Temperature
60–80°F
Keep away from winter window glass and heating vents.
Flaming Katy
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
Flaming Katy wants direct light and water every 9 to 16 days, once the top two inches are dry. Toxic to cats and dogs.
Light
Direct
LowMediumBright indirectDirect
A south or east window within two feet. It reblooms only after about six weeks of fourteen-hour nights.
Water
Every 9–16 days
Baseline for a 6-inch pot indoors. Check first: water when the top two inches are dry, not on a schedule.
Humidity
20% and up
Fine in normal household air. Prefers 40%.
Difficulty
Easy
Scores 2 of 5: Scores 2 of 5: trivial to keep alive, genuinely hard to rebloom. Most are discarded after flowering rather than kept.
Habit
Upright
Grows to 6–18 inches. No support needed.
Toxic to cats and dogs — poison severity medium
Contains bufadienolide cardiac glycosides. Reported signs include vomiting, diarrhoea, abnormal heart rhythm.
If a pet has chewed a leaf, rinse the mouth with water and call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.
Full detail for cats → Full detail for dogs →
What each authority says 2 sources concur
- ASPCA — genus-level entry: Kalanchoe spp
- Toxic to cats and dogs · bufadienolide cardiac glycosides
- NC State Extension
- Poison severity: Medium · bufadienolides · If ingested by humans or pets, it can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and abnormal heart rhythms or arrhythmias. Ingestion of this plant by pets can be fatal and causing abnormal heart rate, seizures, and death.
DISPLAY — in-content responsive
Light
Direct light. A south or east window within two feet. It reblooms only after about six weeks of fourteen-hour nights.
Water
Every 9 to 16 days in a 6-inch pot, when the top two inches are dry.
Treat the interval as a starting point and the test as the actual instruction. Pot size, light level and season all move the number.
| Method | soak and dry |
|---|---|
| Test before watering | the top two inches are dry |
Soil and potting
Two parts cactus mix, one part perlite.
Repot roughly every 2 years, or when roots come through the drainage holes and water runs straight through without absorbing.
Common problems
Ranked by how often each turns out to be the cause for this species. The individual diagnosis pages are not built yet.
- No flowers page not written yet
- Root rot page not written yet
- Leggy growth page not written yet
Pest and disease guidance for this species consulted at the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, checked 2026-09-11.
Propagation
Stem cutting in soil. Roots in 14 to 28 days.
A cutting without a node will not root. It may stay green in water for months and never produce a single root, because it has no growth point.
| Preferred method | stem cutting |
|---|---|
| Medium | soil |
| Time to root | 14–28 days |
| Node required | Yes |
| Best season | Spring and summer |
Sources
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control — Kalanchoe spp Checked 2026-09-11.
- North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Checked 2026-09-11.
- Wikidata entity Q132145 — taxonomy and entity identity.
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Accepted name; family Crassulaceae. Checked 2026-09-11.
- Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder — Kalanchoe blossfeldiana Pest and disease guidance. Checked 2026-09-11.
- Photograph: Cdpanic at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.
Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-02
Tony Valcarcel is the editor and publisher of this database, not a horticulturist
or a veterinarian. Every fact above is drawn from the sources listed, and
toxicity severity is reported only where one of them stated it.
How this is sourced.
Last updated 2026-09-02