Questions: Thank goodness that accidentally I found a reliable website specialized on desert rose plants. Thank you for your adenium nursery.
I’m addicted to desert rose plant and I have a variety of it either grown
from seeds or purchased from different nurseries.
I live in southern California, close to ocean, and in the summer the
humidity is pretty high,so every night I bring my plants inside to prevent
the growth of powdery mildew on the leaves.
My question is: what would you recommend to use for this problem? I know
that these plants don’t like oily substance on their leaves like Neem oil
that I use on my regular roses.
Also, lately I’ve noticed on one of my plants the new grown leaves are
curled and dis-formed, which I’m guessing the mealy bugs presence, but I
don’t see them even with magnifying glass. I use rubbing alcohol on a Qtip
that I’m not sure if it’s right treatment. What insecticide should I use?
Thank you for your reply.
You have magnificent plants. I’ll be back to purchase more plants from you
guys.
Agnes
Answer: Thank you for the question. Humidity is not the problem otherwise I would have major problems. We grow the adeniums in a tropical location – Miami Florida where the humidity is just about between 80% and 100% everyday during late spring. If you are using the right soil and the plants are not on the ground the fog should not effect your adenium desert rose plants.
The curling of the leaves usually indicates that your plant needs nutrients. I would get super-thrive and two/three times a year use it to water your desert rose plants. Also, get a good time releases fertilizer for your adenium plants 8-9 slow release with trace nutrients. Powdery mildew could be spider mites or a fungus. Usually if the adeniums are too close to the ground you will have more fungus problems. Try raising your adenium plants higher off the ground to keep them away from the moisture raising form the wet ground.
During the summer it rains everyday here (tropics) so the ground is always wet, full of fungus/mildew and other things that cause problems with adenium leases. About 3 years ago we raising our desert rose plant growing tables to 32″ above the ground as a trial method to help prevent fungus on the leaves. IT worked!! The moisture form the ground evaporates and the wetness/humidity was transferring the mildew onto the bottom of he leaves causing dark spots on the desert rose plants. This is not a problem anymore!
Have a great weekend