Question: Hi! I own two desert rose plants. One is doing better than the other. One plants leaves are brown at the tip of each leaf. Please let me know what is causing this problem. I water them once a week when the soil is dry. I fertilize the adeniums with Miracle Grow once a month and also feed them some phosphorus. Location: Massachusetts. Growing indoors south facing 4 hours of light a day. I have asked plant stores in my area how to care for them but no one knows. I am glad I found your website! I appreciate your help! Thank you.
Answer: Right off the bat I would say no to add more phosphorus. Also, Miiracle-Gro is not the best thing for adeniums due to their mix of minerals. Mircle-Gro is missing some vital nutrients for adeniums including silica and the right type of nutrients. We have done comparisons between Mircle-Gro and Dyna-gro grow with 50% better results in all around grow and health (resistance to problems) with Dyan-Gro Grow.
Watering: it’s spring time in your area so I would water the desert rose plant twice a week making sure the water drains well so the soil has time to dry out. If the leaves are brown tipped (not black) it means too little water or not getting the right nutrients into the plant to transport the nutrients to the leaves.You need to eliminate one possible cause at a time. I would first increase the watering to twice a week.
The problem of getting fast results in your Northern states is the low number of hours of light and not growing outside in full light. South facing is fine except glass windows do filter light a bit so it not like being outdoors. The adenium plant will grow fine however; it will grow slower than if it was outside. If the desert rose plant is an area of your house where you have indoor lights on – maybe switch one of the light bulbs with a grow bulb so it gets a bit more light per day too.
Is it o.k. to use Dyna-Gro Pro Tek T along with Dyna-Gro Grow since my plants are flowering but are not getting enough sunlight and they need a good fertilizer?
Or should I just be using only one fertilizer?
Thanks!
Yes the Tek T is usually used along with Dyna-Gro to help the plant uptake of the nutrients. Wait until the plant flowering is over before adding the Tek-T. Use use then in combination too!
Please recommend the right grow lights to use for my two indoor desert rose plants. They are facing a Southern window in Massachusetts and probably need more sunlight. They seem to be growiing toward the light and the other sides of the plant are not flowering nor growing leaves.
Thank you for your help.
Good Day: I wold go to fermtek and check out the information about grow lights. Then you can go to ebay or other place and look for a full spectrum grow lights. it’s better to get a good ones than the cheapest one. we use the lights to grow seeds until they are 4 months old and then they get full sun! Also, not enough light can cause no or very slow growth which means no flowers. You should consider getting a fertilizer with micro-nutrients such as Dya-gro grow to boost the plants starting in late February fro a month and then in late summer (August) before they go dormant while thy still haev a few weeks of growing.
Hi there, I have 18 x 2 year old adenium obesum which I have grown from seed. They live indoors in winter and are out in the greenhouse in full sun during the summer months. They are growing really well, however I have never had a flower bud never mind a bloom. I find all the differing advice on feeding the plants confusing and at the moment I’m feeding them on orchid food on average every two weeks. I would really appreciate any advice on how I can encourage them to bloom. They are all 2 years old this month. Many thanks for any advice you can offer me
orchid food is for type plants that derive food from moisture in the are – not adeniums which are succulents. Each variety of plants have different requirements to flower. Also, your orchid food is most likely does not contain the micro-nutrients adeniums and similar plants need. I would switch to a fertilizer like Dyna-gro grow whihc contains the micro nutrients plants need and use a bloom formula in spring before grow starts for 1..2 months (Dyna-gro bloom). Not all fertilizers are the same many do not contain the micro-nutrients needed for blooming. You say adenium plants are growing well so the light is ok so it a nutrient problem.
hi:
i need help — my desert rose plants have 6 to 8 seed pods ,from just starting, to ready to fall off—— tiny green to large brown 5-6 inch..
is there some where i can get instructions,read up on, how to take care of these babies,live in JAX.fl..
can u help me find directions ,reading material etc. etc..
any help greatly appreciated .
thank lots,
ed c hall
This blog has a few articles on seeds growing and care. We planted over 3,000 seeds since June. The first batch of 1,200 seeds were transferred to 2″ in Mid July and they are getting large fast! Adenium seed and seedlings plants need to stay moist for at least the first 4 months of growth all the time! However, you need to make sure you use the right soil so it stay airy to present rot. The second batch of adenium plant seedlings will be ready to transplant into individual 2″ pots in 2 weeks. The third batch desert rose seeds were just planted two weeks ago (last weekend of July) and are well on their way.
May 29, 2016 San Diego, CA Hello, I have a few Desert Rose plants which have leaves and buds. The leaves turn brown and the buds fall off before opening. Any thoughts ? Thank you Mike.
It can be a nutrient problem and water/nutrient problem. Adeniums need more water during the growing season and nutrients.