Transcript:
Hello, everyone! Welcome back to my channel. I am so so excited about today’s video because it is about one of my favorite plants at the moment favorite plants, and that is the Kalin koi tomontosa or the panda plant. But before we start, I just want to give a tiny, tiny little disclaimer That, of course, all the care tips that I do. Mention in this video was just from my own experience in research. This is not the exact definite way that you have to do it. This is just how I’ve been doing it and it has been working. There are so many different types of the calendar, mentosa or the panda plant. There are so many different variations, depending on where it’s been grown in the world, what it’s been crossed with so many different kinds. These are just two that I have, and I just. I love those so much. The calendar Mentosa is actually native to Madagascar, which means that that is the only place in the whole world that this plan has been found growing wild, which to be fair. It’s like most California. They all seem to just love it in Madagascar and believe it or not a little fun fact. This is something I didn’t know. But they’re actually a member of the Chrysalia family or the crusade crystallizing Chrysalisia, the Krasula family, The Tomentosa is actually known for the little fuzzies that grow all over the leaves called trichomes and these little hairs actually allow the plant to deflect light because it does actually grow in direct light. It can be grown a direct bite, so it helps to reflect the light and it helps to retain water, so it limits the amount of water evaporation in the leaves. And it’s just okay. I have found the tomentosa to be my fastest growing calendar. I will show you a picture of this tomentosa when I first got it. And this is what it looks like now. So it has grown relatively fast for a succulent in just over a month. I think I’ve had this. I think I’ve had it a month and a half. Maybe even two months now, but wow, it has grown a lot. I did not expect how fast this grows. It can actually grow up to an average get this. It can grow up to an average of 1.5 feet 1.5 feet and as it matures, the actual stem of the plant does go witty, so it looks like a little tree. It’s got a little tree chunk and it’s got a three fuzzies on the top. Oh, my God, oh, it’s too cute. It’s actually known to go dormant in the summer if the temperatures get too high for it, so it is a spring and bottom grower. A lot of people actually recommend that you do cut back on the watering on this plant in summer. But I honestly haven’t done that. I have a little trick and I want to share it with you. In a moment, so I guess as long as you follow the little trick, it will be great. I actually water my succulents a lot like I water my Hoyas, and that is a wait for the leaves to bend this one needs to be watered, And I purposely left it so I could show you today, but you can see with this. One, I’m just lightly lit very lightly, very lightly, just bending the leaves, and I’m totally very lightly. She says very lightly. Don’t worry, we’ll get on to propagation in a minute, but, um, very lightly, very lightly, just bending the leaves there, and you can see that they are bendable. Don’t let that I can’t believe I’ve just done this. Don’t let that put you off! Let me show you this one that does not need water. You can see that this doesn’t really give at all not at all compared to this one that does need water where you can really see that I’m able to bend the leaves. I’m trying my very best to be able to show you there, but honestly, you will be able to understand what I’m talking about. If you do on this planet, it’s super easy to be able to tell when this needs water and again I’m going to be doing this. Throughout winter throughout summer, autumn and spring. I am just going to be checking the leaves and water whenever the plant is telling me it would like waters when it comes to fertilizing. I do actually fertilize this plant pretty much every time I water it in the growing season, so when I notice that this plant is actively growing, I am fertilizing it. I don’t think I’ll fertilize it at all, really in the winter unless it is growing for me. Just because I don’t really get winters here. My winter is here like my summers back in Scotland, so I do have a good feeling that this plant is going to continue to grow for me throughout the winter. But of course, if that is not the case for you cut back on the fertilizer, it doesn’t really need it. If it’s not growing, especially though, if this plant is still in the soil mixture, it came in. It’s probably been in that soil mixture for a long time, so it’s definitely going to need the extra help with the nutrients. Which is why I do lightly. Fertilize it every single time I water it. I use a cactus fertilizer. It is part of the cactus family, so I have been using a cactus fertilizer and it’s been working wonderfully for me. I honestly think that that does contribute to the huge growth I’ve had with these plants, but we’ll go back a little bit there to the soil that I was mentioning. So this one here is still in the soil mixture. I got it and from the nursery. I just removed it from that pot and literally just stuck. It stuck it right in there. This one I have added some extra soiling, and I have just used pure houseplant soil with a tiny little bit of pearlite just to help the soil to stop compacting when I water it because I do grow this outside and especially because I have it in a terracotta pot. I want it to hold on to as much moisture as possible. I do not want to be watering this every day. So like I said, I do just have it. In a normal house plant soil mixture with some pearlite just to help the soil. Stop compacting Just just a tiny little bit of highlight. Nothing like I would put my aroids in, and it’s in a terracotta pot just because it’s pretty, but if you are gluing this indoors, I would say maybe add a little bit extra pearlite. If you’re growing it outdoors, you’re glad it’ll be fine when it comes to any type of humidity for this woman toaster. I my natural humidity outside is about 60 to 70 and that grows wonderfully for me From the research. I was able to do about the humidity in Madagascar now. Madagascar is a huge place and I have no idea exactly where the calendar grows in Madagascar, So I kind of found an average just the general average of Madagascar overall and the humidity levels are about the same there. I don’t think I would really recommend it going. Any higher than 70 80 because I do think this plant would just rot, but I do have friends in places like the UK, Sweden that are growing this plant and a lot less humidity with absolutely no issues. So I really do not think this plant cares for humidity at all. You can definitely grow this one outdoors in the UK, and you will be grand. It can also handle lower temperatures, it can handle freezing temperatures for a decent amount of time. I wouldn’t leave it outside all winter, but if we’re getting a couple of days here and there, it can definitely handle those temperatures. It really is not a fussy type of plant whatsoever Like I mentioned before the really only issue you will have which I don’t think. Most of us will have that issue is if it gets too hot. In the summer, it will go dormant and again I wouldn’t recommend leaving it outside over winter because it probably will get a bit of damage and possibly die, but if it is cold for a couple of days, you don’t really need to worry about it. This plant is just a wonderful, easy plant to grow. It is it’s phenomenal. The one thing the one thing I will say that this plant means is lots and lots of light, not necessarily direct sunlight. I don’t give either of these direct sunlight and they are growing wonderfully. They are outdoors under a shade under a shades thing. They’re in the shade, so they are still getting super super bright, diffused light. So if this is a plant that you want to grow indoors, I would recommend sticking that right on the window lid, get out there. Let that grow wild on the window ledge. Or if you’re a grow light person, get it right underneath that grow light right at the top of the shelf. It definitely does require a lot of light. I think it can survive in lower light, but it’s not going to thrive. It will survive, but it won’t thrive, so definitely give this plant as much light as you possibly can give me light. Give me that! When it comes to propagating the tomato, so you can actually propagate it just from a stem like this piece here. You can cut it below where that old leaf used to be, and you will be able to propagate it. I have heard that you can’t propagate the actual stem. If it’s already gone to wood, I haven’t actually stem propagated this yet. Though I have just been propagating this from leaves, I’ve propagated it with a full leaf and also with just a little tip and it. They’ve both worked wonderfully for me. I will say, though, that they have been really slow at propagating. I have been propagating Those leaves for maybe a month and a half now and there’s still no sort of shape to a natural plant yet, but I’m being patient its growing roots. It’s trying to grow a new plant and being very patient with it, but it is a slow propagator, so definitely if you’re wanting it fast stem propagator. If you have all the time in the world and you’re not that bothered, I would recommend just leave propagating it, but I’ve seen pictures of the little propagation babies, and they look so cute and fuzzy. I can’t wait till I actually get a little plant light out of it. And the last thing I do want to say before. I say my good advice for this video is that this plan is toxic to pets. So if you do have any pets, or that’s something that concerns you. This may not be the plan for you, but otherwise this is just such a phenomenal cutie pie little plant that grows so easily and I just. I can’t recommend it enough. I love this plan. It’s so so much, but thank you so much for watching this video. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you want me to do any more types of care videos and what what kind of plant you would want me to do a care video on down below and I will see you next time.