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
I recently purchased an Adenium to replace one I had overwater and lost to rot. It came with several flower buds on it. It appeared to be pretty dry so I watered it well will 20-20-20 fertilizer (1/2 strength). Also sprayed it with insecticidal soap just in case.
That was a week ago and now I’m noticing that the flower buds are turning brown and dropping off. Lost almost half of them already. Any idea what has gone wrong?
The plant is in shock and you will loose most likely loose all the desert rose buds. Never fertilize when flowering or about to flower. Also, even half strength 10-10-10 the first number is too high and you should use time released fertilizer not a liquid.
THX for info. I’m going to transplant it into a smaller pot and I assume now would be a good time since it is already losing it’s buds. The pot it came with is too big and also an ugly plastic. Should I wait to fertilize it again or can I do so when I repot? Also, do I remove all of the dirt and soak roots in Super Thrive? I read one should do this when receiving bare rooted plants and am not sure if it applies to repotting as well.
Dip the plant in superthrive for 20 to 30 minutes bare root before re-potting. Then do not water for 2 days once you pot the adenium is in the proper size non-plastic pot
i have a beautiful cactus rose, I was told it was a bonsi plant and would not grow very much, i repotted it in miracle grow and in less than 3 months it doubled in size I was shocked, i really loved the bonsi but the big plant is not as pretty and the original, i would like to prune this plant just not sure of how to, i do not want to destroy it, do i repot the prunimgs as they are a good 6 inches, what as i supposed to do with this plant? HELP!!!
Good Day:
Yes you can plant the cuttings once you let the cut heal for a week otherwise you will get root rot. If your plant is an grafted hybrid make sure you do not prune/crop the plant below the graft line or you will loose the hybrid flower type. Do not re-pot and crop at the same time. If you plan to crop your adenium plant then do it before re-potting. Then wait until you see new branches forming on the desert rose plant.
Thanks for the info.. My rose sits in rock in miami and the leaves have started curling. I thought it was aphids which have attacked a bonsai ficus several feet away. I sprayed the plant with a combo olive oil and water which really helped the ficus. Was this wrong?
You need to check the roots. Here is Florida many of the rocks are very porous causing algae/fungus to grow and cause problems with the adenium plants roots. Also, if the rock is limestone then its too acidic for the adenium plant. I would not use Oil based products on adeniums. Use SOAP based products. Oil prevents the leaves from breathing and can cause rot on adeniums branches and tips. Your leaf curling problem can be a nutrient deficiency – use superthrive to see if it clears up. Now that being said we do have a new adenium that has leaves that naturally curl foreword and down like a RAMS horn but these are new and rare so the one you have is most likely a root problem and nutrients. Aphids usually do not cause problems with adeniums. You may see caterpillars (orange zipper I think they call them) but we just about never see an aphids or spider mites problems on adenium plants.
Hi,
I recently grafted two of my adeniums and used the regular potting mix for proper draining of water . They are kept away from direct sunlight and were watered only once in the last week . The problem is the leaves are curling across its ends , on both the plants . I havent added any fertilizers or hormones to it . Please help me regarding this issue.
-Regards
-Neeraj
regular plant potting mix is wrong for adeniums. Please see blog for correct mix. Also, this is the wrong time of year to graft adeniums unless your plants are getting extra warmth and light due to shorter days. Early spring is the best time to graft. Adeniums go dormant in many areas in the winter and in tropical areas such as south Florida the growth slows down.
I have been experiencing problems with the Oleander caterpillar on some of my Desert Rose plants. Is there an effective insecticide that can be safely used on these plants?
We use prongs to take caterpillars off. Or you can use the Nutra line of insecticides.
I live in Miami and I have two desert rose plants, both bulbs are pretty exposed as I had been told that’s how you want to plant them. One is gorgeous with many blooms and the other doesn’t even have one. The new leaves grow curled and the trunks are whitish indicating to have fungus. What do I do?
the whitish is most probably spider mites. Take out the plant from the pot. Get rid of the old soil! Wash the roots, leaves, trunk with soapy water. Wait a few days and then report with fresh soil. Afterwords spray with an insecticide such as Bayers Advanced.
A few of my Adenium plants’ leaves would turn yellow at the tip, gradually spread to the proximal part if the leave and they fall off after several day’s. This occurs only AFTer I watered them! I had experimented with using little amount of water (like 1-2 oz) or larger quant (like 4-8 oz) and I water only every 7-10 days. Sometimes the caudex felt slightly soft, ie. It ‘gives’ a little when pressed before I water and the yellowing still happened. One plant list all of its leaves this spring and I though it either died (but no other sign) or went into dormant state in the spring time! After carefully avoid watering (I end up given about 1 oz once a month), it suddenly cane back to life last month and now has 7-8 healthy looking leaves.
My question is: since I almost never water them thoroughly till water drains out and I only water everything 7-10 days, is it possible that the roots got stressed out from being dry, then again the plant got stressed by the water it’s exposed to? (Funny thing that the yellow leaves typically only involved 1-3 leaves on one branch/stem, others remains perfectly fine.
Without knowing you growing environment I can not make a judgement call on your watering schedule. How often do you fertilize? When haev you repotted the platn. Soil nutrients leaches out over time which can cause various problems.
Hello, I have several adenium plants. I live in Saint Petersburg FL. Several of my plants have moss as well as curly leaves. Some of the blooms seem to be malformed and when they do bloom, they they do not bloom fully. All of them are raised off the ground with the exception of 2 that are over 20 years old. Any idea what could be occurring here and how to resolve this? Thank you!
The first things that comes to mind are micro nutrients. Mal formed leaves, blooms not fully opening, etc are all signs on soil nutrient problems.
I have a couple desert Rose’s that really green leaves, but the leaves are pointing straight up. Not curling. Is this a nutrition issue?
Leaves usually follow the sunlight. What is you light source?
I just potted my bare root plant following your instructions, waited 24 hours to water it and the water runs right thru the soil which is a good thing. My question is when do I water again and when I water do I use super thrive? I know you have stopped using Super Thrive and unfortunately I bought the Super Thrive before I read that you changed brands. How often do I use the Super Thrive? Thank you! Linda
The rooting hormone is used prior too potting the desert rose plant and once a week for two weeks with your watering. How much to water depends upon your soil and growing environment. Wait until the soil drys out and then water again.
Have two beautiful plants. Fertilized with 20-20-20 (full strength) and since plants look “weak”, drooping, and not blooming. Can they be saved?
You did not mention type of plant. Every species of plant has different requirements. 20-20-20 is used in our area for orchids.
Nursing a desert rose from my daughter
Recently reported to new pot , 12 Oct with a mix of cactus soil and perlite. The leaves mostly all curled inward. It was this way when I recieved it. Looks like I see new growth slowly, due October. Caudex looks fine. The pot was originally in south Florida (ft lauderdale) now in Central Florida. Current weather some cool days about 78degrees and it sit out in my screened in enclosed patio. I water once every 2 weeks. Good drainage . Should I worry about curling leaves?
Not at the present time. New soil should have nutrients in it.
Also get midday sun in my patio. I failed to mention this.
Hello, We are in Fort Myers, FL. and have just potted two Desert Rose bare-root plants and followed your suggestions for planting in terra cotta and non porous stones but we put the sand mixture right up to the highest root. Should we remove some sand to allow more of the roots show? Is there a formula to use when planting? As in half or three quarters buried?
Thanks for all the great information!
Soil not sand? We raise the plants to expose more of the caudex once a year. So I would expose a bit of the white/lighter color a bit.
My Desert Rose buds were brown and not developed but found it was not draining properly. It began blooming beautifully but now the leaves are curling and some of the buds are brown again.
I want to transplant it into a clay pot. What soil do I use and how and when do I fertilize it after transplanting.
IN the search area of this blog put in the word soil. There are many articles on soil here.
I need to transplant my desert rose. Should I water it after transplanting, and if not, when do I inoculate the plant?
Wait 7 days before watering.
I received a Desert Rose as a Christmas gift, I live in North Scottsdale, AZ. About 3,300 elevation so it gets below 35 degrees at night this time of year. My plant is in a south facing window, but there is an overhang so a ton of natural light, but not a lot of direct sun. I keep my home around 68 but it is cooler next to the windows due to them being floor to ceiling.
Most of the leaves are all curled in and several are turning yellow, with some brownish spots and falling off. Please help. I can move it to a warmer area, but then it would not get any direct sun, I am concerned it’s too cold or the temperature is to erratic being mid 30’s-40’s at night and mid 60’s during the day.
Also, I am careful not to over water as I have a lot of houseplants including euphorbias, jades etc. I am at a loss as I really want my plan to thrive. I have not fertilized it since I have had it less than a month and it was ported just before it was given to me.
I am concerned about spider mites in addition to possible placement next to the window.
Any advise would be welcome. Thank you