My son and DIL, both who are in the service, came home this past week. They gave me a adenium, desert rose, for Easter. The poor thing has about 5 stalks and is about 24 inches tall, is has only about 4 leaves on the entire plant. The base seems to be firm, one of the stalks seems to be a little flimsy. I also noticed that it is rootbound. Should I repot? It is in a 6" pot, the base is almost as big as the pot. What kind of fert. should I use? Should I use fert. at half strength at first? Do you think it will bloom this year? This is another one I have never seen, just in pictures. Haven't a clue as to what color it is. I'll post picture as soon as my son comes home with my camera. They went sight seeing today.
Thanks so much,
Melanie
I need some more help!!
Hi Melanie...the adenium is a cousin of the plumeria. ..they can look a little stringly......just leave it alone...put in hot sun...loves to be pot bound...will make it fat at the bottom....maybe a light fertilizer with a high middle number...bloombuster...something like that...it 0-66-0....give it plenty of sun and it will be fine.
I agree with Jungle Bob and add..
Do not water it until there are several leaves or buds popping.
They do rot easily from overwatering.
I use a moisture meter on mine
Im doing about 20 of them right now
They are wonderful!!
If you like them you can buy cheapies at HD for like $3.- a piece.
Sometimes they bloom spectacular!
Heres one of my HD no names, or...
Maybe ill call it Malestrom #1 heh...
I must also add that the soil needs to be very fast draining.
You dont want these to ever sit in water.
I water them through and then the soil dries a few hours later
Full sun is best they are a true desert plant used tot he roughtest conditions.
Heres a pic of a fairly large one and look in the background too there is one in the distance that is huge.
This message was edited Apr 17, 2006 10:08 AM
Heres the monster
This is one way to shape them
This one is most unussual
I guess this should be moved to the addenium thread LOL!!
But they are related to Plumies soooo heres a couple more
Last one for now.... maybe heh...
Heres my baby, Arrogant she gets black trim on her petals inthe heat and even turns a purple hue.
Michael - those pics are amazing, truly!! OMG!!! I seriously am amazed that the one I bought (Wally World - cheapee) is still alive and not rotted off to plant's rainbow bridge. But since for some reason it's stayed alive for me...with a little knowledge (now) I can help it along a little better.
ck out www.thefatfarm.com
Bob - your link won't come up for me :(
HMMM....Sorry..should have been www.fatplantfarm.com
Growing Adeniums
These are just general suggestions about growing Adeniums they work for me ...
Overall Adeniums are very easy to cultivate provided the conditions meet a ...
http://www.fatplantfarm.com/growing2.html -
Good site, Bob - thank you
ur welcome chantell...hope it helps.
Here's another great link on caring for adeniums: http://www.tropicanursery.com/adenium/story.htm Click on Adenium cultivation. I love them too:-) Here are some of my seedlings:
Edited to add: Great picture, Michael! Love that Arrogant!
Also forgot to add that Adeniums, if not put in a greenhouse in the wintertime, will lose their leaves just like plumerias and are deciduous. They too must be protected from freezing temps. Pruning will stimulate flowering before the leaves emerge, and fertilizer is a good idea also.
This message was edited Apr 17, 2006 6:05 PM
Thanks so much!!
WOW!!
I didnt know pruning brought on flowers heh
A NEW TRICK TO PLAY WITH!!
WOO-HOO!!!
My poor little guy doesn't have much to prune :( He may have 3 tips if that...sure he'll improve now that I'm not completely clueless...LOL
I have a friend on another forum who is selling rooted Slaughter Pinks
and rooted plants of a 'to die for' pink she grew from a seedling.
Lemme know if your interested.
Michael, you can root the cuttings, if you are going to prune, and make separate plants. They will, in time, develop large trunks where they store water. See the Tropica Nursery link above for tips about pruning. They have a good section on pruning.
OK got my camera back.
Here is another one. See the leaf damage, and look how tall it is.
But the base looks pretty good to me. It's not soft. So now what do I do with it???
Hows about a picyature dahlin'?
I pruned 1 of my hd Adeniums but let it all fall tot he ground...
I have enough to do LOL!!
I think Dave's server must be having problems again because the pictures aren't showing up right now, but I'll check back in a little bit because they may show up later.
OK let's try this again!
Something is still wrong. I can't post the rest of the pictures!
Dave's site was having problems or being updated or something yesterday or earlier today, but the problem appears to be fixed now. I see all of your pictures.
Your adenium looks great but needs pruning. I would cut those stems down within a few inches of the base. New branches will grow, and it will likely flower first. My friend Nat gave me some instruction when I was hesitant to prune mine, and it was very helpful. Here is her picture below showing me where to cut.
You can root the cuttings that you cut off by letting them callous and heal over first for about a week and then dip them in rooting hormone and plant them in a well-draining medium. They will eventually store water in their base over time and develop a swollen base. Here's a good link: http://www.tropicanursery.com/adenium/cultivation.htm#pruning
Do you seal the cuts with something?
You can dip it in a rooting hormone after cutting, but no seal is necessary. The roots will eventually come from the cambium so you do not want to seal it. No pruning seal is need for the top cuts either.
That is amazing!! I know I've done a close crop with a jade or 2 but...wow!!!
Shes looking kind of leggy, Id prune for sure as Clare shows.
The caudex or base is awesome!!
Dont worry 'bout the leaves.. they can be stinkers at first and the sun will burn them easily if theyve been indoors.
She has a great shape and I think youll be pleased when she finnaly blooms for you. ;^)
Clare I just pruned all my adeniums LOL!!
See what happens when I get bored?
I now have about 22 cuttings to deal with.
I labeled them dipped em in Root tone with fungicide and they are all on a wooden board drying out.
Now ill go read what to do next HA!!!
I have some real nice ones too... Arrogant, Beauty Cloud, Super Perfume etc... 3 UNKS also...
HOOOEY!!
My lil 4 year old nephew (1 of 3) saw a Guillots Sunset cutting Ihave been rooting for over a year.
He said whats this? as he lifted it and tore all the roots off LOL!!
I put it in the sun hoping to stimulate it to root again
LOL!! I burned the crap out of it!!
I have cut it into 3 pieces now and am water rooting all 3 ugly ducks... SHEEESH!!!
If they take they will prove to be beauties no doubt!!
And probably unkillable after that HAHA!!
I asked my nephews who did it, he offered "that were me" LOL!!
Such sincerety and noooo clue!!
Man off to the rooting board again.... 8^D
This message was edited Apr 20, 2006 11:34 PM
LOL, Michael. Do you have one with many branches? If so, you could graft some of your cuttings onto the one with many branches for a multi-colored plant. I'm going to have to do that one of these days. I don't like the flowers on my fat one above so, one day, I'll graft some Noble Concubine or Harry Potter to it. By the way, be sure not to let the sap of the Adenium touch your skin as it can be irritating and don't get it in your eyes. I should have told you that before.
Cuttings of Adeniums root really easily in warm weather. Just let your ends heal over for about a week or two and then stick them in cactus mix or some other well-draining potting mix, and they will root just fine. Bottom heat helps. In time, they will develop a thick bottom like the others.
So sorry about your Gulliot's Sunset, Michael. If it rooted once, it should continue to root again. Yikes! Little children are not allowed anywhere near my plants! LOL!
I do plan on doing a multi grafted one.
I think you can also insert pointed cuttings into a caudex.
I need to read more of it before I try.
I was wowed by the link you gave when I realized that Crown of Thorns are also called Euphorbia!
I have heard so much talk of them.
Paul geodude introduced me to them and mine all froze,
I was told by a friend they were hardy = NOT!!
I had a nice lil collection going too.
I am headed over to the Euphorbia section to see if I can conjure a trade heh....
I like the lil guys near the established plants and love teaching them to do seeds.
It gets them hooked on a very good thing.
Hi Michael, Euphorbias are a pretty large group, and Crown of Thorns is one of them. I think the milky white sap and some other characteristics puts it in that group. I used to have one but pulled it out to make room for something else. They are often grown in gardens here because they require zero care. You know, you would probably like Jatropha as well since you like Adeniums: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2445/index.html It too is a Euphorbia.
Thanks all of you! I will cut it back today!
Thanks Clare,
I think they are way too big for me.
The COT I had were kept pretty small and were quite impressive with constant bloom and real nice color.
I am also going to do some Sempervium with the COT adeniums and plumies.
Im also considering the 'living stones'.
I need to stay small now.
My plumies are large enough to be very tiring even to a non asthmatic when its time to move em in and out. ;^)
Michael, the Jatropha that I have has stayed the same small size for a couple of years now. The ones that I'm thing of are small. COT can get big, but I think it is a very slow grower. Watch those thorns and milky white sap! I hear ya about staying small. My plumies make me exhausted, and I don't have to move them around much.
