Epic Grower LLC – Growing Blog

Fertilizing adenium, desert rose plants (common name)

Fertilizing adenium will produce larger plants and more frequent flowering. Established adeniums do not need much care.  In fact, many people never fertilize their adeniums and they grow ok. However, if you use 7-7-7 time released fertilizer you will enjoy faster growing plants and more flowers. If you need flower boosting then use Dyna-Gro bloom once a month starting in late winter until you see the first bid.

AdeniumRose Company uses a time released 7-7-7 with great results in South Florida. When fertilizing adenium for blooms in southeast Florida we start in early February (about 1 month before flowering time). Do not fertilize when flowering because it may cause the flower to drop.  The advantage of time release is that it last 3 months or more depending upon your brand. Just remember do not fertilize during dormancy of plant or during flowering periods.

AdeniumRose Company Hybrid Plants

Adenium hybrids plants are specially grown plants that produce unusual flowers and plant forms not usually found in nature. Adeniums in nature consist of shades of pink flowers, pink with white and slight variations. Growers cross pollinate different flowers to create new flower colors, shapes and sizes.  Current adenium (desert rose plants) hybrids come in many different colors, sizes, shapes and with interesting patterns (stripes, dots, etc). You do not see the hybrids in regular stores due to their higher costs as they are not massed produced.

This adenium plant arrive in our Miami facility in late August. Its is being accumulated to our climate and will be available in a couple months for clients. It’s a three year adenium old plant with a 6 month old graft. The adenium flower is average size with two layers “double” of pedals. The pedals have great contrast which shows off the stripes the the light color throat of the adenium plant.

Desert rose plants flowers, common name for adeniums, now come in many colors, sizes and with unique character. You no longer need to settle for adenium plant flowers with shades of pinks, white or even single layer pedals. They now come in yellows, dark red, violet, with stripes, with veins, multiple pedal layers and various other variations.

If you are looking for unique adeniums grown to accent their colors and caudex then check out Epic Grower

Company. Contact them via email or through their new website that is expected to be up and running by December 2011 for on line ordering.  If you collect adeniums and needs tips on how to graft them or grow them by seeds book mark this blog for future articles and advice.

Adenium, desert rose, plants are becoming very popular and rival rose bushes in the quality of flowers. They are even ones with aroma!  The main different is that adeniums are easier to grow and have less problems than rose bushes plus they do not have thrones!

This is a recent arrival from Thailand. It’s a grafted adenium, desert rose common name, hybrid graft on a three year old adenium obesum. You will notice it has 4 to five layers of pedals of rich red color with dark red almost black edges.

Grafted adeniums in Thailand and India are taking the adeniums plants to new heights. The flowers of the desert rose are challenging regular rose bushes (the non-succulent rose bush) in beauty and quality.

Adenium flowers which are sold in box stores usually have four to five pedals but no in layers. They are commonly pink, pink with white and other shades of pink with white. You may seeing some double pedals adenium plants in USA store soon but specialty ones with three, four and even five layers of pedals are still a few years away unless you obtain then from specialty growers such as AdeniumRose Company in Miami. Adenium plants are succulents that grow slow but are easy to maintain. Unlike rose plants, adeniums take little care, fertilization and water to produce great looking flowers. They have a natural bonsai look to the plants due to their large caudex growth (exposed root system). In the coming weeks look for more images of new adenium arrivals including yellow, magenta and striped adeniums.

 

Adeniums will grow in  a variety of pot sizes, shapes and styles. When selecting your pot for your desert rose succulent plant make sure they have water DRAIN holes. Grab some rocks and cover the holes to prevent the soil for leaking our.  You want to cover the holes but so not block the water from getting out of the pot.

Select a pot size that leaves 2 to 3 inches of free space around the adenium roots unless you want to keep the plant from growing in size. AdeniumRose Company uses standard nursery plastic pots while growing and repot them 1 to 2 times a year until they reach the desired size or shape. Once the adeniums root is caudex is in the 3″ to 4″ size across we use mostly shallow pots (2″ to 4″ deep) only for force the caudex to grow out and large. Yes, we do have some in deep ceramic pots but the adeniums, desert roses, in those pots are in the very large size (18″ and larger caudex).

One of our favorite types of pots for adeniums are bonsai. Bonsai pots are shallow which promotes larger caudex (exposed roots) and provide the width for growth. Adeniums are not normally a deep root plant; however you can roots.  If you desire taller growing caudex. Ask Epic Grower Company how to adjust your plants for best caudex growing and bonsai effect or just let it grow without any shaping help for great looking plants (90% of our plants are not trained bonsai).

Adeniums, also know as Desert Roses, are one of the easiest succulents to grow in Florida. Florida, with its long summers and very mild winters, provide a great growing environment for Desert Roses. They grow fast and create natural bonsai looking plants.  When planted in the ground adeniums will grow 4…6 feet tall (some taller) with tons of flowers. If you plant in pots you can control the size of the plant from a small windowsill to a larger decorative centerpiece.

The adeniums produce spectacular flowers and grow huge caudexes (massive exposed roots). The caudex gives the plants a natural bonsai look without all the bonsai growing work! In addition they create great centerpieces when in bloom.

You can grow your adenium outside all year long in Southern parts of Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California.  If you live in areas that the temperatures drop below 40 degrees then protect your plants.  Adeniums need 5 to 6 hours of full sunlight a day to produce tons of flowers. If you give it more hours of sunlight they will grow faster and larger! They will grow in areas with less light, however, the frequency of flowering and growth of the adenium desert rose plant caudex will suffer.

If you like to have flowers indoors, then wait until they start flowering and bring them indoors to enjoy. That’s what we do with our favorite adenium plants. Optionally, completely grow adeniums indoors using grow lights. AdeniumRose Company grows seeds to seedlings using LED grow lights until they are established enough for outdoors. The seedlings are transfer to the outdoors once they are at least 3 months old and the rainy season is over.  Adeniums can take a lot of water if your soil is correct. But heavy rain (large drops and strong winds) can damage small seedlings so we prefer to keep the adenium desert roses plants under LED lights until its safe for them.

Growing adeniums desert rose plants verse seeds require different soil. In this article I will discuss growing in containers once the plants are four to five months old with a caudex of ½” of larger.  Once the adenium desert rose seedling gets to a size that allows you to put it in full summer heat and sun light out should replant into a soil mix that is designed fro a more nature plant. Adenium obesum, commonly known as the desert rose, is a flowering succulent native to the soil of sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian peninsula First it must be course soil mix and drain fast!

The general adenium soil mix used in my are consists of perlite, sand, rock, top soil  and coir. Yes, you can use peat moss by remember peat moss retains more water plus moss peat moss is a wetting agent to allow it to re-capture moisture faster. Regular of the shelf cacti soil will work for adeniums but its not the best. If you plan to collect adenium plants, desert roses (common name) than you will want to create your own soil designed for your area. The basic mix is still the same but you may need to add more or less coir for moisture control.

When mixing soil for adeniums desert rose plants non-seedlings, use 65% perlite, 10 coir, 10% sand/rock and 15% organic material such as top soil. Add a bit of fertilizer you are ready to plant adeniums. If you are using store bought cacti add additional perlite and sand/rock to make the mix courser so water drains faster. Most cacti soils purchased in stores to much peat moss for your adeniums. The main problem with growing adeniums is root rot. You want to be able to water which means you need a soil for your desert rose that drain quickly. Once you have the correct soil 97% of all problems with growing desert roses adeniums plants are solved!

First, choose a size of pot that gives the adenium desert rose caudex about 1 to 1.5” more room to grow. If you allow too much room your caudex will not grow as fast. You want to control the growth of your adenium caudex to create fat roots systems. If you desert rose adenium plant has too much room to grow many roots then it will instead of growing fatter caudexes.

All pots for adenium plants must have drainage holes and NO saucers to catch water. Standing water is the number on cause of adenium desert rose plant root rout. When planting your adenium desert rose plants do not be fixed on having it always stand straight up. If you plan to bonsai you adenium plant many great plants start out leaning to one side or even hugging the ground before growing upwards. Its always a bit wise to put some rock in the bottom of the adenium plants pot to keep standing water away fomr the desert roses roots.

Use the proper soil mix (see other blog entries on soils) to make sure the water drains fast from your adenium plant. When you plant the adenium desert rose cropping the roots first to promote thicker main roots is a good idea. When cropping rots look at he plant form and determine what portions of the caudex will be above the soil line of the adenium. Small roots above the soil line will turn green and 90% of the time will not grow down to the soil.

Finally, use a bit of rock on top of the soil to keep the soil mixed from floating especially if you use prelate like most growers. Growing adenium desert rose plants are simple and just requires a bit of knowledge as in growing any plant. If you are growing desert roses adenium plants from seeds then you need a completely different soil than when growing more nature 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.