Beginner Gardening: Desert Rose in Pot Outside, 1 by hmingbrd

hmingbrd wrote:
Hi Grantman....I have Adenium (Desert Roses) planted both in pots and in the ground. I am no expert on them by any means but I'll share what I know. I think yours will benefit from more sun than you described....a couple of hours in the a.m.? I have one that's under a yellow Poinciana tree....the tree leafs out later than most in the spring.....and after it leafs out the D.R. gets much less direct light. It's mostly all filtered light, and it pretty much quits blooming during the shady months. I have 2, a pink and a red that I grew from cuttings, that are in mostly full sun all day. One is potted, one in the ground, and they bloom off and on all the time. A sister to the pink one is in the ground but gets mostly shade and it rarely blooms....I need to move it.

I purchased my first D.R. plant a couple of mos. ago, online, and the instruction sheet stressed the importance of putting it in FULL SUN......with a note to that which read: 'And yes, that means FULL SUN for you people in TX, FL and AZ!'. When I read that I moved 3 babies that I grew from seed into the full sun too, and they are looking much better.

I also know you have to put them in well draining potting medium too, as they are susceptible to root and trunk rot.....where they get soft and eventually die if the problem isn't fixed. Don't overwater them either, for that reason. All in all, they are one of those plants that seem to thrive on neglect! I'll stick my potted ones somewhere and forget about them, and next thing I know they'll be covered with flowers! This red one gets mostly full sun....gets filtered sun later on in the afternoon.....and it's on it's 4th 'bloom burst' this yr.

Hope this helps some and happy gardening :-) Becky