How to grow Kalanchoe succulent in aquarium

How to grow Kalanchoe succulent in aquarium

Buy Kalanchoe plant on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/49sN4dE

I bought a potted Kalanchoe succulent plant in may 2019.

It bloomed very pretty for almost two months.

You can see it in my previous video.

Let's check if Kalanchoe succulent would grow with roots in water in my aquarium gardens.

Wash the roots of the plant clean of any dirt.

This Kalanchoe plant has short roots.

So, I removed the old bottom leaves to make the stem long enough to fit in the planter.

I use my smallest planter for this Kalanchoe.

It looks like I need to remove half of the roots to make the plant fit in this planter.

Make sure the roots protrude out of the tube and long enough to rich the water.

The bottom end of the tube has to stay above the water level.

That is important for air circulation in the aquarium.

All is set and ready on June 12th, 2019.

This 3 liter aquarium jar is populated with cherry shrimp, bladder snails and seed shrimp.

Only the roots of the plant stay in the water.

Here you can see the plant about 3 months later on September 3rd, 2021

The plant grew noticeably and has two stems now.

December 20th, 2019.

It took about 6 months for the largest stem to grow about 15cm long.

The old bottom leaf starts wilting.

Otherwise the plant looks healthy.

Let's cut off the old wilting leaf.

Two months later on February 20th, 2020.

A pair of leaves dried on one stem.

And new leaves grow on both stems.

The Kalanchoe plant stems grow elongated as with many terrestrial plants growing with roots in water.

There is a lot of dust accumulated on leaves of the plant in the past 6 months.

Let's brush it off.

And now I am going to cut off one of the stems above the newly growing leaf here.

Remove the wilted bottom leaves from the cutting.

I want to check if this small Kalanchoe cutting will keep growing.

Put the cutting into a small planter filled with gravel.

Add water.

My aquarium gardens get only indirect sunlight coming from the window.

Two weeks later on March 2nd.

One of the old leaves on the top of the stem growing in the aquarium dried out.

I forgot to add water in the small planter for a week and the cutting started wilting from the bottom.

I may try again to grow Kalanchoe from cuttings next year.

One month later on April 2nd.

About 10 months old Kalanchoe plant looks nice.

Cherry shrimp and guppies seem to do well in this aquarium garden.

I don't change the water in my aquariums at all.

The small succulent garden on the top makes the aquarium look prettier.

The Kalanchoe plant produces very short roots.

September 27th, 2019.

The Kalanchoe grew stronger through the Summer - I suppose more daylight helps it.

I am going to cut off one healthy bottom leaf while the plant is still strong.

Let's put the Kalanchoe leaf in the small planter to check if it would grow roots.

Add water.

This time I will be checking on the water level daily!

Two weeks later on October 12th.

A couple tiny white roots start growing from the leaf.

About one month later on November 22nd.

New baby leaves grow from the old leaf.

Two months old roots are about 2cm long.

I've been keeping this tiny Kalanchoe on a windowsill exposed to as much daylight as it gets.

Add water every other day or so.

January 10th, 2020.

The about 4 months old leaf wilted.

Let's cut it off.

There are a bunch of young leaves growing.

The youngling Kalanchoe plant looks very healthy.

The plant looks large enough to be moved into a large aquarium garden.

I have to trim off the bottom leaves to make sure that roots get to the water.

And the Kalanchoe plant grown from a leaf goes into my succulent aquarium garden.

Make sure the roots of the plant stay in the water.

This way I don't have to worry about watering the plant ever again :)

One month later in February 2020.

 The Kalanchoe plant has been growing larger and looks healthy.

Have fun and happy aquarium gardens :)