Hello All. I'm usually just a spectator when it comes to forums but I've really learned a lot from the feedback you've all given to each other and wanted to share my experience.

I have recently (last 6 months or so) been wanting to green up my apartment and fell in love with caudiciform plants, especially the Adeniums. I planted some seeds from an etsy vendor back in December and again in late January and wanted to share where they're at and get some feedback from you all.

Some info: Zone 6a, New England. They are currently set up in a "hot box", which is a 20(?) gallon tote that I cut two holes in the lid and have two strong LED's pointing down at the plants. I also have a heat mat that turns on when the ambient air within the tote gets below 80F. I lined the tote with mylar to try and maximize the light since i've read that these require a lot.






Adenium arabicum germinated late January
















Above 5 are obesum






Above 2 are thai soco



Trichodiadema densum - Throwing it in just to see if anyone knows if I must raise part of it out and expose rose to get the bonsai look or it starts stemming up naturally.

Before I forget, the soil i used for the thai soco (the oldest of them) when I first sowed them was just potting soil with extra perlite added. Something was wrong because they did not grow any leaves other than the ones they sprouted with. Then after about a month of no growth and yellowing leaves I felt the caudex as i noticed it was looking wrinkly and discolored and it felt really soft, almost mushy. I replanted it in the mix I started using with most of the other seedlings and that is 2:1 (vermicast:vermiculite) mix, tho i do top some of them with river sand. I have three worm bins and get plenty castings and after reading about it and now seeing the benefits am a huge advocate for a healthy living soil.

The obesum in the mini bonsai pot I re-potted 4 weeks ago and already I am seeing roots pushing through the bottom screen.

Feeding/Water: I mix 2 tablespoons of fish emulsion, 1 teaspoon of Mycorrhizae powder, and 1 tablespoon of homemade EM into 1 gallon of RO water and feed them that every weekend. Throughout the week I just water with RO water using my best judgement. I don't let the soil get completely dry as I don't want the soil to die, so when the top is loose I just give them a drink. It usually works out to every other day sometimes everyday. They are certainly thirsty...

I apologize for being so verbose, I just wanted to give as many facts as I could. Any pointers and tips would be greatly appreciated, like why do the leaves on the thai soco's have that silvery look to them. Also some of the leaves are stretching upwards, is that a lack of water?

Thanks again! - Stefan

Looks to me like your doing everything right. The plants look nice and healthy. That is a shocking amount of growth to be started in January. January 2019? I like your organic living soil method

Some leaves are just different with any of the adeniums. I have some that are a silver/blue color, furry, wavy, some with red on the undersides, and variegated. It's part of the fun of growing from seed.

That's very good to hear, and thank you for the feedback Audrey. I was concerned their growth was stunted at first, and yes I was referring to December 2018 and January 2019. Would you recommend any type of pruning, especially to any of the obesums as some of their center stems seem to be elongating at a fast rate. I would like a more full look to the eventual canopy and not so spindly. My goal for some of them is for a more bonsai look, with thick caudex and uniquely exposed roots.

Amazing fast & healthy growth you have there - Congrats

For the bonsai look ..... it will take a few years, but you will be there before you know it

To get started - you will notice, the main trunk has a "bottleneck" like shape ...from that bottleneck down is the
caudex -
from the bottleneck up is where you will want to make any pruning cuts ....

Where at this bottleneck you make the cut is up to you .... 1/8 to 2" above where the stem narrows down....or right at the point of the narrowing ..... either can produce interesting effects

This first cut, will encourage 1 to 5 new shoots to form just below the pruning cut ..and will heal over in 3-to-5 years -

Spindly stems can be corrected by cutting off the tip and forcing new growth further back down the stem ...or just cut the stem off where-ever you want further back from the tip ....

Try to keep the exposed cut surface area as dry as possible ...at least until it hardens over - as a precaution ...sprinkle with cinnamon or anti-fungal powder (rooting powder with fungicide)

Can lesson the elongation & spindly stems ..by cutting back on nutrients and fertilizers

Do not prune if you want flowers ...... a way around that is do selective stem pruning - or wait until after flowering

As the caudex grows - it will outgrow the pot (especially at the rate your plants grow) - and adeniums have no mercy for clay or plastic pots - they have no problem breaking clay pots or make round plastic pots oval ... when that happens its time to re-pot the plant

Re-pot -

layer about an inch of rocks (or pot shards) at bottom of pot - this will help drainage -

lift the adenium out of the old pot (if it didn't break it) and knock, brush, or wash off all the old media ....especially - that inch or so at caudex and below where the old soil line was .....

look over all the roots - cut off any that are off white, tan or black

set the bare - rooted adenium in the pot

now, here is where we break the Golden Rule of "planting at the same level in the pot" .....plant about an inch or so higher in the pot - this will expose more of the caudex - and show more of the roots (the bonsai effect)

To prevent pot breakage - and expose more of the caudex re-pot once every 1-2 years ...

Oh yeah ...leaves stretching upwards - are what you want to see .... they are getting plenty of water and light

And be prepared not to see any results .....as adeniums seem to take forever to respond to changes

Thank you James, I will definitely be following your advice when I decide to prune. I may hold off now because you mentioned it may postpone flowering, and this will help me determine what I want to do with each of them.

I must say it is a huge relief to hear you both say they look good and healthy. As mentioned before I was concerned on there size and thought they may be stunted, and this came from watching some youtube videos of marias garden where her 6 month adeniums looked so much larger than mine do. But I guess that's what happens when one looks at there plants multiple times a day for 3 months straight, it makes it very difficult to judge scale relative to time.

I will say, and maybe it's because they're very young still, but the one I experimentally placed in the mini bonsai pot seemed to react very fast to its transplant. The mixture in that pot is 1:1:2 (river sand, coco coir, vermicast). I tried to be very gentle with the transplant and added cinnamon to the root mass when moving it. I then poked around with a dulled toothpick to try and get the substrate to fill in the voids in the root mass. This was a technique I saw on another youtube video, and i'm not sure if it was necessary for this small of a plant but regardless i'll take it as practice. I then left it for two days in the grow box before watering it. My wife had to kindly remind me to leave it alone as I wanted to water it sooo bad because it was so dry. Anyhow I did this about 1 month ago and noticed roots already exiting the bottom of the pot this week... Should i re-pot this one already? It is the fourth obesum down in the photo with the oval pot.

Also the white plastic pots I currently have the rest in are 3.5inch for the smaller sized pots, and 4.25inch for the larger ones. I know you said to re-pot when they bust out but... i'd like to keep them for future plants if I could. Is there a better indication as to when they should be re-potted?

You may get flowering this season ... but then, maybe not

personally ...I like to get all the plant maintenance, such as re-potting & pruning done in early spring - then the plant has the rest of the summer to recover and do its thing

this first cut will be tough ...I know ...when, where all that ...for a young plant, the sooner it gets done the better - this first cut will shape the plant initially - and if you're not happy with the shape, then cut those stems back and start again ... remember the more stem tips you have - the more flowers (& seedpods) you will get later

annual pruning isn't totally necessarily unless you want to change something about the shape, increase the amount of stems or stop spindly growth

Basically - if you want to save pots ...re-pot every 1 to 2 years .... lifting a plant within the same pot will give you an additional few years in the pot .... and continued lifting can stretch those years even longer ...

and the type of pot(s) you choose is important ...I think you are good for this season ....but if you see roots at the top of the pot, and next to the side of the pot - its time to re-pot

also adeniums don't mind if you pull them out of its pot, now and then if you suspect something isn't right down there ....good time to check to see what and where the roots are

look around for terra cotta azalea pots or terra cotta saucer type pots .... these types of pots, have straight but angled outward walls & make it easy to pull out the root ball

oh yeah ...resist the urge to water adeniums in the winter months .... nothing will kill plants faster ....in the summer months and if outdoors, water at least once a week

Just adding to this instead of starting a new thread. One of my adeniums is really worrying me. For reference the adenium is the last of the obesums pictured above. It's leaves are turning a reddish tint and yellowing. Several leaves have yellowed and without effort i've been able to pull them off the plant. The caudex is still rock solid though. I thought it was signaling a dormancy period but its environment hasn't changed. I had been busy with finals recently so it has gotten a little dryer than normal between watering, but nothing drastic. Anyhow these are the pictures and I guess best case scenario it is signaling a dormancy and will wake back up soon.







There are droplets on the leaves as I've just misted the container, and I do have it aerated so the droplets don't stay on for a lengthy period of time. If anyone knows what is going on and could share I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch.

- Stefan

no idea what causes the red tint - I have over 60 adeniums ...many of them are related ...half will have red tint on the edges of leaves and or red tint on new flower bud or leaf growth... the other half wont

the yellowing is actually normal - it does signal dormancy .. but could also mean too much water, too little water ... or lack of iron ... (the curling of some of the new leaf growth on your plant, suggests to me it is lack of water ....but that's good, assuming you are waiting to water again ...or waiting for outdoor temps to rise so they can be outdoors)

a plants need for dormancy is more hereditary, but its current environment is telling the plant to grow .... could be confused

what I would do ? ....would stop fertilization ...and stop misting

You had mentioned you used heat pads ...if still in use ....might also lower, or turn off the heat ...

Thank you James for the help. I think it may have outgrew its grow box. I noticed when taking the plant out to inspect it today how hot the top leaves were. I know they can take quite a lot when it comes to heat and sun but it was maybe an inch from a very intense grow light. I'll be acclimating it to sunlight now on a windowsill and hopefully in a couple weeks night temps with stabilize and it will have a spot out on the porch. Its a southeast facing view so hopefully it will have enough direct sun.

I have yet to name any of my plants but I can't think of a better one than Icarus for this one.

no problem ...glad to help out ....

would remove any fallen leaves from the pot .... need moisture to evaporate out of pot...and don't need a ready made home for disease, fungus & pests

before hauling plants outside ...wait for night lows to be steady 50° or above .... a few nights slightly below 50° and only briefly ( an hour or so) wont hurt anything ...but any forecast of frost or freeze - haul plants inside

once outside, water like a tropical plant, every 5-7 days ...if days go over 90°, water more often

all and all, think you are heading in the right direction