Two years ago I bought a pretty Adenium at a big box store. The flowers were unusual (to me) in that the center was a dark pink and faded out to a pale edge. The plant is healthy, no sign of insects or disease, it is planted in a well draining mix and it sets healthy looking buds regularly but they always blast. I have not seen this one bloom since I bought it. I have tried more and less water, fertilizer and less of that, different locations, you name it and I still can't get any of the buds to open before they blast.

Any other ideas? I am ready to compost this plant.

Maybe it needs some pruning, and just got to be mindful of watering. It needs water alright when awake, but if it gets way too much water it can blast the buds.

Don't give up on it yet. Give it as much sun as you got there. It can take it.

Thanks Tarev, for the past few weeks we have been having torrential downpours so maybe that is it but it drains well and is in full sun and prior to this weather pattern we were in a drought. The plant seems so happy - except for the buds. I'll keep it a bit on the dry side and see if that helps.

It does share similar attributes with my other succulents here. Too much water, buds will drop, significant temperature fluctuation buds drop. It is always a quirky period in Spring, when conditions are still unstable.

I am wondering now if it is not our horrible humidity. I can keep the soil on the dry side but I can't do much about the humidity. 88% this afternoon.

It shouldn't be the humidity. Mine thrived in Corpus Christi, on padre island, and are still doing quite well here in Jacksonville, which is similar to your climate. They just need less water when humid out.

Well phooey, I thought the humidity might be it.

Warm and humid, with good drainage and good airflow is okay...cold and humid not good.

Just have to protect it from too much rain if it is coming down in a prolonged downpour.

We had very high humidity when we lived in the Marshall Islands. The Adeniums loved it, and the 100 inch per year and more rains. As long as the soil was fast draining, they loved it and the blooms were fine.

In the tropics, the temperatures are sustained, does not go down below 70F, so even if Adeniums gets rained on, as long as drainage is very good, it can sustain the wet conditions. Unlike here in the US, our temps fluctuate so Adeniums still has to be protected when prolonged downpour is in forecast.

I remember looking at several Adeniums in nurseries in Manila and also at my mom-in-law's place. They are growing in such abandon, very fat caudex and blooming happily. Trying to think what is different, they have that high humidity and warm to hot temps day after day.

You are right, T. It was always warm, even when raining.

Well, now I am really stumped. The planting mix is a very well draining mix. I've moved the pot under the eaves to keep it out of the rain. The location faces south east so when the sun does come out it is getting plenty of light. , this is frustrating.

Reading in Dimmitt et al.'s book on Adeniums regarding flowering I summarize as best as I can:

When night time lows are above 60F and day time highs above 80F you can water most Adeniums pretty heavily without problems as long as it is in well draining soil as many others have already mentioned.

Drought conditions or plants that are underwatered will stop them from blooming or abort the blooming process. Temperatures consistently above 99-104F will also put a halt to blooming in most species (I experience that every summer...).
Also when the plant is actively growing it will also be less inclined to bloom, most Adeniums have their active growing season in summer.
Most Adeniums need it to be warm and require lots of bright (when possible direct) sun light to flower consistently.
In the tropics plants may have to be protected from excessive rainfall, and excessive cloud cover can be a problem (ie. not enough bright light) for good growth and flowering. So the rain may not have been the problem so much as the lack of brightness that the clouds would have caused.

They flower best in Spring and Fall when it is warm and the plant is in bright light - here in the desert I need to keep them somewhat shaded, but in many places they should be able to take pretty much full sun (acclimatize them slowly if they have spent a lot of time in shaded conditions). However most easily available cultivars can easily flower 9 out of 12 months of the year in the right conditions.

Nights here are generally well above 60 and have been for the past two months, days are above 80 too. I've been tied up and have to be out of town today but I will take a picture tomorrow (the rains are supposed to stop.) The plant is healthy and regularly sets buds, actually it has not been without buds for months, I have just not seen any flowers.

It has been in the present pot for over a year, I moved it up last year thinking it might have been pot bound but that did not help.

Our temps for this Spring are like that too Alice, with just the occasional high 90's. Mine has not bloomed yet, it is trying to make it. I usually get my blooms in July when the heat is between 85F to 90F and lots of direct sun on it.
Though we do not have much rain, that is the difference though, we are much drier, humidity lower. This year's Spring is definitely cooler compared to previous years.

I kept my Adenium in the same container, though I did trim off roots and branches in Feb 2016, so I can keep it in same container. It bloomed nicely in June that year, while this year it took its time to wake up properly. It was hotter that year, so it is not the same year to year at times.

For me as long as the overall plant is okay, caudex firm and solid, it is still okay. Just got to give it time to reach the conditions it prefers.

LOL, , at my age time is limited......

This time last week I was ready to tell you all that my fears were allayed, as you can see this frustrating Adenium was indeed about to bloom, there were dozens of healthy looking buds.



Today there is not a bud in sight. We should have a "tearing my hair out" emoji.

The pot is not as small as it appears in that picture, itis a 12" panerra bowl. The white spots on the leaves are not insects or disease but only sawdust. We had been having some carpentry work done and they set the saw up just a few feet away.

Sorry to hear/see that. Do you actually find the aborted buds below the plant?

Interesting idea, I never thought to look but I will now.

Aggggghhhhh, this plant is still a puzzlement.

The lowest branch came out below the graft and I left it just to see what kind of flowers it had. As I have mentioned above, all the buds consistently fall off the main plant but this last time the root stock branch had two buds that held on. They were huge at 3 1/2" and 4" long. I've been impatiently watching them and today this is what I found. We did have a good amount of rain last week but plenty of sunshine and hot weather in between and this mix drains very well.