Ken, they are looking great!
....as Ursula goes apex nipping on a couple of her seedlings....

During this past August – September we had our “wet” season. We don’t have monsoons here…these are the months we have rain more than other months of the year. On top of this though, we had a couple of tropical storms pass by that threw more rains our way.

My seed-grown adeniums had just turned 1 year old at this time and were getting a tremendous amount of precipitation. One of the results of this was that several adeniums had caudex rot at the base. The media they were in was an experiment which did prove fatal. Another result was that about 5 adeniums had practically burst their caudex by absorbing too much water. They survived, but their caudex looks like they have severe stretch mark scars.

Many, many more of my adeniums were affected by the excess precipitation…the apex of the branches rotted. At that point I felt it was pointless to cut off the rotted tips…it was in the middle of the rain season and the wounds made would not have healed properly. So I left them alone. In the meantime, as usual, I surf the net to explore more about plants and stumbled upon this information: “…natural fungicidal materials saturate the fibers…” “Don’t confuse tree wounds with animal wounds. We actually ‘heal’, replacing injured tissues… Trees simply wall off decay…”

This is so true--I am seeing my plants cauterize themselves with their own made anti-fungicide, dropping off the decayed tips, and growing new material on top.




Nov. 11, 2015

Interesting stuff, KD. Do you think a much better draining/less moisture retentive media would have made a difference?

For sure, Ken, I mentioned experimental media that did prove fatal... not going to use this one anymore.

The ones that had branch tips rotting had very well draining media...the moisture constantly sitting on the branch tips is what caused the tips to rot. Next rain season I will erect an A-frame canopy to shelter my babies from the rains.

That should solve your problem, KD. If I may ask, if the media was very well draining, why was the top of the media constantly wet? That sounds like an oxymoron. I guess I need to know the make-up of the media, huh?

Rainbow said:...the moisture constantly sitting on top is what caused the tips to rot.

Ken, I'll reword: "The ones that had branch tips rotting had very well draining media...the moisture constantly sitting on the branch tips is what caused the tips to rot." My boo-boo!

Now I understand, KD. Thanks for the clarification.

I believe KD, the humidity aspect is really high in your area, so it really accelerates the rotting. In my area, since we get very low humidity, the occasional rain is a welcome relief for them. But then again, the intensity and duration of rain in your area is different than mine. Oh got to add, Spring rain they like it here, since the duration of daytime is longer by then, so dry out time is faster. But cold rain during late Fall to winter with daytime being shorter too over here is bad, will rot them fast big time.

When I first got my Adenium, it also has markings of getting some rotting on one part of its caudex, maybe improper watering/mishandling at the store where it was sold or during transport, but as you have observed with your plants , given time for it to dry, heal and callus, it will be just like battle scars.

Oh yes, tarev, humidity here is really high during the rain season, and it is also the warmest time of the year...so it's like being in a sauna room. Right now though, it feels like your spring, and no more heavy rains. The trade winds blow gently which allows my plants to dry out between light rains.

Yes, I know that sauna-like humidity!

In Thailand and Taiwan, they have most of their Adeniums under a plastic roof. They do this to control the amount of water that the trees are getting as well as fertilizing is then on a more regimented schedule without having to figure in the rain. They spray a white wash of sorts (made w lime and water) all over the greenhouse to help filter and reduce the sun. Then when they get their monsoons it washes off the lime mixture and the filtering of the sunlight is not as necessary.
This is mainly in the more rainy areas of these places.
Could be a problem w high winds (the greenhouses or row cover houses).

Rick

Yes, I read that about their greenhouses. Much of the year it's really nice here. It's just those 2 months of rain season (not monsoon) when our days alternate heavy rains with bright glaring sunshine and heat. My adeniums thrive with rain water and there were no issues last year. But this past season we had just too much precipitation due to the extra rain (sometimes 3 days in a row) thrown off by several tropical storms that passed near us.

During the previous 10+ years we had only 1 or 2 tropical storms pass; this past year alone brought 10+ tropical storms nearby. Extremely unusual for our area. Hopefully next year it will be clear sailing.

Red Obesums

This was an experiment to find out how quickly a tree will produce flowers if I did not cut the tap roots and did not up-pot after the first transplant.

Seeds sprouted May 12, 2015


June 12. Some seedlings started ramifying (producing branches).


July 9. Overdue for transplanting into individual pots…so they skipped requisite 4” pots and were placed in 5.”

Seedlings settled into their new media.


July 15. Single stem.


July 15. Multi stems. I did not cut the terminal bud to produce this, the tree ramified on its own.


September 2. Single stems – perfect root stocks for grafting.


September 2. Multi stems – will have lots of flowers due to branching.



December 12. First tree to develop a blossom at 7 months.

Restatement: “This was an experiment to find out how quickly a tree will produce flowers if I did not cut the tap roots and did not up-pot after the first transplant.”
Result: Flowers were produced quicker, at 7 months, when the tap roots were not altered and the trees were not disturbed after their first transplant. This is as compared to those trees that had altered roots and several transplants which had first blooms in the 8th month.
Note: There were flower buds on a ramified tree in the previous month, but the buds dropped due to excess rain. If not for that it would have had blossoms at 6 months old.

The seedlings had been planted in potting soil that I had amended with perlite for lots of aeration, a little Osmocote 14-14-14, and bonemeal. At transplanting, they were watered in with a transplant solution to help reduce shock.

Very good information; would be nice if this could be made 'sticky' in this forum.

Hetty, I appreciate your compliment, but not a sticky, please. Everyone grows plants differently depending on their own preferred horticultural practices and their area. I live in a wet tropical zone and my plants are grown outdoors year-round.

KD

What kind of transplant solution do you use @Rainbow?

The liquid transplant hormone I have been using is by Miracle Grow. I use it on my neo-natal seedlings as well to promote root growth.

I have used the Miracle Gro one and one other. I believe the elements are 5-15-5 ? Correct me if I am wrong.
Rick

The MG starter solution I have been using has N-P-K of 4-12-4, but no trace elements listed. I have recently found another plant starter brand name, Lilly Miller Ultragreen. There is no N-P-K info but does list Vitamin B1, boron, chelated iron, chelated manganese and chelated zinc. I have no idea which is better, MG or Lilly Miller, but I'm going to use the latter when I run out of MG.

I did just buy seaweed fertilizer wich does contain 50 different vitamins and minerals wich is also said to be good for transplanting.