Adenium Obesum (Desert Rose) - is it having a problem?

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by claudinam, Oct 18, 2006.

  1. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Hi...

    My Desert Rose's leaves have been yellowing, then the leaves drop. Here are some details that might be useful:

    - I live in Zone 10, South Florida
    - The soil seems hard -- I can get my finger into it only a little bit
    - When I pull it out of the pot, the roots seem healthy/white (I am posting a picture of this)

    These are my questions:

    Is it normal for it to start dropping leaves/is it going into "rest"?
    Is it ever OK for the soil to be hard?
    If I need to repot, how much bigger does the pot need to be?
    Is it OK to use Scott's soil for Cacti and Succulents or can I do my own mix? What should it be?

    I hope someone can help me...I would hate to lose this beautiful plant! I'm thinking that if I don't get any responses I may move this thread to a different forum...
    Thanks!
     

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    Last edited: Oct 18, 2006
  2. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    No responses yet :( Can someone please help me? Even if you can't or don't have time to answer all my questions, any help would be great.
    Thanks...
     
  3. Nandan Kalbag

    Nandan Kalbag Active Member

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    Leaves of Adenium can get yellow in winter & then drop down. Also excess of water or lack of sunlight too could make the leaves yellow. You plant looks haelthy. Here in India, every time we replant it in a larger pot, we expose the caudex (swollen stem) little more, outside the surface of soil. I found that this encourages the plant to grow bigger caudex. Bigger, thicker the caudex, the plant looks more attractive. Ideally the planting mixture should be airy & lose. This helps water to drain fast.
    I hope this may answer your questions. I can not say any thing about potting mixtures you get there. Here we make our own potting mixtures.
     
  4. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Hi Nandan, (all the way from India!)

    Thank you very much for your response. It was good to hear that you think my plant looks healthy. Just one more question, so that I'm clear on your answer -- is it your opinion that I could/should repot now, being that the soil seems hard, or would it better to wait until the spring?

    Claudine
     
  5. Nandan Kalbag

    Nandan Kalbag Active Member

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    Thanks for your querry. If winter is very severe there, better to wait till begining of spring. Please do visit online encyclopedia of Tropical Plants: www.gardentia.net. This website is hoisted by me. I would love to have your comments about my website. Thanking in advance.
    Nandan
     
  6. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Hi Nandan,

    I'm in South Florida (Zone 10) -- I don't think it gets below 30-40 degrees very often.

    I tried to access your website, but received the following message:

    Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
    The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Apache/1.3.37 Server at www.gardentia.net Port 80

    Claudine
     
  7. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Claudine:
    While not hopelessly so, your plant is WAY past due for repotting. I would put three vertical cuts in the side of the rootball, each about a third of the way around the mass, then free-up the bottom roots and repot the plant in a pot at least twice and possibally three times the size of the original. The side cuts are to interupt the circular growth pattern that the roots exhibit now. Not doing this will likely cause the plant to litteraly constrict(choke) itself to death as it grows larger. the side cuts should be 3/4 inch deep slices from top to bottom. As a general rule, I would have a low per-centage of peat in a potting mix for that plant, as root rot is a real problem if it stays too wet. Good luck. Chuck
     
  8. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Chuck,

    I'm panicking a little bit here. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you a couple of more questions, as it's my first time repotting (ever!) and I am nervous and hesitant to do the wrong thing. Am I cutting around the plant (with a knife? or is there a tool for this?), all the way around, from top to bottom, 3/4 inches in from its actual perimeter? Do I need to disinfect the cuttings? And can you tell me a little more about the potting soil -- do you think you could give me a formula for all the ingredients you believe would be good mix? Thanks so much.

    Claudine
     
  9. Nandan Kalbag

    Nandan Kalbag Active Member

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    Hello Claudinam,
    Bandwidth problem on gardentia is due to many people visiting the site & blocking the new visitors. I have told my server to increase the bandwidth. Sorry for the inconvenience. This problem will be sorted out in days to come.
    Nandan
     
  10. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Claudine: Just mentally divide the root ball in thirds. (Looking down on it, if you will) just as you might cut a pie in thirds. At each of the three points on the 'crust' where you would finish cutting a pie into three pieces, you want to cut the 'crust' portion only. From top to bottom of the root mass, and from the outside of the rootball (with the rootball lying on its side) cut only about 1/2 to 3/4 inch into the side of the roots. What you are trying to do is make a slice in three places to interupt the 'round and round' pattern that the roots are following. You aren't removing anything, you are just cutting a slice mark in the side of the rootball.
    Each root that you have cut will branch out with new rootlets where you chopped the individual root with your knife. A serrated knife works best because it will act like a saw. The roots killed by cutting become compost.
    Having done that, grab the bottom of the rootball and untangle all those frisbe-like roots to the point that they are loose enough to take off into your new potting soil and not just lay on top of it and wonder what they are supposed to do now.
    In cases where there is, in fact, a solid root mass an inch or so thick, you can't untangle them so you take your serrated knife and literally cut a frisbe off the bottom. I'm not kidding, you can take some of those and throw them like a frisbe, thus the name.
    And, generally, no treatment is necessary. After loosely backfilling around the plant, I will flood it with water, adding potting soil until it is fairly compacted, and an inch below the top of the pot. The purpose of this is to remove any air pockets from around the roots.
    Having done that, you should have a very happy camper. Wait a couple of weeks before you apply any fertilizer, 'cause the new yearling roots will be suceptible to burning with fertilizer that is too strong. Also, most potting soils(read the label) will have a mild supply of fert already in them.
    Any good commercial (store bought) potting soil can be used. Keep the plant lightly DAMP, not wet, while it gets itself underway again.
    And enjoy your new, larger pot and the happier plant you put in it. Cheers!
     
  11. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Chuck,

    Thanks so much for the detailed answer. We'll see how it goes!

    Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

    Claudine
     
  12. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Say Chuck, I have an adenium question for you. Mine was in pretty sorry condition when I bought it about 6 months ago. It's not very big, I purchased it in a 6" pot. Anyway, I put it outside for the summer and it seemed to enjoy that very much. Grew quite a few new leaves, and sprouted new branches along the trunk. Caudex increased in diameter. The leaves however are not as nicely formed as in the picture above. They come out non-symmetrical, and very narrow. Kind of pinched looking. There is absolutely no sign of pests, so that isn't the problem. I'm wondering if it is a nutrient problem, or are the light levels just not high enough in the pacific northwest. I now have mine in a south window. Anyway, your feedback would be much appreciated.
     
  13. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Chester: Hard to say. You might pull it out of the pot and check to see if it is root bound. After a summer of growth in a 6 inch pot, it might well be. I might suggest, as a flyer, that you buy a bag of "Builders Sand" at Home Depot or a comparable building supply company. This sand is fairly coarse and improves drainage in a potting mix, which the desert rose really wants. As its name might suggest, it does not like wet feet. Mix the sand and a good potting soil in a 50/50 mix. Fertilize, but very sparingly with a liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks during the growing season. Back off on watering and fertilizing during the more dormant months which you certainly have at your latitude. Certainly your warm month daylight hours exceed ours here in Florida, so I would not expect that to be a problem. A grow light on a cheap timer would extend the growth capability during your 'short days'. (I used to live in Seattle).
    I guess it goes without saying that you do not want to overwater your little guy, for fear of root rot. As far as a 6 inch pot goes, I think I would challenge that rascal by moving him up to a 10 inch pot making sure that the soil was within an inch of the top of the pot and that the point of CURRENT soil level on the trunk is about 1/2 inch above the level of the soil in the new pot. The pinched leaves sound like not enough root room and a lack of nutrition. Good luck.
     
  14. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Say, thanks for the timely reply. After I purchased the plant, I upped her to an 8 inch pot. Roots were filling the 6-er, but not winding around. Potted her up in a very sandy mix, as I've read, and you've now suggested.

    I watered when it had dried out pretty well, and then soaked it well. It seemed to like the culture and repotting, which resulted in leaf growth and sprouting from the caudex of new leaves. Now I haven't watered for about 3 weeks, and will play it by ear, for fear of overwatering. Still, the leaves come out narrow and almost deformed, but not so the average person would notice. I've just taken stock but looking at photos of adeniums, and all seem to have much nicer shaped leaves. I did fertilize this summer every 2-3 weeks, but I'm wondering if it is a micronutrient problem of some sort. I will take your suggestion though, and check the root system next spring when I consider repotting. It does not appear to be in distress so I'm going to forget about it for now. I sure appreciate your thoughts however.

    From what I can read, Florida seems to be the place for adenium culture and propagation. I hear that there is much work being done on breeding of different bloom and leaf colors?
     
  15. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Hey Chester

    Are you allowed to piggyback on my post like this?

    JUST KIDDING.

    Glad you're getting advice on your adenium. Good luck with it. :)

    Claudine
     
  16. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Whoops. Thought you were done. We've moved. Apologies.
     
  17. claudinam

    claudinam Member

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    Chester,

    I have not unsubscribed from the thread. But I was kidding.

    Claudine
     
  18. Chester

    Chester Active Member 10 Years

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    Okey dokey artichokey.
     

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