Some of mine tend to do this also which I attribute to too heavy and wet a soil mix although these do not seem to need nearly as porous a mix as most succulents. I have a continued cycle of nipping off the tops of the stems (about 2 leaf pairs in size) and placing these tips on the soil where almost every one roots and restarts more plants and stems.

As these have short day requirements for flowering most of mine are just coming into bud opening about now.

Does the pot have a hole in it? That's an absolute must. Altho' you didn't ask, that mix looks pretty water retentive, those few bits of Perlite aren't enough to do anything (sorry), one really needs at least one third of that mix as Perlite to do any good improving drainage.

As to your question, Kalanchoes characteristically lose their lower (& older) leaves first in the process of aging. I don't think this is abnormal, but let's allow some time for others to chime in.

Thank you for your responses! I have actually recently repotted it using cacti & succulent mix (thinking it would make it better), and added perlite on top of that but perhaps it was not enough as you say. The pot does have a hole in it. But the plant started losing leaves even before repotting, being absolute fine in the old soil for half a year before.

Perhaps it is indeed the age.

The only thing I notice is the etiolation as mentioned above. You can trim it back in the spring to fill in some of the lower areas if you wish. Yes they drop leaves in winter. are you letting it dry out between waterings?

Dasha

Some good advice and questions above already! I would concur that soil makeup/type and how you water could be factors and should be investigated further.

Make sure your soil has good structure, root prune when you repot and use a "tell" (wooden stick or chopstick) to let the plant tell you when it needs water.

Here are a couple of good educational reads I think you will find useful:

Container Soils XXII

Good Growing Practices - An Overview

Cut all stems back to 2 nodes in May, same as the stem of the ficus in the image below. The plant will quickly back-bud, growing new branches from each of the nodes you left, like you see in the image. When leaves start to appear on the new branches, remove the mature leaves that have the new branches growing in their axils.

Al

Thank you all for all the advice! I try to water it as soon as I see the soil is sufficiently dry, in the summer it used to be about once a week, now it is more like once every 10 days. I will see how it gets on in this newly replanted soil and if it keeps deteriorating I will replant it again with more perlite (just don’t want to cause it too much stress as I repotted fairly recently). I keep it on my window sill but since it’s winter in Britain the days are short and grey maybe it is not getting as much light as it did in the summer.

Al, thank you for your detailed description, I will certainly try that. I am only starting to learn about plants and how to care for them so some great tips out here!

About pruning - Q&A Format The focus is on pruning and pinching any plants with a branching habit - covers woody and herbaceous species. Teaches you how to take control over your plant's natural growth habit, and how to keep plants full and compact. The concept that governs a plant's reaction to pruning and pinching is very predictable. It should be looked at as one of the most important tools for ensuring your plant is pleasing to the eye.

Keep Your Plants Looking Good. Very similar to above. While a high level of vitality/good health is the most important part of maintaining consistently attractive plants, this thread also focuses on pinching/pruning and what reaction to expect from the plant.

Al