Hi all! New to the forum, I've had this kalanchoe for the past year (it belonged to another family member before that) and it's been doing fairly well; no flowering, but has grown a lot and has seemed fairly content even with moving a few states away. Over the past 3 weeks I've noticed a few of the lower leaves dropping off which I thought might be secondary to weather and temperature changes and didn't think much of it; however, over the past 2 days all of the stems have become incredibly weak and are bent completely upside down. I've noticed on some of them there seems to be softening between the green and brown parts of the stem; 1 stem has completely broken off. The main "stem" in the soil itself does not feel soft, and I think the chances of overwatering are fairly low (if anything it's more likely to be underwatered honestly), although I did water it 3 days ago. This change happened so quickly and I'm a bit at a loss of what to do, I was thinking of repotting it so I could examine and clean all of the roots and see if that revealed anything. Does anyone have any thoughts? I would really love to save this plant if possible due to it being from a family member.

Could be a lack of light I think..

Yes, lack of adequate light plus overwatering. The pot looks too big... Does it have drainage holes?

Show us a photo of the whole plant+ pot. If it's peaty soil that doesn't drain well, it's possibly soggy and anaerobic around the roots and rot is setting in.

Interesting! Would consistent low light cause it to change so suddenly? I haven't changed it's location for months, it's ~10 feet away from a west-facing window and has honestly seemed content up until this change the past few days.

There are drainage holes in the pot, when I water it water flows out the bottom (I watered it 4-5 days ago so the soil is still damp right now in the photo). I repotted it about a year ago when I got it and honestly just used generic potting mix, nothing specific

It would be a lot happier if it were 0 feet away from a south facing window (assuming you're in the northern hemisphere). The changes related to low light tend to become most exaggerated in winter. I don't know why it would suddenly wilt, but weak, gangly stems are a hallmark of low light.

Often what appears to be a "sudden" decline is in fact a gradual deterioration that eventually reaches a point of unsustainability. Sort of like when someone says they simply leaned over to tie their shoe and their back "suddenly went out" — in fact some musculoskeletal dysfunction had been present for months or even years. Some plants have an amazing ability to withstand adverse conditions for a long time, but eventually they succumb if the conditions don't improve. It's impressive that your plant survived so long 10 feet from the window, but aside from the recent drooping, the overall structure shows unmistakable evidence of long term light deprivation. When you decide to repot next time, use a mix formulated for cactus & succulents.

If that was my plant, I would cut off the green tips, throw the old stump in the compost pile, and stick the tips in a new pot of fresh soil in, as said, more light.

That makes sense, thank you! Unfortunately I only have west facing windows (I live in an apartment that has significantly less light than my last place), but I've moved the plant closer to light. One other thing I've noticed is that the branches are becoming this dark purple-ish color where they meet the stems, it's not soft but it's definitely weaker in this area. Any thoughts as to what it could be a sign of?

I'm guessing that color change is not a good thing. Not quite as drastic as Tiffany saying to whack the whole plant off and root the upper stems, what I'd suggest is along the same lines. I'd sure cut off some of the upper part of the stems and let them air dry a few days and then try to root them. If successful, that would be a good replacement in case the original plant does crater on you (which I think is a possibility). If it continues to decline, then I'd consider cutting it off low and watching to see of the stems put out new, thicker growth from the stub. I've done that with florist kalanchoes when they've aged and gotten leggy to great benefit on the appearance of the plant. I have rooted some of the cut off upper stems, but ended up giving those plants away when the stubs, after the pruning, grew well. West windows give almost as good light as the south windows in my location. Lots of light. Keep your plant really close to the window with nothing to obstruct the light and it should really help the growth.

Happy to reply. : ) A W window should be fine. As close to it as possible.

The dark spot looks necrotic to me.

I don't consider what I described as drastic, just regualr maintenance. There's no way for a Kal like this to stay straight over winter unless it right next to a window, so I do that to all of mine in the spring. Since discovering they will still bloom, just in a floppy manner, if not right by the window, other plants have taken precedence and the little trees are no longer practical. They end up looking like the asked-about plant, with branches dangling down.

Here's an example from 2 weeks ago. This is the day I took the mama plant outside and these are the tops I cut off and stuck in a new pot. It looks exactly the same today except that the blooms are slightly more upright from being back outside for the past 2 weeks.


When I've kept individuals alive for a few years, I end up with these if they are right by a sunny window. Interesting but since they'll bloom in less light than required to maintain upright-ness, I don't want to devote the height-space to this kind of plant anymore. Nothing wrong with it, if space right by a window was unlimited.