Month: January 2014

Q: I purchased nine adeniums Nov 2013. All were in great shape. I planted them up and have had them indoors in front of a window and all have stayed dormant with very little watering. But one Dang Dream has begun to rot from the top down to near the caudex now. I lifted it out of the soil to see if the roots are effected and they are in good shape. Can I save the plant at this stage or will it continue to rot. This is all new to me and certainly may have caused this problem.

Answer:  It’s call tip rot and doesn’t happen usually in the winter on adeniums unless they get too cold.  I wish you caught it before it progressed down towards the caudex.  It can be caused by too much cold and/or too much moisture on the leaves/branches with not enough light.  You need to get rid of all the rot.  Many times the desert rose plants will survive even if you go down to the caudex area. Did you use superthrive before planting?   By any chance do you have a lamp near the plants?  Maybe give the adenium plants a boost (more light) – get a growing light on eBay for a few dollars and give them stronger light if you can so they leaf out.  What part of the country are you in?  If you are in the north where you get freezing temperatures then the window maybe too cold  for too long for the adenium plants.  Once the adeniums are established in an area (go through one good growing season)  they have less problems.

Q: I  just purchased 2 adeniums and fertilizer from AdeniumRose Company.  One large mystery and one large not proven. I live in Phoenix, AZ. Can you send me instructions on how to care for my new plants?  Should I dip them in root thrive before planting them?  Should I not fertilize until the fall?  Also, I have another “rescue”an adenium at home that I have not seen flower.  I have re-potted and watered once.  When can I prune it?

 Thank you so much for your help.  Very excited to receive my new plants!

A: Good Morning:Yes we received the order and instructions sheets will be in the shipping packet.  First, I assume the one that has not bloom is at least 3 years old. I would recommend to give it a bloom booster liquid fertilizer starting next month.  In your area they should bloom in April to June time frame depending upon your winter weather. If you are having a longer winter wait until March. Make sure you do not water it for a week before you give it the bloom booster.

Yes we recommend using super thrive when you re-pot the desert rose plants. Soak then in the liquid for 20 to 3 minutes.  Follow the directions on how to mix super thrive.  We just received a new shipment from Thailand two weeks ago and they are already starting to leaf. If we did not use super thrive it would take twice as long for the adenium plants to recover from the shipping and re-potting.  Also, when you re-pot its a great time to check the adenium bonsai root look and make adjustments.

After the adenium obesum pants bloom give them a time released fertilizer low nitrogen and phosphate such as the one you ordered time released 8-9 on our website.  Do not prune the desert rose plants until after flowering season or you will not get flowers in spring.  If you prune the adenium plants now it will take time for the to recover, grow new branches and then flower.

Recently several people asked about how to create interesting adenium plant exposed roots (caudex) on their desert rose plants.  First, the adenium plants will grow interesting caudex over time, however, they look can be approved by using standard bonsai methods.  The best time to work on your adeniums plants root structure is when you re-pot the plant.

The first step when re-potting a adenium plant is to force the roots to spread out. Your desert rose bonsai plant roots are flexible but be careful not to break them. Since the roots will be under ground do not use bonsai wire because you will be able to tell if they are causing damage. Instead cut a ping ball in half to be placed under the roots you want to spread out. The roots will not be able to go straight down and will be forced to go around the plastic ball.  You can use other plastic objects besides ping pong balls for your adenium plant bonsai shaping.

Make sure your pot is not too large but give roots of the adenium plant have around 2″ to spread out as they grow until the next re-potting.  Depending upon your growing environment you should re-pot at least once a year to check the growth of the roots of the desert rose plants.

To help the growing of the caudex you will need to crop your branches to keep them shorter.  When you crop a branch,the cropped branch of the desert rose plant  will be replaced by 2..3 branches 95% of the time if the plant is getting enough light.  As more branches grow so does the roots which makes the plant grow faster too!  Make sure you use the right adenium plant fertilizer and soil mix.