Now I am flattered .... am now "an on-call botanist"
so one of the first things I learned about adenium is this -
Adeniums have only 2 seasons - either wet - or - dry
summer = wet = the active growing season = water adeniums like a tropical = water to saturation
winter = dry = the dormant season = water lightly treat adeniums like a cacti = water once every 50-60 days
(The reverse is true for the southern hemisphere)
More flowers -
Flowers emerge at the tips of stems
A bushier top - means more stems ...and a fuller looking plant ..... with more stem tips, you will see more flowers ...
to get more stems, need to "encourage" new growth
Cutting out, or pruning off stems encourages anywhere from 1 to 5 new shoots to emerge at the prune cut
once new leaves emerge - pinch out any leaves that cover or shadow other shoots / stems .....
Before making cuts or pruning off stems ...study the plant first .... remove stems that cross ...or grow into other stems
a long, elongated stem or branch with little or zero leaf growth can be cut in two or halved ....
to force branching along stems - cut the last inch or two off stems (or remove bunching of leaves that sometimes grow at
the end of stems
Try to keep all exposed cuts as dry as possible, or until it hardens over
It may take a couple of weeks for new stems to emerge .... but once established, new stems will take off
Be patient - adeniums seem to take forever to respond to changes
These initial cuts will heal over in 3-to-5 years -
Temperature -
here - I have to move plants indoors when nights reach 50°F (10°C)
that happens late November (sometimes sooner) ...after moving indoors - will stop watering ecept once every 60 days or so ... watering is limited
the fading sunlight and cooler temperatures induce dormancy ...then leaves fall off
leaves falling off is normal for dormancy
plants will stay indoors until temperatures are sustained 50° or above ....
Spring months -
Usually - i will:repot, lift & prune all at the same time - in early spring here that means April / June
....then the plant has all summer to recover ....
but that is about the "limit" I put them through for the entire year ....
Lifting exposes more of the root system ....the exposed roots resembling decades old Bonsai ... lifting once every 2-3 years and exchanging the potting media at the same time is always followed by rapid growth in both height and spread
Pictures below taken June 28 of 2020 ....
