all your doubts on this plant and ready to start growing them.
If you practice the right growing care treatments, they will thrive well and flourish to be beautiful plants.
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