Flaming Katy

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Kalanchoe spp (ASPCA, genus only). Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light

Partial shade

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Water

Moist but well-drained or Well-drained

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%

Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H1B — 10–15°C 10–15 °C

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Soil

Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Toxic to cats

Toxic

ASPCA names the genus (Kalanchoe spp), not the species.

ASPCA, filed as Kalanchoe spp · read 13 September 2026

Toxic to dogs

Toxic

ASPCA names the genus (Kalanchoe spp), not the species.

ASPCA, filed as Kalanchoe spp · read 13 September 2026

Harmful to people

No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

How it usually goes wrong

A thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers

A narrow dry border on the flaming Katy, often with a faint yellow line against the healthy tissue. It appears on several leaves at once rather than spreading from one.

Heated air holds less water than the plant loses into it, so moisture leaves the leaf faster than it arrives. Penn State Extension cites ASHRAE's indoor range of 30% to 60% relative humidity, and winter heating often takes a room below it.

Telling it apart: Look at the pot rim and the soil surface. A white crust points at a build-up from tap water or feed rather than at the air. Penn State also reports misting and pebble trays do little to the humidity around a plant.

Penn State ExtensionFlaming Katy leggy, leaning growth: causes

Flowering stops while the foliage carries on

The flaming Katy looks well in every other respect: green, firm and growing. What is missing is the flowering.

Buds are formed only when the plant has energy to spare. Its source places it in partial shade, and in less light than that the surplus that pays for flowers is missing.

Telling it apart: Whether the stems have stretched. Leafy, stretched growth with no buds points at light; normal spacing points at timing, feeding or a season it has not had.

RHSDiagnose no flowers or dropped buds on this Flaming Katy

Lower leaves collapse and yellow within days of a watering

A sour smell from the compost is common on a flaming Katy, and the lowest leaves on each stem come away when pulled. The surface may look dry while everything beneath it is not.

The source for this plant describes moist but well-drained or well-drained soil. Compost that stays saturated loses the air spaces fine roots grow into, and those roots die back first.

Telling it apart: Weigh the pot in your hand. A pot still heavy a week after watering is holding more water than the roots are using.

RHSFlaming Katy leaves turning yellow: causes

The plant grows thin and sparse, and leans

The flaming Katy looks sparse rather than sick: fewer leaves, spaced further apart, all angled toward the window.

Its source puts it in partial shade. Under that, each new leaf costs more than it returns, so the plant builds fewer and thinner ones.

Telling it apart: Measure the gap between the newest two leaves against an older pair. Reaching is a change in spacing, not only in shade.

RHSFlaming Katy leggy, leaning growth: causes

Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Flaming Katy.

Routine care

Watering

They are drought tolerant; let the soil dry out, then water deeply.

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

During growth water moderately; while dormant water sparingly.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Feeding

Give a balanced liquid fertiliser two or three times during the growing season.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Propagation

Stem or leaf cuttings can be used for propagation.

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

In spring, sow seed or take offsets.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Pruning

Pruning is not needed.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Pests and diseases

Can be troubled by vine weevil and mealybugs. Diseases: usually none.

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Photographs

About the plant

Native range

NE. Madagascar

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026

Northeast Madagascar

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

NE Madagascar

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Climate

seasonally dry tropical

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026

Growth form

succulent subshrub

World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.

Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026

Herbaceous Perennial, Succulent; habit dense, erect, mounding

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Bushy (evergreen)

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Size

Height 6–18 in; width 6–12 in

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 years

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Flowering

Flowers gold/yellow, orange, pink, red/burgundy, white; blooms in spring, winter

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Flowers red in spring

RHS · read 13 September 2026

Uses

What sources record people using this plant for. A traditional or medicinal use listed here is a record of use, not advice to eat it or treat anything with it.

Toxic if any part of the plant is eaten.

NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Common problems with Flaming Katy

• Yellow leaves
• Drooping or wilting
• Leggy, leaning growth

Other Kalanchoe

• Chandelier PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Devil's BackboneSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• FeltbushSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Kalanchoe manginiiSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Panda PlantSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Silver SpoonsSourced care, difficulty not yet judged

More of the Crassulaceae family

• Burro's tailLeaves soften and curl inward
• Jade plantPale dry areas across the upper leaves only
• Mexican snowballPale dry areas across the upper leaves only
• Aeonium haworthiiSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Aeonium undulatumSourced care, difficulty not yet judged
• Biting StonecropSourced care, difficulty not yet judged

Plants with similar care

• Blue passion flowerA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
• Bush lilyDry, curled edges on leaves near a heater
• Dog roseEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
• English lavenderBuds form and fall before they open
• Hardy fuchsiaBrown, papery patches on the leaves nearest the glass
• HyacinthFlowering stops while the foliage carries on

Sources

• ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
• Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
• NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
• Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
• RHS · read 13 September 2026
• Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.