Small Kalanchoe species attract attention simply because of their pretty serrated leaves and bright flowers. If you love this plant art form and are a fan of Kalanchoen at the same time, you might want to grow these plants as bonsai as well. But can that work?

Due to its small size, the Kalanchoe can easily be incorporated into creative arrangements

What is a bonsai?

A bonsai is not a naturally small plant. Rather, in this art of Chinese horticulture, a tree is used in such a way that a small but very realistic image of nature is created. For this purpose, among other things, the branches are wired so that they grow in the desired direction. Any plant species that develops woody stems and branches is suitable for this.

The Kalanchoe is not suitable as a bonsai

Unfortunately, this means that only a few succulents can be trained to be bonsai. The Kalanchoe is not one of them, because it does not form enough woody plant parts.

And what about the big species like the elephant ear?

Even the Beharensis, which grows up to three meters high outdoors, does not form such hard plant parts that they can be permanently trained into a certain shape with wire. Unfortunately, the elephant ear cannot be used as a bonsai either.

Small Kalanchoe as part of similar plant art forms

Even if the Kalanchoe cannot be cultivated as a bonsai, it is still suitable as an extremely attractive element of similar art forms. Penjing and Saikei, for example, are about creating true-to-original landscapes out of plants, stones, water and trees that are not very artificially formed.

The small Kalanchoe species in particular fit wonderfully into these garden landscapes for the windowsill. Since the Kalanchoe copes well with pruning, the leaf size can also be kept permanently small.

tips

If you want to design a succulent as a bonsai, you can choose a money or penny tree. These plants form a woody trunk and can therefore be wonderfully guided into a wide variety of shapes.

Category:

Vegetable garden