Kalanchoe refers to a few plants that combine useful and decorative qualities.
People call the "home doctor on the windowsill", "first aid" and "indoor ginseng", because of medicinal composition.
It is used as a houseplant because of the decorative qualities, medicinal properties and unpretentiousness in the care.
General Information
This tropical plant is from the family of thick-flecked, more than 200 species are known.
grows in the tropics of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
Homeland is the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
The variety of species of Kalanchoe generates a variety of forms.
There are plants ranging in height from a few centimeters to 3-4 meters.
However, it unites all kinds of one: a medicinal chemical composition.
Plant care
A plant, though tropical, but does not like excess moisture and dies, so it is constantly monitored for watering.
Poured carefully, not to get on the stem, which risks corrupting. The soil should be slightly moist, but not wet.
The main principle: better less than more. The plant blooms with pink flowers precisely when there is a lack of moisture.
In winter, the frequency of watering is reduced by half compared to summer. The plant likes to accumulate water, so it easily tolerates a lack of moisture.
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In winter, avoid frosting of leaves, otherwise, plants will quickly die.
Kalanchoe loves the light, but only before lunch. Strange, however - this is a fact.
After lunch, the pot can be removed from the window sill and simply covered, as the sun's rays can burn the leaves. On cloudy days it is not necessary to clean the plant.
Calanhoe is best at room temperature( + 18-20 ° C).Easily tolerates a drop of up to + 5-6 ° C, but can not stand the big heat.
In this case, excessive consumption of moisture begins, after which complications associated with diseases occur.
Also Kalanchoe loves dry air, at high humidity the plant is sick.
For fertilizing the plant, fertilizers are used for succulent plants, which include Kalanchoe.
Although it is unpretentious to soils, and easily tolerates a lack of minerals, and with their excess the processes of decay of the root system begin.
Chemical composition of
Despite the popularity of this plant, its chemical composition has not yet been fully studied.
But even the available information allows to draw a conclusion about the presence of a large number of minerals and other useful substances that can help the human body.
It contains:
- calcium( health of bones and heart muscle);
- magnesium( cardiovascular and muscular system);
- iron( all body processes, hemoglobin synthesis);
- copper( adrenaline level regulation);
- silicon( construction of organic compounds);
- manganese( protein metabolism and oxidation-reduction processes);
- aluminum( immune system);
- tannins( digestive system);
- vitamins PP and C( in large quantities);
- flavonoids.
The leaves contain organic compounds in the form of acids:
- oxalic,
- apple,
- acetic,
- lemon.
They stimulate the secretion of bile, destroy pathogenic bacteria and parasites in the digestive system( worms), and most importantly, normalize metabolic processes, increasing the efficiency of the body as a whole.
Also found in the Kalanchoe enzymes. These are catalysts that accelerate chemical processes.
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Historical background.
"Despite hundreds of years of using the plant for medicinal purposes by traditional medicine, traditional science drew attention to it only in the 60s of the 20th century."
Clinical trials were carried out: ointment-based ointment was treated with external wounds in patients( burns, cuts andetc.).
Studies have shown high efficiency of it, and pharmacists began to use juice as a ready-made drug.
Useful properties
First and foremost, the healing and purifying action of plant components is used in folk medicine. In addition, the following abilities are revealed:
- regenerative action( accelerates the process of tissue repair);
- antiseptic( eliminates pathogens);
- antifungal agent;
- antiviral effect;
- tonic effect( gives vivacity and vigor);
- increased immunity( resistance to disease and prevention of colds);
- hemostatic( increases blood coagulability);
Interesting fact :
"German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang Goethe, daily used young shoots of Kalanchoe, confident that it prolongs life and rejuvenates the body."
Treatment of diseases
Products and preparations based on Kalanchoe is used as an external agent andfor oral administration.
They are used for the treatment and prevention of many ailments:
- Diseases of the internal cavity of the mouth;tonsillitis, tonsillitis, stomatitis, periodontal disease.
- Diseases of ears and ear canal: otitis and others.
- Inflammation: runny nose, sinusitis, cold, flu.
- Eye diseases: blepharitis and conjunctivitis.
- Skin ailments: burn, cuts, purulent wounds, fungal infections, pressure sores and others.
- Diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract.
- Treatment and prevention of tuberculosis.
- Varicose veins.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract: gastritis, ulcer, diarrhea, gastric juice secretion, impaired gallbladder function.
- Diseases of the joints: arthritis, rheumatism, arthrosis.
Home recipes
Drugs are bought in a pharmacy or prepared on their own. Consider the main recipes:
1. Juice .
First cut off the leaves or cut the plant under the root.
Raw material is washed with clean water and put in a dark and dry room for a period of 7 days.
During this time, there are transformations of substances and enhance healing properties.
It is desirable that the temperature correspond to + 10-12 ° C.
A week later, the dried Kalanchoe is ground and made a homogeneous porridge, which is squeezed through the gauze fabric.
The liquid turns muddy with the particles of the plant, so it is defended and poured into a new container, leaving a cloudy part.
It is important to know : it is recommended to collect material for juice in the first half of August or the end of October, at this time the concentration of necessary substances increases.
Further, the liquid is sterilized:
1) a chloroform solution is added in the calculation of 1 to 100;
2) dilute with pure alcohol to 20-25%.
Then, the obtained drug is poured over clean bottles or vials, tightly closing them with stoppers.
This drug is stored for 1 year in a dark, cool place, without access to sunlight. Before use, the substance is slightly warmed to room temperature or slightly higher( + 20-30 ° C).
The product is suitable for the treatment of wounds( used in surgery! ), mouth and throat rinsing, joint rubbing and ingestion with gastric diseases.
2. Ointment.
You will need:
- 50g juice,
- 0.3g of furazolidone,
- 0.3g of novocaine,
- 100g of lanolin.
The ingredients are mixed until completely dissolved.
The final mixture of consistency resembles thick milk cream.
Store in a glass tightly closed container at room temperature.
Processed for wound healing and disinfection.
The second way is : without medicines.
You will need:
- 100-150 g of juice,
- 1 tablespoon of poplar buds,
- 1 tablespoon of St. John's wort,
- 100 g of olive oil( application for hair) or sunflower oil( what is useful for unrefined read in this article).
All the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and insisted for several days in a dark slightly cool place, tightly closing.
Use : to treat wounds, pressure sores, ulcers and rashes.
3. Tincture.
Half a liter bottle is covered with 100 g of crushed leaves and filled to the end with pure alcohol( 70%).Insist in a darkened place for one week, periodically shaking the bottle.
After a week, tincture is filtered through gauze in another container, where it is stored until the right moment.
Insist in a darkened place for one week, periodically, shaking the bottle.
After a week, tincture is filtered through cheesecloth into another container, where it is stored until the right moment.
The drug is used to treat :
- of varicose veins on the legs,
- with fungal nail disease,
- ulcers,
- breast,
- of mastopathy,
- of hyperhidrosis of the legs.
It is recommended to rinse the mouth with gum diseases and other inflammatory processes.
4. Kashitza.
For the preparation of leaves the plants are passed through a meat grinder.
The mixture obtained together with the juice is mixed until uniform and placed on a cheesecloth folded 4-5 times.
Thus, compresses and lotions are prepared which are applied to the diseased part of the body at night.
The product stops bleeding, relieves pain, accelerates wound healing, cleans and disinfects wounds.
Also, the gruel is applied to the aching tooth to temporarily relieve the pain.
5. Combined use of .
Preparations based on this plant are effective, but they do not always cope with diseases alone, so they are used along with other medicinal plants that enhance the action of Kalanchoe:
- St. John's wort and oregano( medicinal properties and contraindications);
- chamomile( about a mixture of herbs: chamomile, St. John's wort, immortelle and birch buds written here);
- sweet clover( medicinal properties and contraindications to herbs);
- flax seeds( useful properties);
- marshmallows.
Kalanchoe is popular all over the place, as well as medicinal properties, it is also a beautiful ornamental plant.
Look at the video, what it looks like and what unique properties a Kalanchoe has.