Adenia Species

I started three of these from seed, in 10 inch pots, in mid- June. Temps fluctuated between the 60s and high 80s.They were put into a mi...Read Morex of almost pure perlite, with some Vigoro potting soil added. If I had to give a ratio, it would be something like six parts perlite to one part potting soil. I'm sure it doesn't have to be exact and maybe the potting soil is unnecessary anyway.

I gave the pots a decent overhead soak and put them in the sunniest place I could find. They received full sun for most of the day. Each night I would gently mist the pots, and then again in the morning, but even with this the pots would still be dry by the end of the second day, and I would give them another watering to wet the medium. So there was a kind of wet and drying cycle. But never dry for long.
I took the pots inside during times of rain, though, and I skipped the evening misting on a couple of days with ultra humidity out of fears of rot. Not sure if that mattered or not.

In about a week the first of the seeds popped up. By the end of the second week all three had germinated. I continued watering them the same way- misting in the morning and evening, a good soak every couple of days - and they are growing well a month later. At least I think they are growing well...there seems to be a lack of cultivation info on this plant and I have no idea what a healthy growth rate should be. Let's be safe and say they are green and getting a little bigger each day and have not turned to mush yet. Apparently, young plants are more tolerant of abundant moisture than older specimens. Later on, watering probably becomes a fine art, but I will cross that bridge if I get to it. On a side note, I use a dilute mix of liquid fertilizer each time I water. Literally a few grains of Miracle Gro mixed in each gallon. Not sure how much that helps but it has not hurt them yet. I may try upping the nutes at some point, at least on one of the plants, to see how that works.

That's about the extent of my experience so far. I still have a month or so of summer left to make some drastic mistake, and then there will be their first winter to get through. I'll post any progress or failures, if anyone's interested. Hopefully this little bit helps someone to give them a try and we can learn more as we go.

The seeds came from Mesa Garden and I am growing them in Zone 7. Out here on Long Island the summers are crazy humid, so that adds to the plants' water uptake. Just something to consider if you try growing them in a drier area like Arizona or the Southwest. Tweak things a bit until they work for you.

Stay well everyone.



Scorpione




Update 2/29/16 - The plants survived the worst part of winter, and as we enter the final stretch they seem to be fine. In the room they were stored, they experienced fluctuating temps between the high fifties to the high sixties. Unsure if the temp alone was enough to trigger dormancy, but between it and the low levels of natural sunlight, the plants at least slowed down to a crawl. I did give them sips of water every two weeks or so, but keep in mind the planting medium is very porous (almost all perlite) and drains well. I also raise my cacti (I know, Adenia is a succulent lol) a bit wetter than most people do, but it should be noted that my collection is composed of young seedgrown plants which do better with more moisture. As my collection ages along with me, the watering habits will probably change and I will be less apt to take chances with them. Or more apt, who can tell? You don't learn unless you push the envelope, or water the plant, or whatever metaphor floats your boat.

Stay Well Everyone

Scorpione