Q: Hello, I just took my Desert Rose plant out of a pot that it has been in for 6 years. I know you can imagine what I saw. Anyway, I never knew adeniums plants had to be “lifted. So here I am with all of these roots and they are so pretty. However I am on my way in a little while to get a pot and soil. You read a million soil recipes for adenium soil things so maybe the nursery will be able to help me. But my question is this . I have the plant on its side with it’s newly exposed roots wrapped in wet paper towels. Is that ok? Or what do I do? If I could find an email address for you on this site I would send a picture of these roots!!!!!!! I will go get ready and maybe by then you will have replied. I hope so. I had talked with a man long years ago and he told me to re-pot this when it broke it’s pot. I live in Baton Rouge and went to a plant show and Nursery was there and I was terribly mistaken about re-potting. Thanks for reading this. Sandra
A: yes, it is wise to expose more adenium plant roots about once a year in the south parts of the USA where we get plenty of life and good growth. There are several articles on soil mixture and most nursery who do not specialize in cactus or succulent plants give the wrong advice about adenium plants. The main thing to remember when selecting or mixing your soil is it has to have excellent drainage for adenium plants to grow without problems. Please search this site fro several articles on soil fro adenium plants.
When lifting the adenium to expose more of the caudex it sometimes requires root pruning. Should the plant be repotted immediately or left bare root for a period of time?
NO you do not need to re-pot unless the pot is too small for the adenium. If you have a lot of roots maybe but a plastic pin pong ball under the roots (wedge it in) to force the adeniums roots to spread out more. We do this when we bonsai the plants.
Hello. I am confused. Some places I read to repot the desert rose every year, Other places I read say to do it only when the plant outgrows the pot. What do you suggest. Am I correct that the pot should be approximately 2″ wider than the caudex? Also, I have seen many desert rose with the big black rocks surrounding it – very pretty. Is it ok if the rocks are almost touching the caudex – or do they need space?
When to re-pot depends upon your growing environment. If you are in the south yes you may need to re-pot the adenium plant every year. Yes – you need 2″ around the caudex for growth. One alternative to re-potting is to raise the plant to expose more caudex area.