Adenium Obesum HELP!

17 years ago

Im not sure where to start. Okay, im in zone 7. I purchased my A. Obesum around august of last year, and it looked beautiful. I havent had more than 3 leaves at a time ever since, they always fall off. My apartment is kept at about 68 F all winter, and a few nights the window was left open in the fall, giving it just a little dry cool. Im not sure whether A. Obesum goes dormant like the other hybrids of Adenium, but i just want to know if my plan for this year will work.

Start introducing my obesum outdoors around april. Start giving her more water, and a low-nitrogen fertilizer.

Leave her in slightly shaded high-heat sun for about 10 hours a day, watering as if in a tropical climate. Leave her outside at the beginning of winter, just until the temp drops to 50 F or below. Then bring her back in to my 68 F apartment, cut back on the watering, and hope she goes dormant. Otherwise i dont know what to do during winter. I dont want to confuse the poor plant by giving it a week of cold, and then bringing her back in to a high-heat, low-light and dry environment. I need someone to sit down with me and help me draw up a game plan because i love my baby!

Please someone help me, it would be greatly appreciated!

-Kat

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Comments (3)

fred_grow
17 years ago
Sounds like a good plan to me Kat. Most Ao do go dormant in the winter but some specimens for some reason do not. As long as the plant has leaves I would continue to water, just not as much as summer. When/if they loose their leaves I stop. Make sure to give your Ao lots of water and fertilizer in the summer, the common name of "desert rose" is misleading. They love water when its hot.
mrbrownthumb
17 years ago
Yeah,

I have to agree with fred here. I just wrote an entry about my AOs on my blog and was noting how they do love water in the summer and if it gets to warm in the winter indoors they start to break dormancy but I still keep them on the dry side until the days get longer and then with the slightest amount of water they start to grow again.
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webkat5
17 years ago
It seems as though they prefer similar treatment as their relative the Pachypodium??

Mine goes dormant during winter...is coming out of it right now.

Adenium Obesum HELP!

Comments (3)

fred_grow

mrbrownthumb

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webkat5

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