Cactus Soil problem? Not the right nutrients for succulent and adenium plants

Question:  I have an adenium, desert rose, which is about 30 inches tall in a 15 inch clay pot in full sun within our screened pool area.  We live in the Sarasota FL area and for the most part it stays outside all year long.  About a year ago I repotted the plant and used a miracle grow cactus soil, however, at no time have I had any luck keeping a lot of leaves on the plant although it would flower profusely.  I have provided it with biological products as well as N P K with micros. with out luck.  This leads me to believe that there something wrong with my choice of soil.  Any guaranteed suggestions?   – Gary

Answer:  We are located in south Florida about 280 miles southeast of your location and we already had two periods of growth since December and two periods of leaf fall. The possible answer is the weather going from cold to warm to cool to warm and then to cool and now getting warm/hot again.   Also, I would need to know about your watering cycle and what fertilizer you used.  Miracle-Gro, Scotts, Peters, and several other fertilizers with micro minerals are lacking some minerals needed by succulents, cactus plants and other plants.  Miracle-Gro cactus soil which has Miracle-Gro fertilizer has too much peat in it so you need to be careful with your watering. All soil gets depleted which is why people fertilize their plants so changing the soil will not solve the problem.

You may need silicon for your desert rose pant  which is a mineral needed by the plant to absorb the nutrients. It makes the adenium and other plants stems and leaves stronger and more tolerant to weather changes too. Benefits of silicon include greater tolerance of environmental stresses and mineral toxicity or deficiency. Silicon deposited in cell walls forms a protective barrier, defending your plants from water loss due to high temperatures. Dyna-Gro designed TekT product (this is what we use at AdeniumRose Company) to increase the strength of cell walls also results in drastic improvement of stem and branch strength. Since, silicon is rapidly bound in leaf tissue and deposited in a non-translocatable form within 24 hours of uptake, a continuous source of soluble silicon throughout the plant’s life is very important.

Now about guarantee resolution of your adenium plant problem – with plants just like nature there are no guarantees of what will work to solve the problem but the above is our best guess based on the information received. People collect adeniums fro the caudex style and flower types,  desert rose plants are not bushy leafy plants. Most of the leaves and flowers grow toward the end of the branches.