Flapjack Succulent
This is a close up of a Kalanchoe thyrsiflora as many refer to it as, or more specifically a Kalancho luciae succulent in my yard. The contrast of pink edges outlining large green leaves makes my heart leap!
I like the simple names of plants when they are easy and fun to remember, this one is known as a Flapjack, or Paddle Plant.
Water wise, hardy, and easy to care for. What a beauty!
Thank you for visiting my garden blog: www.nadiaknows.com
Creating= Growing= Having Fun
Hey Nadia!
What a gorgeous picture of a gorgeous plant!
I just bought one, on clearance, hehe, cause some leaves were shrivelling. The center ones still look great. I’m wondering if you have any tips from the experience of caring for yours on helping them to thrive. I live in a Nova Scotia, so it is a cold winter, but she should be happy and warm. Google’s search results have taught me that during these winter months, when it is not growing season per se, it prefers to be kept dry. However, could it be *too* dry? Or is it more likely that it endured some kind of trauma at the store? (being placed by a heater, etc.) There doesn’t appear to be any yellowing or discoloration, just the shrivelling, and drooping leaves. Drooping sounds like lack of water to me, or root binding, but I was hoping to bounce it off of someone else, since I am new to this variety. Also, when watering in winter, should one only water til just damp? or give it a better soak, then let it thoroughly dry out?
Do you ever prune it? I cut off the shrivelled parts… I hope that wasn’t premature and detrimental!
Are the stones I see under the leaves atop your soil, or in it?
Beautiful blog design, as well.
Happy New Year!
Thank you! My plant is surrounded by rocks, succulents love to be hugged by rocks, if the soil is too loose around the plant, it tends to die! You are in the CCCCCold, so try to keep your plant dry in the winter months, too much water will kill it fast. Keep it in good sun at least 6 hours a day if possible. If outdoors then you will not have to water it at all, since you get more rain that we do in the winter. I usually will pinch off old leaves. If it is indoors, then use a water bottle mister and just spray at the base of the plant once week, just a few squirts is all it needs. Let it go dry between waterings. The less the better. The drooping leaves sounds like it may have been inside too hot, or you are right, may need just a bit more water in the transfer to your home. If the soil feels very dry an inch down the plant then soak it with a mister. No pruning, just removing old dead leaves. Good luck and thank you so much for your comments! nadia
Nadia. I’m a total novice who knows nothing about succulents. Without thinking… to prevent a “naked” trunk and encourage continued growth at its base, I pinched the new growth in the middle of my Paddle-Leaf (about a foot high now), inadvertently creating a distorted mutant look. Is their any way to keep it full at the bottom? Also, is it true that this species dies after flowering? Life span? — Paul
I sent you a personal email on this one! Good luck!
It is true that the main stock dies after flowering, but there should be many little “pups” growing around it since it propagates itself with new growth just like the agave plant does. Not sure about the life span. This has been a tough succulent for many people to grow and it is a bit more expensive than other succulents. The mutant look will look a little better over time, but the plant does get a little naked looking at the baseline. Not much you can do about that.
Hello! You have a beautiful plant there! I have my paddle plant inside and it has grown a lot trying to reach for the sunlight through my window. It is very tall but narrow, and if I didn’t lean it on the windowsill it would fall over. I think I need to transplant it to another pot. Should I put in in a larger pot just to conteract the wieght? If I do I will have to take it off my counter, and I am afraid of putting it outside since it has been inside for about 2 years now. My plant has lost all of its “pink as well”, being that it must not be getting enough sunlight to turn that color. It was pink fringed when I bought it. I am just so afraid to wreck my little kitchen friend! It sits by me when I do the dishes and cheers me up! Also I have taken a smaller plant from the large one and grew it in a seperate pot, and now there is another “branch” growing directly off the base stem of the plant. Can I cut it and grow it as well? That way I will still have a little friend by me when momma plant is too big to sit on the counter. Thanks, any tips will help.
It sounds like you were successful at propagating! You can do the same thing with your new growth, succulents and kalanchoes do great by cutting and replanting them for new plants. I am not an expert “yet” (starting horticulture school this month) on plants, but this is what I have learned by my own experience. The color gets more red with more sun. I think if you put the plant outside it would go through a shock right now with the night temperatures as cold as they are. Try to repot it and keep it indoors. Maybe you can find a pot that is not huge and keep it in the same place, while at the same time creating new baby plants. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Thanks Nadia. I will try my best! Crossing my fingers for the new cutting! Hope it goes well for you in “plant” school!
I have a beautiful flapjack, however the leaves curl. The plant is 10″ high and in a 7″ pot in a sunny kitchen window. I’ve had it about 6 months and when I bought it, it was a smaller plastic pot but the leaves (with a beautiful flost-like bloom) were all flat. The plant is growing, a lot, but after each new leaf flattens out horizontally for a couple of week, it curls under. I’ve tried watering more, then watering less, but no change, and it’s still growing like crazy. (Oh, I live in the south but I don’t have a yard, so inside is my only option. We it keep it 64 in the winter and about 75 in the summer. The sunny window it sits in does get a draft so I’m guessing it gets a bit colder and then a bit warmer than what our thermostat reads.) Your help is much appreciated -and I love your site!!!
I sent you an email with some suggestions! Lower watering, replenish some of the soil with cactus mix and water with a mister at the base of the plant to keep the leaves from getting wet!