Category: Growing desert roses Adenium plants

Getting several great comments. If you want to post a article or comment about adenium desert rose plants with a link to another site make sure your comment pertains to adeniums growing not just a quick message to get a link. If you want a link put useful information on adeniums or the links will be removed!

Caring and growing adenium plant desert roses requires a little knowledge as in growing any plants. Your location, amount of sun, temperatures, watering and fertilizer all plays a part in growing adeniums. Desert Rose plants can be grow in all climates but in come areas you need to be a bit more active in protecting them form weather.

If you live in the north keep the adenium plants in a warm bright area during the winter. Do not let them freeze. They should be kept in an area that is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. All adeniums like a dormant period and may even loose several of its leaves during winter but not all. When growing your desert rose look for signs of stress: leaves following or yellowing. You may need to fertilize your adenium plant or increase water the desert rose. When watering your desert rose adenium plants keep water off the leaves if possible. Do not water will not hurt the leaves but a build up of dirt, chemicals and other particles in your water can decrease the growth of your adenium desert rose. Also, when selecting fertilizer keep the nitrogen lower than 15 (the first number).

The middle number in the fertilizer content for your adenium should be the highest number of the three. Use time release fertilizer NOT LIQUID! Adeniums like a neutral to hard water. Acidic water tends to sour the soil too fast and may cause root rot. Water plants preferably in the early morning, and allow them to drink up throughout the day.

Watering can be done daily to every few days. Never allow your plants to sit in a saucer of water, neither allow them to be dry too long or too often – this causes adeniums to go into early dormancy. Adenium hybrids can be multi-grafted with several colors/varieties on the same plant. The swollen base will be formed only when the rod stock plant is grown from seed.

To water or not to water?  I have some adeniums over 15 years old. I always wondered why they did not grow into the huge desert roses grow in Thailand and India that are only a few years old.  One of the biggest misconceptions if show much to water the desert rose adenium plants. First, Thailand is a tropical area not a desert. They get tons of rain and so do their adeniums – the common name desert rose. So why do people have problems and the mis-conception that desert roses need to be treated as cactus?

Yes, adeniums are succulents, but succulents are found in all climates from the tropical areas to the frozen north. They have adapted and survived.  Case in point is that prickly pear cacti that thrive in the deserts and in Canada. Yes, the climate of where you are growing your adeniums is the key to how much water. If you grow then in a tropical environment or a greenhouse setup with a tropical climate then with the proper soil you can deeply water your desert rose’s everyday during the growing season!  If you live in the north you may want to consider prolonging the growing season for you desert roses by providing supplemental light as the days get shorter for your adeniums if you have a green house.

Beyond watering adeniums during the hot season you need to make sure the plant experiences a dormancy cycle. I live in Florida so the dormancy may only be a month or two but it is critical fro you adeniums. Also, do fertilize and use time released on your desert roses. I have used various cacti adenium fertilizers over the years and found a 8-9 month time released work best and others well here during growing season of the desert rose. Yes, may people say to use 7-10-10 or even 5-10-10.  You will need to experiment in your area when growing your adeniums desert rose plants.

Desert rose plants and see naming of hybrids is not a science. The shear number of bybrid adenium desert rose flowers names is daunting. If you are a collector of the desert rose, also called adeniums, then you know trying to keep track of the names is near impossible. Combine the names with flowers at look almost exactly the same but from different growers makes even more difficult. First a rose by another other name is not always the same. When growing adeniums desert rose plants by seed you are not guaranteed that the end flower will look exactly like the parent plant. This one way new flower hybrids are created. There are always variations in a plant just like sisters and brothers.

If you plant 20 seeds from the same mother plant of a hybrid then about 30% to 40% may look like the partner. Some may have slight differences and others big differences in the desert rose flower. Ok so how are desert rose adeniums plant flowers named? First, beyond the ones that naturally occur in nature, any grower can name a flower. There is no governing body or agency that controls naming desert roses flower types and hybrid plants. You will fine resellers use the same names as the growers but that there are no rules on adeniums flower names.

One of the more frequent questions may beginners have is how to care for the adenium (desert rose) to create a bigger caudex (exposed root system).  The image is a hybrid adenium triple flower that was grafted about 1 year ago. The graft is right below the last branch. You will not notice the graft line after a year due to the growth of the caudex. When you grow the desert rose adeniums select a pot that is wider than deep. This forces the root system to become exposed as it grows.

Think of a bonsai pot when growing your desert rose. They may be 12″ to 20″ wide but only a couple inches deep.  As you grow the desert rose keep the plant confined into a pot with only 2 to 2.5″ to spare around it (‘2’ caudex use 4.5″ pot, 4″ caudex use 6″ pot).  Notice when the person who cared for adenium repotted it  (above) he exposed, move a larger root to the top of the soil to expand the exposed caudex area. At the same time he trimmed other roots that would have been exposed so the growth goes mostly to the exposed root caudex and to the lower roots

Growing and caring for desert roses, adeniums, is just like growing other succulents and cacti.  Water once a week depending upon your climate in very porous soil and light fertilization if you are not growing in the ground. Desert rose growing and care can be grown in any region but they do need protection in cooler climates.

Image Grafted hybird Adenium Desert Rose tiple flower