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Cacti & Succulents

I think I may have killed my Adenium

15 years ago

I got my first Adenium about 3 weeks ago. I know I definetly made a few mistakes. first I used Miracle grow potting soil without mixing sand or perlite in it. Second I put it into a 8in unglazed clay pot that is way too tall.

Third I have been leaving it outside where it has been chilly with lots of rain.

Two leaves yellowed and fell off, and I kept checking the stem for squishyness. Two days ago I noticed it getting slightly soft, not very much just a little. Today I pulled it out of the soil and found one side root soft so I cut it off. Upon further inspection I noticed that the main root has a bad spot on the bottom. Its about the size of a quarter and feels pretty soft. I'm afraid to cut into the main root but feel it may be necessary. If I leave it out of the dirt will it heal or should I cut the rot off? I really don't want to lose the plant so any help would be greatly appreciated.

As soon as my camera batteries charge I'll post a picture.\

Thanks,

Jeremiah

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Comments (5)

fishinfool96
Original Author
15 years ago
Ok so I think it is a little bigger than a quarter.

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caudex1
15 years ago
Dig out all rotted tissue till you reach healthy white flesh. Then let dry for a couple of weeks before potting up again, water sparingly till you see new growth.
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rjj1
15 years ago
I think if I kept squeezing my Adeniums, they would probably get soft too. :-) Leaf and stem health and color tell you more about your plant than squeezing.

Hard to say much from the out of focus photo other than you have a brown spot on the root that may be rot. If it's soft and mushy there and smells bad, it has to be removed asap.

You could use a spoon and scoop it out. The spoon needs to be sterile the last few times you use it to get back to clean white flesh or you'll just spread the rot to other areas with the spoon. I would dust it afterwards with cinnamon, a natural fungicide.

I would leave it sitting out in the air in a shady, warm, dry location for about a week to make sure the rot is gone. Then you can pot it up in decent soil and protect it from wet cold weather.

randy
fishinfool96
Original Author
15 years ago
Here's another photo.

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I only kept checking it because I had a feeling with the weather weve been having that something was wrong. The brown spot is very soft and pretty gross, it kinda smells like bad potatoes.

I just cut it out with razor blade, I cleaned it with alcohol after each cut. The spot went pretty deep, dont have much faith that it will make it. I feel pretty bad about the whole thing, especially since I had a feeling that it wasn't doing well, and waited so long to check the roots. Live and learn I guess.

Should the wound be calloused or at least dry before replanting? Sprinkle Cinnamon?, thats pretty interesting. Tomorrow I'm gonna get a short pot that dosen't hold so much soil, maybe bonsai. Any good bagged soil for Adeniums?
Thanks a bunch for the advice.
Jeremiah
rjj1
15 years ago
I think both responses said to wait a week or two before repotting.

If you don't have much faith, go ahead and compost it. I've rooted 3 inch diameter trunks that had no roots at all. You have all kinds of roots on that plant. More than I usually have when I repot a plant to a bonsai pot.

Keep your plant dry when it's wet and cold and have a little faith.

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