Ken, nice short introductory info about adeniums! There is so much
more about them than meets the eye.

Glad you have shared your experiences so far on the way you are growing these amazing plants in your area and in the micro-climate in your greenhouse and solarium.

I don't have climate restrictions in my area and am fortunate to be able to grow them outdoors year-round.

To those who would like to know more about adeniums, here is a terrific source:
An Adenium Website

Thank you, KD. I am just a novice here but have enjoyed seeing my plants develop over the last nine months.

Ken, you are terrific, you never stop learning!

Ursula. You, Rick, KD, Willeke, and many others know so much more than I about these plants. All I can do is simply relate my experiences.

Ken, you are a 'man of many parts.' And far to modest in your accomplishments. Great article although I will never attempt to grow one. I am challenged enough with my 'garden variety' experiments up here.

Yea, arms, legs, sorry a** back, fat belly, etc. Thank you, Mary. I just like to see stuff grow. My knowledge, what there is of it, is obtained by doing. I love to experiment.

You should grow adenium, Mary. I have a feeling they make a great windowsill plant and seem to require little effort or attention. It sure is fun to see their fat caudices form. Perhaps they remind me somewhat of my own form.

Funny!
Ken, then perhaps you should never grow Pachypodiums!? The name alone....

I do have some Polypodiums (Elkhorn Fern) but no Pachypodiums.

Elkhorns

Great article Ken especially since I just picked up one of these at Walmart in the 'please save me' section and have plans to get several more this afternoon (I'm a sucker for rescuing plants). In your article you mention the soil mix you're using. I'm pulling some dead Daturas out of the pots they're in for these. They're in regular potting soil at the moment but would these be ok if I made a mix of potting soil, sand and perlite for the Adeniums?

Chris, as you probably know, I am a "newbie" when it comes to growing Adeniums. I have taken advice from several who have grown Adenium for years and grow a lot of them. Rick, KD, and Ursula are just a few who know so much more than I about growing these plants. This is just me, but I generally don't use sand. I know some growers use pumice, but again, I don't keep that so don't use it. If it were me, and I had some standard potting soil, I would make a mix of 1/2 potting soil, 1/4 cypress mulch (chunks), and 1/4 super coarse perlite. I would want a media that does retain some moisture yet is very well-draining.

Perhaps others, more experienced in growing Adenium, will chime in and give you better advice than I.

That's pretty much how I made mine this afternoon Ken, I used a bag of my Miracle-Gro orchid mix since I didn't want to use the expensive stuff, some pretty coarse perlite and potting soil. I had to cut the nursery pot off one of the plants it was stuck in there so bad. Gave them a good watering until it drained which didn't take very long so I guess it's porous enough and have them out in direct sun. Now just to cross my fingers and hope my $18.00 for the three was worth it.

Photos?

Here they are Ken, if my grass in the back wasn't so high you could probably see them better. I probably should have put up on my work table to take the photos.

Nice photos, Chris. You got a good buy there.

Thanks Ken, I'm hoping they do as well as the rest of the plants I've rescued. I'm sure they're happy to be in bigger pots.

In order to make myself smarter on these plants I've been doing some Googling and have a few question I need clarification on.

1) I've read where it says to fertilize these every two weeks or once a month, depending on what site you're on. Would this fertilizer be ok to use? http://www.medinaag.com/produc... I also have some fish emulsion so which one would be better?

2) Since it's now in the mid to upper 90s here should I still follow the directions that say to water them only about every two weeks or go to maybe once a week?

Not sure if this is the correct way, but I water my adult Adeniums along with my other Fat Plants/C&S pretty much daily during the Summer. My plants are fairly pot bound, so there is little chance they stay wet for long. I also don't use plastic pots.
I treat them like Tropicals in Summer and like Succulents during the Winter. I slow down watering in the Fall and water sparingly during the Winter, then inside here in NJ.

I don't have a real regimen for fertilizing Adeniums, I just fertilize them along with everything else with a balanced fertilizer and once in a while blossom booster. But, a couple of weeks before they come inside, I add some of the Bayers Imidacloprid/fertilizer in pellet form to all my C&S, I also do that in the Spring when move them outside. That takes care of Mealies and Scale.

Thanks Ursula, I was wondering about the watering regimen especially here in Texas. I usually water everything at least every other day some plants have to be watered almost daily. I've got mine in plastic pots which have about 8 drain holes in the bottom and in the mix I described in my earlier post.

Your fertilizing plan sounds like a good one also. Certain plants I use the one I posted above and others I use the fish emulsion on. I guess it wouldn't really matter which I use on these.

Is a 12"W x 9"H pot too large for those I posted photos of? I was doing some reading at another site and it said to use lots of perlite, I'm thinking now I may have not used enough when I potted these. Would it hurt if I carefully took them out, put the soil back into my soil mixing tub, add more perlite and then repot?

Quickest (most available) image of simplest 'Caudiciform' of the many dozens... caudex-form-taxon here in gardens. We've grown here for over 32 years +/- 700' elevation. Before that we were NE about 80 miles at 1800' Elev in San Bernardino Mountains. (Greenhouses in the mountains).

at present we have 5 different growth coverings allowing close to optimum for almost any light situ of most deserts of the world. I am helpless and highly challenged with the need to grow normal lawn grass and the glorious and beautiful lush landscape plants that Southern California is so well known for. Real Desert cacti and succulents have been our mainstay here.

Carol, my bride for 55 years after a 6-year pre-marriage dating period,...we notice, has piled on the years. so we show the age in our photos nowadays. We are still young in our spirits and happy in our hearts together.