Flapjack Plants - Kalanchoe thyrsiflora

Flapjack plant (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora)  (Wiese Acres photo)

One of my favorite succulents is my flapjack plant.  It's also known as paddle plant or dog tongue plant.  All three of these common names are pretty descriptive of Kalanchoe thyrsiflora.  I prefer Flapjack plant because to me it looks most like a stack of flapjacks, with its large, thick, round leaves that are stacked in layers up the length of the stem.

 A mature flapjack plant can grow to heights of up to 2 feet tall and the individual leaves can grow as large as six inches in diameter.   It is hardy outdoors in zone 9 and higher, but here in our zone 4 (which, by the way, is feeling much more like zone 3 with these ridiculous below zero temps in mid-November), flapjacks need to be overwintered indoors.  I move my flapjacks into the garage when the outside nighttime temperatures start dropping into the 40's.  I leave them in the garage for a few days to check for hitchhiking insects, then give them a good strong spray with the garden hose to knock off any pests that I see and even some that are lurking in places where I might not see them.

Flapjacks are generally pretty pest resistant, but may be susceptible to aphids, mealy bugs, and scale insects.  Aphids are recognized by "honeydew", the sticky secretions they leave on the foliage.  Mealy bugs look like miniature cotton balls clinging to the leaves and stems.  Scales look like brown dots lurking on the undersides of the leaves and on the stems, especially where the leaves attach to the stems.  Aphids can generally be knocked off with a sharp spray of water.  Mealy bugs are best removed with a cotton ball soaked with 70% rubbing alcohol.  Scales generally need to be scraped off with a fingernail or a sharp knife edge.

Once I know they are pest free, I bring the flapjacks indoors and set them in a south or west facing window.  Flapjacks do best in bright, direct sunlight.  They may tolerate a little shade, but really need several hours of bright sun to do their best.  

Flapjacks also do their best in locations where the daytime temperatures are around 65 to 70 degrees with slightly cooler night time temperatures.  Since this is in the general range where most of us like our home temperatures to be, flapjacks generally adapt quite easily to their time indoors.

Like most succulents, flapjacks do not like wet feet.  I water them only when the top couple inches of the soil are dry.  Overwatering will lead to root and stem rot and the death of the plant.  

Rose colored edges of flapjack plant (Wiese Acres photo)

Flapjacks are not heavy feeders, doing very well on three to four light feedings a year.  Growth is very slow in the winter, so I don't fertilize them at all while they are indoors.  In early April, I will give them a dose of half strength 10-10-10 fertilizer to give them a head start for the summer.  Then, when temperatures are staying above 45 degrees day and night, I'll move them back outside to the bright sunshine.  That bright sunshine is what will give the edges of the leaves back their rosy hue that slowly fades away over the winter.

Mature flapjacks will send up a tall, leafy flower stalk after their third or fourth year of growth.  The stalk  will have small, dense clusters of yellowish-green flowers.  The foliage of a flapjack is really more dramatic than the flowers.  Sadly, the mother flapjack gives her all in sending out the flower stalk.  Once the flower stalk dies, the mother plant will also die.  Flapjacks develop small plants as offsets, and these can be planted to keep the flapjack plant alive after the mother plant has died.  

Flapjacks can also be propagated vegetatively, either by leaf or stem cuttings.  To propagate with a leaf cutting, take a sharp, sterilized knife and cut a leaf off right where it attaches to the stem.  Set the leaf aside for a week or so to allow a callous to form on the cut edge, then stick the cut edge in a container of moist sand.  Place the container in bright, indirect light and keep the soil moist but not overly wet.  When the leaf develops roots, move the container into bright sunlight and care for it as the original plant.

Stem cuttings are generally best taken while the plant is semi-dormant between late fall and early spring.  Take a three to five inch stem from the mature plant and remove the lower leaves.  Plant the stem up to the remaining leaves in a pot of moistened sand.  Place the pot in bright, indirect light and mist lightly as needed to keep the soil slightly moist until roots develop.  Once rooted, move the stem cutting into bright direct light and continue to provide mature flapjack care for it.

With a little bit of TLC, flapjacks will provide enjoyment and dramatic foliage, both summer and winter.

Flapjack plant (Wiese Acres photo)

Overwintering Tender Succulents

Succulent garden in summer

I fell in love with succulents a while back.  They come in such a variety of shapes, colors and sizes.  They are very low maintenance, and with proper care, they can live for many, many years.  You can't beat a deal like that.  I even built a raised bed and filled it with very sandy loam so that I could keep Hens and Chick alive.  They don't like our heavy clay soil, so after about the 4th time Mom gave me "chicks" from her patch, only to find them dead the next spring, I decided to take action.  They love that sandy loam and bloom heartily and produce many chicks each year.

 That challenge mastered, I decided I needed yet more succulents.  Well, other than many sedums and the native pasture cacti (from which I have already picked enough  stickers out of my feet and hands and have no need to grow them in my garden, thank you very much), there aren't a lot of succulents hardy enough to survive our winters.  So, I created movable gardens - they move outside in the spring and inside in the late fall.

The tricks to overwintering them successfully indoors are really the same as growing succulents anywhere, anytime - don't over or under water them; fertilize as needed; and give them the right amount of light and warmth.

Succulents need a good deep watering about once a week while they are actively growing.  While they are in dormancy, they should be watered when the soil is dry to the touch.  For the containers I store in the cool garage, that means about once a month.  For those in the warmer house or garden house, it means once every week or two.

I begin preparing the succulents for the winter in late summer to mid-fall.  I feed the succulents half strength all purpose fertilizer (10-10-10) every couple weeks during their active growing season.  I give them one last feeding about the last week of August, just before they begin to respond to the cooler nights and shorter days by going into dormancy.

My hardier tender succulents spend the winter in the garage, which is maintained at about 50 degrees.  Succulents will survive on just three to four hours of indirect light while they are dormant, so they are perfectly happy setting in front of one of the garage windows.  A word to the wise about garage overwintering in North Dakota - you do need to set your succulents far enough away from the big overhead doors so they don't get that blast of frigid air every time you drive your car in and out.  I have mine set behind some storage cabinets that separate the car parking area from the storage area.  Any kind of a screen will be effective, though, as long as you don't leave that door open too long.

When I water the dormant succulents, I add water until it starts to drain from the drainage holes in the pot.  It is important that you water them deeply, but far less often, in the winter.  I use rain water that I've saved and stored over the winter, but you can also use de-chlorinated tap water.  Simply fill an open container with tap water and let it set overnight before using it.

Each time I water, I check the succulents carefully for any signs of bugs or rotting stems.  Rotting stems is an indication that the plant is too cold or too wet.  Trim the bad stems off;  reduce the watering; and check the temperature to make sure it isn't getting below 50 degrees.

The most common insect pests are aphids or mealy bugs.  Aphids are known by the "honeydew" they leave on the plant stems and leaves.  Mealy bugs look like little white cotton balls, found mainly in the stem junctures and under the leaves.  If you see signs of either of these, you can wipe the foliage with a cotton ball or rag soaked in 70% rubbing alcohol wherever the infestation is evident.  An easier way to accomplish the same thing and even get rid of those pests who are lurking where you can't see them, is to fill a spray bottle with three parts 70% rubbing alcohol and one part water and spray the entire plant with the mixture.

Infested plants should be separated from healthy plants to control the spread of the insects.  I believe in prevention, so I will generally give a good spray to even those plants which aren't currently showing active signs of insects - mealy bugs especially like to hide where you don't notice them until they've become pretty pervasive.  Then, I check all the plants weekly and repeat the treatment as needed.

As the days being to lengthen, generally in about mid-March to early April, I start to prepare the overwintered succulents for the move outside once the temperature remains 50 degrees or above.  I place them under grow lights, for increasing hours each day, until I get them from the three to four hours per day to which they've become accustomed, to the twelve to fourteen hours they'll receive once they are back outside for the summer months.  If you don't have grow lights, you can accomplish the same conditioning by moving them to a sunnier spot and the increasing day length will take care of itself.  Just be careful not to move them into too much too soon, whether that is warmth or direct sunlight.  They will be pretty tender after spending so much time in the darkness of winter.

Next week, I'll begin talking about the various types of succulents that I've found to do well in containers.