deepsouth said:
what you have there is a grafted plant - review copied picture with red arrow indicating where the graft took place
a long stem was used for the flowering upper part of the graft
am guessing - the reason the plant was grafted was for the "exotic" flower / color
if you cut the stem anywhere below that graft - the plant will revert to the root-stock (the original plant) and you will loose the "reason for the graft"
if you cut the stem anywhere above that graft - you preserve the "reason for the graft" and its"exotic" flower / color
if you want a fat caudex, more flowers / buds and eventually more seed pods ... you prune / cut the stem ... in this case I would prune / cut the stem somewhere in the middle of that long grafted stem ....
this year the plant will begin to bush out
the flats of the cut and resulting new stems ...will merge in about 3-4 years
bear in mind it may take several years to get the shape you want ....
cutting the stem will force 1 to 5 new stems to emerge ..... as new stems emerge it is important to pinch out leaves that are shading out, or covering other stems
to get a fat caudex ...give it room to expand .... the caudex expands by storing water & nutrients ...but it needs space to do that .... skip the part "pot...no less than 1 1/2" from the caudex"
adenium can grow in very little soil ..... use a shallow pot ... azalea pots work well ...
whatever the pot, insure there is a hole for drainage
repot your adenium with about an inch or 2 of rocks in the bottom of pot (i like to use volcanic cinders for this, because volcanic rock is lightweight & wont add a lot of weight) ....this bottom rock, will force the caudex to expand outwards, rather than downwards
I lift plants every 3 years or so .... also give it fresh potting mix .... this will not only improve the plant but it saves pots ...as adenium roots have no respect for pots ....expect to buy pots in the future
I would wait until all buds have bloomed ....the plant is outside ....watering & fertilizing has increased ....then do the prune in early spring along with a repot .....then it will have all summer to recover
you want your potting mix chunky & gritty ...more rock than organic ...can not stress that enough
you can propagate using the removed stems ....but stem cuttings will never have or nor develop a fat caudex
therefore start all plants from seed
for starting seeds ... if your seedlings have developed its first or second pair of leaves - it is safe to remove the humidity domes
once the seedlings have developed its "bottleneck" shape ...then repot individually in its own pot ...
use a finer soil mix with lots of sand ...keep sand moist - but not dripping wet
Pruning is done to improve the look of the plant .... also increase branching making the plant more pleasing to look at ....... you want to remove any stems that rub against another, cross another stem, or to eliminate stretching and make the plant more compact
cutting the stem tips off - sometimes, not always - forces branching further down a stem - other wise the branching occurs where the cut was made
from cut surfaces, new stems emerge, this produces more stem tips ...more stem tips = more buds / flowers
lifting or raising adenium and inch or so during a repot - exposes more of the root system .... the newly exposed section is almost always yellowish ...overtime the color blends with the rest of the plant
the exposed roots gives adenium a bonsai the "look of considerable age", without the decades needed
under lights .... if lights are in the 6500k range (white light) - then the distance a plant(s) is from a light source isnt really important ...what is important is how hot it gets between light source and top of plant -
use a thermometer ...a range in the 70's and 80's is more than enough .....
« Return to the thread "Adenium soil change and chop/propogate question"
« Return to Adeniums forum
« Return to the Garden.org homepage
