Hello everybody. I have a small Adenium arabicum, non-grafted. Earlier this month it was attacked by spider mites. I got rid of them but leaf yellowing and drop seem to be proceed, albeit at a much slower pace. To top it all up we are presently in a late Summer heat wave that shows no signs of abating and due to heavy rains earlier in the month moisture is steadily over 60%. The plant is outside during the day and inside at night. To say the plant looks bad would be a mid understatement.

I am thinking of slightly increasing watering frequency, from once a week to once every 5 days but I am waiting to hear experts on the matter.

Thanks.

yellowing and leaf drop is normal - but is sped-up by inconsistent watering and the amount of water received ....... adeniums hate change - and that's what is going on

my plants do the same thing - early spring until mid summer we have weekly rains, and this keeps plants watered .....this is followed by drought conditions, consistent watering drops off or stops... I may skip watering if there is rain forecast in the next few days - rain never comes and yellowing leaves and drop off is the result ...

step up watering just a tad

it is better for adenium health and growth to be on the dry side, rather than constantly wet

Ugghh spider mites is a pain for sure. I had to defoliate my seedlings that were being attacked by spider mites.

I will wait for @deepsouth to chime in on watering but he has a guide, which I thought I booked marked but couldn't find. We get really hot and no rain lately so I had been watering mine every 3 days. But we have no rain and I have well draining potting mix.

Thanks a lot folks. There's no rain forecast until late next week (just risk of thunderstorms) so I will provide just a tiny bit of extra water at least until temperatures drop.

Yes, the spider mites almost got me this time since I was sure I was underwatering but luckily I noticed the typical tiny web behind a fallen leaf. A magnifying glass and a treatment with agri oil later and the spider mites were defeated again.

I will provide updates once temperatures drop, thanks again.

Almost two months later and the Adenium made a full recovery... albeit in the meantime I've had two other spider mite infestations that were quickly dealt with. The neverending dry weather we are having is surely conductive to spider mites, but I have never seen a plant attract these pests in this way. Nothing else gets attacked in the same fashion, it's crazy.

Happy for you !

I hear yah! I am battling spider mites, aphids and oleander caterpillars this time of the year! Occasionally seeing mealies but they seem to get treated easy with alcohol but it ruins the leaves if sprayed so I use cotton buds to apply them.