Hi everyone,
I'm in SW Florida by Tampa also I realized location would help
I'm a new desert rose owner and plant mom period, I've never had a green thumb and struggle to keep most things alive or thriving, I just recently purchased this desert rose at my local green thumb festival (I know ironic) and it's been a couple days and the branches are starting to droop, I've been trying to be super careful about over watering it, I moved it into a bigger pot than it came in because I felt like it needed the space but I try to look up on the internet on what's wrong and half say it's under watered other half says it over watered and I'm just not sure what to do.
And if it's a root problem I genuinely don't know where to begin with that.
Honestly any help would be incredibly appreciated I'm attaching photos of my babe (popola & devola is her name) to visually show you what's happening.
The first photo inside is when I first got them

The second is the drooping

to the adenium forums

Your basic location would help ....

for Northern Hemisphere

well ...you have a grafted adenium .... no idea which species until the flowers bloom

first dump-out all the potting soil....to your "old" potting soil add about half and half mixture of rocks, & large grain sand to that add composted bark

add rocks to bottom of pot ...add 1 or 2 handfuls of new potting mix - then set the plant on top ...if it seems centered okay .. fill pot to about 1 to 2" inches below pot rim ......

wait a day or so ... then saturate soil .... make certain the pot drains well ...place in semi sunny spot

wait another few days or so then place in as much sun as possible .... 6 hours plus full sun

- Watering -

keep track of local temperatures ~

70's F water once every 10 days or so
80's water once every 7 days or so
90's water once every 5 days or so
100's water once every 3 days or so

cut back watering if night temps dip into 50's / 40's F

for Southern Hemisphere

stop watering - withhold water for at least 45 days ...

deepsouth said: to the adenium forums

Your basic location would help ....

for Northern Hemisphere

well ...you have a grafted adenium .... no idea which species until the flowers bloom

first dump-out all the potting soil....to your "old" potting soil add about half and half mixture of rocks, & large grain sand to that add composted bark

add rocks to bottom of pot ...add 1 or 2 handfuls of new potting mix - then set the plant on top ...if it seems centered okay .. fill pot to about 1 to 2" inches below pot rim ......

wait a day or so ... then saturate soil .... make certain the pot drains well ...place in semi sunny spot

wait another few days or so then place in as much sun as possible .... 6 hours plus full sun

- Watering -

keep track of local temperatures ~

70's F water once every 10 days or so
80's water once every 7 days or so
90's water once every 5 days or so
100's water once every 3 days or so

cut back watering if night temps dip into 50's / 40's F

for Southern Hemisphere

stop watering - withhold water for at least 45 days ...

@deepsouth I'm in Tampa Florida!! I'm so dumb I'm so sorry I should've stated that 🤦‍♀️ I have her in the sun but the flower buds have these brownish spots on them now like they're burned, I'm not sure what I'm doing completely wrong but I'm scared she's gonna die

no worries ... its pretty common not to mention where people live ....

can you send a pic of the brownish spots ?

limbs -
think the plant may have been "scrunched-up" in a space too small for it ...and now
the limbs are relaxing because they have more space to spread out

you do want to repot - because the soil it is in will hold way to much water - you want the soil mix to be super chunky with inorganic materials like rocks and sand - stuff that will take up the space but not hold water

the potting mix needs to be fast draining .... draining away almost as fast as putting it on ...

never let an adenium sit in water - ever - ....

water will kill adeniums faster than anything else

@deepsouth

Okay I'm definitely gonna get the stuff I need tomorrow to repot it, you're suggesting a bigger pot too right? Or is this pot I have okay I just need better drainage?

Also here's the photo of the buds


This spotting happened in the past day or so 🙁

the pot it is in might be okay for now ..... is there a drain hole in the bottom ?

if not, you will need a new pot....

Adenium grow very well in shallow pots..... most anything that has a drainage hole ... an azalea pot is perfect ... an unglazed tera-cota azalea pot is even better ...

unglazed help with water evaporation through the wall of the pot ....whereas a glazed pot holds water like a drink glass

the flower buds look like they have been squashed, lightly crushed or banged into something ...the same thing caused the spotting .... all the other flower buds look okay ....think the plant and the buds will recover

I believe it's unglazed Tera-cota it has tons of drain holes on the sides it just need better potting soil

drain hole or holes on the bottom ...holes on the side wont help much....a 6 or 8" azalea pot is what you need ...

and a lot less dirt on top ...

@MichiruKaioh I am in Tampa too! So we have the same growing conditions!

with James. He has been growing adeniums for a number of years. I have just started collecting these desert roses beginning last year so I am a newbie. What I noticed is as soon as I bring them home, leaves and buds would start to fall off. I think it tries to adjust to the area/location.

I have mine under my back porch where they get direct morning sun but protected when it is raining.

Looks like you might have a beautiful double blooms. They take their sweet little time to open and if the buds get wet and the sun hits the petals, they turn brown and would stick together and fail to open.

But overall your desert rose looks healthy.

@MichiruKaioh hope you were able to save your desert rose!

Yah! It's blooming! Second year for it to bloom.




Joseph, @Gerris2, here's the you sent me, I lost the other one.


It's looking good.
Also the hippeasprekelia is blooming again. Thks for sharing.

Awww Betsy! You have a very happy Adenium! Hope the other one blooms too!

Will someone please repost deepsouth's recommended mix.

From this post (but read the full post for other useful info about their potting and care):

deepsouth said:A tried & true potting medium for adenium .....

Mix together:

1 Part: Coconut Coir -
1 Part: Redwood Bark (or) Orchid / Phalaenopsis Mix - Break-up, cut or crush larger stems & bark
1 Part: Poultry Grit (or) Pea Gravel > screen out dust
1 Part: Perlite - coarse > screen out dust
1 Part: Sand - coarse = Leveling, Horticultural, Builder's Sand > screen out fine sand & dust
1 Part: Lump charcoal - Break-up, Crush to 1/4" to ½" sized pieces > screen out dust
1 Part: Lava-rock – (volcanic cinders or pumice) > screen out dust