Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (Donkey Ears) on 7-19-21, #815-4.
Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. Monday afternoon I noticed the Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (Donkey Ears) needed to be rotated. It is sitting on a table on the back porch under the covered part. It gets plenty of morning sun but is protected from full sun. Not that full sun would hurt it as long as it isn’t really hot. When I rotated the pot, I noticed something… I moved it to the propagating table to have a better look.
Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (Donkey Ears) on 7-19-21, #815-5.
It has its first kid… Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri is “one of those” Kalanchoe that produces plantlets from its leaves, phylloclades, or whatever you choose to call them. The scientific community calls their leaves phylloclades, which are modified “branches” used for photosynthesis… To the rest of us, they are just odd leaves. 🙂
Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (Donkey Ears) on 7-19-21, #815-6.
I found it quite weird the roots of the plantlets are pink… I guess it’s a girl. I wonder if boys have blue roots? Please don’t take that seriously. I doubt the pink has anything to do with gender.
Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri (Donkey Ears) on 7-19-21, #815-7.
The lower leaf on the opposite side of the plant is also pregnant. It appears another one is starting next to it. I will be keeping an eye on it…
The other Kalanchoe are doing fine except for the Kalanchoe orgyalis (Copper Spoons). It grew so tall, and I really liked the plant. It had a few branches so I decided I would cut the main stem and the branches off and start new plants. Well… The old main stem is growing a new plant but only one of the other cuttings has survived and it is iffy. Live and learn…
Kalanchoe beharensis (Velvet Elephant Ear) on 6-24-21, #803-11.
I finally have another Kalanchoe beharensis (Velvet Elephant Ear) thanks to a lady who read its page on March 14. In a comment, she said she could send a leaf which I readily accepted. She not only sent a leaf but also an entire rooted cutting which arrived on April 23… That was great because the leaf didn’t make it. The plant is doing great and is 4″ tall now. I was so glad when it arrived!
Kalanchoe beharensis ‘Fang’ at 5 3/4″ tall on 7-20-21, #816-2.
I decided to bring home another Kalanchoe beharensis ‘Fang’ from Wagler’s on April 3. She always had several to choose from but I had just not brought one home until then. She could have gotten her original start from me, but I am not sure. You can always tell ‘Fang’ from the other Kalanachoe beharensis because of the weird protuberances on the undersides of their leaves, which are also much smaller. When I took the photo on July 20 it was 5 3/4″ tall.
Kalanchoe x laetivirens (Mother of Thousands) on 7-20-21, #816-3.
Of course, the Kalanchoe x laetivirens (Mother of Thousands) is doing great. There are two plants in the pot that are offsets from the mother plant that flowered in January 2020. I had previously thought these baby factories were Kalanchoe daigremontiana but discovered I was mistaken. The leaves of that species have purple markings on their leaves while Kalanchoe x laetivirens just have green leaves. There are a lot of photos online of plants with mistaken identities… I need to get the two plants in this pot separated and may have to regrow them. They are getting quite tall and will start looking very weird soon if they aren’t regrown. These plants look AWESOME when they are grown well.
Kalanchoe luciae (Flapjacks) on 7-20-21, #816-4.
I really like the Kalanchoe luciae (Flapjacks, ETC.). They are easy to grow and undemanding except they like some space so they can sprawl a bit. I like their thick, leathery leaves and the white bloom on their stems (and leaves). I have had this species since I brought a plant home from Wal-Mart in 2016 so we have history. There are 5 pots with 16 plants (including offsets)… GEEZ!
Kalanchoe marmorata (Penwiper Plant) on 7-20-21, #816-5.
The Kalanchoe marmorata (Penwiper Plant) is still hanging in there waiting for me to figure them out. I ordered a plant from a Facebook member and it looked so great when it arrived in April 2018. It just went downhill from there and we have definitely had our ups and downs. Even though the plant had issues, it sent out an offset. The plant’s page is supposed to be a journal and if you read it will see the issues we have had. We made an agreement in 2019 that if it didn’t die I would continue doing the best I can. Well, both plants are still alive and now the smaller one (the original offset) is looking better than the taller one. The taller one looks weird AGAIN and the stem needs cut off and regrown. Hopefully, I will eventually figure out the Kalanchoe marmorata. I can’t help but think there is something it needs I am not doing… It’s a Kalanchoe, for crying out loud!
That’s all for this post! Until next time, be safe and stay positive. Always be thankful and GET DIRTY!
The Belmont Rooster 
Oh, . . . that is almost weird when you get a close up picture of it. The roots look good though. They must like the higher humidity.
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Hello Tony! The pink roots are definitely weird. I looked online to see if anyone else uploaded a close-up of the roots like that and saw none. The humidity is up there for sure. I am not sure how high it was today, but it didn’t take long to work up a sweat (even sitting at the computer). 🙂 Take care and thanks for the comment!
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Wow – Amazing a whole baby plant.. – definitely a girl!! so what happens next? – will you carefully bring it off the plant? Or will it fall off in the end? Or pin the mother leaf into compost so it can root 1st?
Velvet elephant ears is my favourite. These plants have great names – I’m particularly interested in the pen wiper plant .. where does that come from!!
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Hello Debbie! I will leave it alone and see what happens since this is a new Kalanchoe for me. I know how the Kalanchoe x laetivirens behaves but this one only produces a few offsets and not thousands. I remove them so they won’t fall into other pots and take root. I was at Lowe’s one time and brought home plantlets of a Kalanchoe delagoensis that were very small that didn’t grow and eventually died. The mother plant was in a combination planter and quite expensive… I think it’s best to leave the plantlets alone and let them fall off on their own when they are ready. I bought a BIG Kalanchoe beharensis from Lowe’s when I lived in Mississippi and paid more money for it than I ever paid for any plant. Then I go and left it with a friend when I moved. GEEZ! The Kalanchoe marmorata hails from Central and West Africa. They are supposed to be easy to grow. Hmmm… You know, was watching a video on YouTube and the lady said she fertilizes her cactus with Tomato fertilizer… I wonder if the potting soil I use, usually Miracle Grow with added pumice, isn’t good for that Kalanchoe… Well, you are a master gardener, what do you think? 🙂 Take care and thanks for the comment!
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Ha ha!! not sure about that…
I always start with What sort of earth would it be in in nature? Do you know where they naturally grow? Perhaps the soil mix is a bit too free draining?
You watched a woman with Tomato feed & I just watched a man give his kalanchoes rose food!! So much info -Who knows what is right!! 😵💫
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I think the cactus and succulents think we are nuts fussing over their soil. In nature, most of them grow in soil that is pretty much devoid of nutrients that gets hard as a brick during the dry season. It would be difficult for a human to want to plant their succulents in pots with soil like they grow in from their natural habitat. Besides, what we are growing hasn’t been in natural habitat… The Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri is from Madascgar but has naturalized in other tropical climates. Rose food? Hmmm… I just use potting soil with timed-release fertilizer with 50% pumice. Of course, I am never happy with the mix. Llifle Encyclopedia of Living Forms) says “Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri is found on calcareous rocks in low open forest.” Hmmm… One word leads to another. Calcareous=containing calcium carbonate, chalky… GEEZ! Oh, well. As long as it seems happy, I should be happy, huh?
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I had one of those Mother of Thousands once, and it was so long ago I didn’t even know it was a Kalanchoe. I always got my mother one of those grocery store Kalanchoes with the pretty flowers for Mother’s Day. It was one plant she couldn’t kill with inattention.
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Hello Linda! I am surprised you don’t still have its descendants. 🙂 When I was in California with Suzanne, before we went to Mississippi, the Kalanchoe with the colorful flowers were in all the grocery stores. Sometimes Wa-Mart has those here. Take care and thanks for the comment!
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