Hi all. I am very new to the world of Adeniums. Bought my first 2 last week. Here they are.

I have a lot of questions but the most pressing one is how do you promote a bushier tree. As you can see in the photos my Adeniums are a bit spindly. I'd like to encourage more branches to grow closer to the base of the main stems near the caudex.

Btw, do not be concerned about the dieing leaves. The plants were posted to me with exposed roots and wrapped in a box so they've been under a lot of stress. Since these photos all the old leaves have been replaced with new shoots.

You can trim down the branches to the level that you want. Just be aware you may not have blooms this season.
Also, your soil looks too dense, you have to make that much grittier and coarser, so that you do not compromise your root system and caudex below soil line.

I do not know where you are located, usually I do my pruning while the plant is still asleep in winter, so I do not need to water it, allowing it to stay dry safely and callus all exposed ends. Then I just wait for its gradual wake up during Spring. When it starts to wake up, and conditions outdoors are already favorable like temps overnight at least 50F, then I bring it out gradually, to continue acclimating outdoors and get it to receive full sun slowly. As more leaves grow, the more direct sun and stepping up watering as needed. The more sun the better when it is ready, temps at the hottest it can bear. It is one of those plants that loves our dry 95F to triple digits heat here.

A bushier top - means more stems ... with more stem tips, you will see more flowers ...
to get more stems, need to "encourage" new growth

Cutting out, or pruning off stems on adenium encourages 1, to 5 new shoots to form just below the pruning cut ..

Use a pair of pruning shears - or razor blade to make the cuts - adenium stems are soft, and easy to cut through (don't use a saw)

Try to keep the exposed cut as dry as possible, or until it hardens over

It may take several weeks for new stems to appear .... but once established, new stems will take off

Be patient - adeniums seem to take forever to respond to changes

These initial cuts will heal over in 3-to-5 years -

Have made a copy of one of your pictures and added drawn lines of where I might make the cuts ....
where you make the cuts is up to you

Thanks for the quick replies. What a wonderful and responsive community. Glad to be a member.

To answer some of the posted Qs. Im located in Australia. Just enterred Autumn so plant would be going into hybernation soon which is lucky for me, can get stuck into prunning soon.

I thought the soil would suffice as it is cactus/succulent mix I got from my local hardware store. But, as advised, I will incorporate more gravel into it and repot. Poor plant is being manhandled quite a lot lately.

Thanks for the examples of where to prune. Will the plant cope with all those stems being lopped off all at once? Or should I prune half now and half next season? Im not concerned about missing a couple seasons of bloom. I would rather be patient for a few years but end up with a great bushy full plant.

yes...incorporate more pea size gravel into the potting mix - (poultry grit works great....found at most feed stores)

adeniums have only 2 seasons - wet and dry ..... wet season is the summer months, when the plant is actively growing / dry season are the winter months, when the plant is inactive and dormant ....

when night time lows fall below 10°C (50°F) it is time to get the plant indoors ....

never let adenium freeze - and - never let adenium sit in a saucer of water .....either will kill the plant

when leaves either - fall off, turn yellow, or when leaves stop emerging is when watering & fertilization stops ....withhold water for a full 3 months - then only water equal to the size of the pot (if pot holds about 1 cup, only water about 1 cup) - then wait another 3 months before watering again -

When to prune ?
can prune when plant is dormant - or - just before plant breaks dormancy ...

Personally ....I like to get all the plant maintenance (prune, re-pot, lift caudex) done in early spring ....this will give the plant the rest of the year to recover -

and like I said, adeniums seem to take forever to respond to changes

When I did my pruning I have done it in 12Feb2016. So the plant is dormant, and it was my first time to do it, so was hoping for the best. I just cut off some off the taller branches, but I also trimmed down the feeder roots, leaving the main caudex without the tiny roots. The reason I did this, I wanted to return the plant back to its container. I watched endless youtube videos how pruning is done, to educate myself and to feel confident doing it. It is a nice funny looking container, makes the plant look like a muscular little man I needed more soil space and the feeder roots were occupying a lot.

Before pruning:


After pruning


Since it is still dormant, just replacing it back to the container with a new batch of well draining media. I use cacti mix and lots of pumice, tiny little lava rocks, clay rocks, akadama/kanuma japanese soil, some compost. All of this mixed into the soil. No watering done, after transplant, since it is still asleep. It does not need to be this complicated mix, but I just happen to have them around, so I used them. Ordinarily just cacti mix and added pumice is also enough. I have a compost bin, so I always have access to some compost.

It actually responded well to the pruning done, really lovely blooms come July 2016 as we start getting into the peak of our very hot and dry summer, temps in the 100F ++. I was glad it did not skip its blooming time too.
Jun 2016


Jul2016


It really taught me a lot, how this plant behaves, the timing when to do the pruning and giving it as much direct sun and heat during the hot and dry months, to get as much blooms.

Patience will be your friend while you wait for the plant to wake up. Year to year it is different. Sometimes it wakes up early but last year it was really late, but once awake and conditions optimal to its needs, it blooms and grows quite well.

Okay, as advised I repotted my adeniums with a more well draining soil mix. I took the standard cactus mix and doubled the volume with added perlite and coarse sand. How does my new soil mix look? Gritty enough?

When repotting I noticed the original cactus mix was quite soggy with a lot of retained moisture. Thank you @tarev for pointing it out. I inspected the roots and things looked fine. Caudex feels firm and I didn't see any hints of rot.

Looks nicely gritty! Good job!

Now just wait patiently. As you said, it is heading into cool season on your side. It may just proceed to its dormant mode. As long as that caudex remains firm and rock hard to your touch, it is okay. It will just consume whatever moisture it has stored. You may see the caudex gradually shrink a bit, but just leave it alone. If there is no new growth, it continues to sleep. Just keep it warm and dry while being overwintered.