Is the caudex soft?

The only time i've had mine drop leaves is when it's too dey. Adenium should be treated more like a tropical plant than a succulent. They can take a little more water.

JoJo

I'm guessing it's either root rot or mineral accumulation in the soil. Peat based soils are not very good for succulents, especially when kept indoors. A gritty soil made from ingredients like pine/fir bark, granite grit, Turface, perlite, pumice, scoria, etc will allow the roots to breathe better, and will allow you to flush the pot at each watering in order to prevent mineral accumulation. Also, it looks like you have the plastic pot sitting in a cachepot which could be a problem if water is allowed to accumulate in the cachepot.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

A good thing--the caudex feels normal, not soft.

I unpotted the plant and the roots are rotten. :( Even though the surface was a bit dry, the rest of the soil underneath was sopping wet. Recently it's been very humid where I live, and yes, I checked the cachepot and there's a puddle of water in the saucer. Because of the shape of the cachepot, the water's not directly touching the plastic pot, but still.

So today I removed much of the soil and dead roots, and it has some good roots left (I guess they're good roots). I planted it in soil mixed with a lot of sand and grit, in a clay pot with no cachepot this time. I hope I didn't stress the plant too badly by repotting?

I seriously should've done more research and taken better care of my plant. I will also flush it occasionally.

You definitely did not stress your plant, you did it a big favor. The big question now is did you do enough to amend your soil mix. What kind of sand did you use? Fine beach sand is NOT a good substrate. The premade mixes available at HD or Lowe's are no good either.

You're better off mixing about 3-4 parts to one of perlite to plain garden soil. The premade mixes have way too much peat and other organic ingredients that don't hold up well in a pot.

Good luck! Give your plant as much heat as you can - Adenium are true tropical plants and love heat and humidity.

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