Hello. One of my large plants has fine roots growing out of the pot. Do you just trim these off? I had not planned on repotting it.
Thank you in advance.

can you elevate the pot on bricks or a spacer ?

cutting adenium roots has risks - an open root wound could cause problems and may invite root rot -

if you can lift the pot, cut the root - dust with fungicide - and let it air dry, until the root end callus over (or hardens) I think you will be okay

Plants get their roots cut and put right back into open soil all the time. Unless the plant is in very bad shape already, this shouldn't cause long term effects on the health.

It might be time to consider/evaluate a repot though if this happens.

@Victoria1st to the Adenium Forum. Do you have a photo of your adenium?

James suggestion of elevating the pot is good if you can't repot. Just make sure the pot's drain hole is not clogged by the roots and water can still drain freely.

I have this happen to a couple of my desert roses. It is rainy season for me now so cutting the roots is not an option for me at this time since it will take long for the roots to callous. The roots will not be able to dry fast enough, which would make them susceptible to rot if they are in a wet media. But I can't leave the roots sticking out at the bottom of the pot for fear that they will clog the drain hole of my pot and water will not be able to drain. So I just lifted my desert roses (they are not super big) and covered screen to the drain hole of the bottom of the pot. I added well draining "dry" soil mix in the pot and without disturbing the desert rose and the roots too much I just placed it back in the pot . They are under the porch right now protected from rain. I will get them back to enjoy the rain after a week or two weeks. I just want to make sure that if the roots got damaged they have time to callous.

Here's one of them. If you look closely the soil seems fresh but the soil around the rootball is untouched. I added some succulents as top dressing.

Thank you @deepsouth @Arico and @GigiPlumeria for your comments.

I wish we were in rain season. We had a dry winter, have not seen rain for months and have been running temps of 35-37c. Here is my small collection ...



I will try to get a picture of the offending roots tonight.

Victoria1st said: Thank you @deepsouth @Arico and @GigiPlumeria for your comments.

I wish we were in rain season. We had a dry winter, have not seen rain for months and have been running temps of 35-37c. Here is my small collection ...



I will try to get a picture of the offending roots tonight.

@Victoria1st nice collection! I started with that many and then the Adenium bug got me. I bought more. I learned to hand pollinate and cross pollinate, then I got seedpods and now I have a. Lot of seedlings but still not as many as James @deepsouth, our resident Adenium guru!

Looking at the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot it does need a little bit of lifting. If it were mine and I don't want to repot, I will gently get it out of the pot, add gritty mix on the bottom of the pot thick enough do you don't have to do it again in a month. Then put the entire plant back and maybe remove an inch or two I'm of the top soil as if you are lifting and repotting.

From the way the roots are poking through, I seriously doubt there's any easy way to gently lift it out. I'd carefully cut or even break the plastic pot off around it. And at that point, it would need a new pot anyway, I'd put it in one of the shorter fat clay pots and raise it up at least 1", more like closer to 2". That is a nice looking fat caudex.

That is more roots than I imagined - personally, for now, I wouldn't do anything except raise the bottom of the pot upwards off the ground with something - bricks or even sized rocks

keep roots intact until you decide to repot - like Nancy @Murky said, the pot bottom will probably need to be cut off -
I too would recommend a shorter wider clay pot - most of my plants get a 1" layer of rocks or broken pottery shards - this bottom layer will force the plants roots to grow outwards instead of downwards -
I too would recommend raising the plant within its new pot from 1 to 2"

Try to do all maintenance (like repot) in the spring - that way the plant has all summer to recover and grow

Morning all and thank you for the suggestions. I actually have three with fat caudices, obviously bought as I am very new to doing from seed.

I 'did' Bonsai for years but only have one left, a Ficus microcarpa 'Ginseng' which I have had for 18 years now.



You may shout "horrors" but I have never repotted him, never touched his roots, just keep him trimmed. So, my question is this ... why can't I do the same with my Adenims?

Apologies if I am being thick, but I am new to this species.
Thank you in advance. Vicky xx

Nice ficus.

Unlike many plants your adenium will literally bust out of that pot. I imagine that there is little potting media left in the pot. By keeping it in such a small pot you are restricting it's growth similar to your ficus tree.

Your adenium has a beautiful caudex. You've grown it well!