Hello, I love your beautiful Adeniums and your helpful advice. Can you answer a question for me? I have a desert rose with a small, but nice character caudex, and many long branches. Total height from soil to highest branch is maybe 3′, but the caudex itself is only like 5″ high. I would like to hard prune it, making a thicker, bushier desert rose, and hopefully get the caudex to grow. It is at least 3 years old, not sure how old before that. Can I cut all branches down to about 3″ above top of caudex or is that too much? also, I live in Fort Myers, FL is it bad to re-pot and prune now, or should I wait until spring? I would attach a picture but not sure how to here. Thank you so much for your advice. I enjoy your valuable blog but wasn’t sure how to post there. Heather
Hi Heather:
I put this in the blog so everybody else can see the reply and post a reply themselves concerning the desert rose plant that needs cropping. Yes, it sounds like the adenium plant needs to be cropped/pruned since is 3 feet high with only a 5″ caudex. It’s hard to say where to crop the adenium without an image because I do not know the branching of the plant. Is it a grafted plant? If it is make sure you do not crop the hybrid adenium plant below the graft point or you will loose the hybrid flower. Ft. Meyers is tropical like we are in southeast Florida. You might get 1..3 days of freezing weather a year( if that). We crop adenium plants just about year round here in Miami. If you want flowers in the spring then you may only want to crop a few branches now so the non-cropped plants will flower in February/March or crop them all and the desert rose plant will flower a bit later in the year. Your growing season is very long and may times the adenium rose plants flower more than once a year (ours usually flower twice).
Now where to crop your desert rose plant depends on the graft level and branching of the plant. Once you crop the plant make sure you keep the cut dry for 4..5 days to give it time to heal to prevent tip rot. If it’s not a adenium grafted plant then I would crop the branches at 12″ to 18″ (about 6″to 12″ above the caudex). Each plant you crop should produce 2..3 new branches. Again, without seeing the desert rose plant you will need to see how the overall plant looks before cropping the plant. Send me an image if you can. If the adenium plant has a bunch of branches then crop 50% and then the rest once you see new growth on the cropped branches.
Hello again, I went out to take a photo of my desert rose now, and it dawned on me I could use your opinion on the general health of it. My pictures can be viewed here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115180861045692155002/DesertRose?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKnZpebKg8m8Rg&feat=directlink
The flowering picture is what it looked like earlier this year, before the damage seen in the rest of the photos. In only one night something actually chewed the heck out of the caudex and branches! I saw no sign of any kind of insect or anything on it ever. The only things I have seen in my yard are snails, and armadillos. Maybe some squirrels out front during the day. Any ideas on what would chew up the caudex? This was maybe in May. I then brought it into the porch for protection, checked roots (they seemed fine) and watched it closely. It acted fine, grew new leaves and the leaves have been huge and bright waxy green. In the past couple weeks I moved it back out into the full sun on a plant sand instead of on the ground.
It was doing fine, but just in the last week the leaves are getting a little yellow and spotty. I think that may just be the change in the weather, and maybe even the fact that it got drenched for 45 minutes twice a week the past week due to a badly aimed sprinkler I just found.
Assuming that is is going to be ok, even being chewed up, you can see what I mean about long branches and a short little caudex. I would love to get the caudex to grow and fatten up and maybe make the branches more canopied and bushy instead of leggy. I’m just not sure how severe I can prune it. I pruned it lightly a couple years ago to even it out a little, but it wasn’t very severe. I don’t think it is grafted, it is just an average pink flowered desert rose and I don’t see signs of grafting.
Thanks again for any advice in pruning and taking the best care of of my poor beautiful plant!
Heather
Sorry, forgot to add to my last comment that I was incorrect, my desert rose is actually 2′ from soil to highest point. Thank you. Heather
I almost looks like a beaver chewed the adenium plant. I’m not sure what would eat the branches but the leaves are frequently eaten by a caterpillar usually which results in a a orange (not monarch) color butterfly that comes around in the late spring and again in the fall time. Presently, some of our adeniums (about 2% of them) are being eaten (leaves only) by the caterpillar and we just let them because once the leaves are gone the desert rose plant comes back stronger! Your plant is NOT grafted hybrid adenium plant.
Now, I will refer the the image (2nd row far right) of the adenium plant that shows the branching of the plant above the caudex. There are seven branches on the desert rose plant I would crop. I would do it in two stages. Crop the lowest two branches (lower left of image) just above the bit mark and the lower branch on the right side of the image about 5″ from the large branch of the adenium plant. Leave the other 4 branches alone for now. The cropped branches will produce 2..3 new branches and when they get 3″ go ahead and crop the other 3 thick branches. Finally, wire wrap the small branch in the back and gently shape it to grow out and away from the main adenium plant. If you want to create a canopy bonsai you will need to wire wrap your adenium bonsai plant as the new branches grow. Yes, use bonsai wire that is very soft and easy to shape.
Mike
can i transplant and prune my plant at the same time? also, would it help plant if i dissolved a capfull ofsuperthrive in my 2 gal. water can? thanks,len
We do not recommend pruning and replanting your desert rose plant at the same time. Transplanting the desert rose plant shocks the plant and so does pruning. You want all the energy of the plant to go towards recouping from a transplant or pruning but not both at one time. Yes a cap full of super-thrive in 2 gallons is about correct (1 table spoon). Let the roots soak in the water about 10 to 20 minutes and then plant them. Do not water the adenium plant for 3 days after you transplant it.
Thank you
I’ve had my Adenium Obesum for right at 8 years. It has done great for me throughout the entire time. While getting ready for spring I noticed that one part of the caudex is getting soft. I took it out of the pot, cleaned it up and I don’t see any rot. Although the part that is getting soft another part is actually wrapped around and I think cutting off it’s access to get nutrients and water. Every other part of it is nice and green and hard. It’s still winter here and it get’s brought inside to go dormant and it only gets water once a month if that. I keep it in a well drained soil and being this was year 2 I just switched the soil and upsized the pot. The medium I use is 75% cacti soil, 15% builder’s sand, 5% perlite and 5% Orchid mix. I put the Orchid mix in the bottom for added drainage and then I mix some in the middle with the soil. At this moment I have it raised up out of the soil so I can keep an eye on it and to let it dry because I had just watered it. I need to know what to do next. Should I cut that part of the caudex off and hit it with some rooting powder and fungicide powder or cinnamon? I can send photo’s if needed. I just don’t want to lose this plant. I have had it so long. Please tell me what I should do. By the way I live in NC, zone 7b. Out in the spring and summer and during the day in the fall and spring but inside for winter. Full sun in the summer. Thank you in advance for your help.
I would not use builder sand unless its silica based. Most builders sand is limestone based which is bad for adeniums. I would reduce make the mix at least 60 perlite and do not add orchid mix. The perlite provides the drainage. Orchid mix uses moss which retains too much water. I have not seen on root cut off circulation on another root. I thick the soft root needs to go.
Hello i have 3 desert rose they seem to be doing good for now however i got a new one just last week that have some thin long brunches, i can see some tiny buds so i know its going to flower soon my problem is they are so thin it is limbering. Is their anything i can do for that?
You will need to crop the branches to make then thicker. Make sure you crop above the graft line if he plant is a grafted one.
would like to know the way we can have maximum flowers on adenium plants. Some of the buds are very healthy and big, but fail to convert themselves into flowers, turn brown and fail to open up. Kindly guide.
Thanks.
Dripping of flower buds on adenium plants and other succulent can be caused by several factors. The three most common factors causing desert rose plants to drop buds before blooming are the following three things: 1) Increase or decrease of water 2) Not enough nutrients in the soil 3) Change of growing environment (moving indoors before they bloom or reverse.
Will propagated branches grow a thick trunk?
Propagated adenium branches will get thick over time if you keep cropping the desert rose plant but the caudex usually stays small.