Adenium Help!!...I Need To Save My Plant.

13 years ago

Hi All,

I am a newbie fan of adenium. I was given an adenium plant recently. The owner could not take care of it anymore. I think its very old, more than 5 yrs. Anyway, it's in bad shape. Can someone give advice on how i can revive this plant? It has some root like thingy growing out of its branches. (see pictures) I thought of giving it a hard prune or even cutting it at the trunk. Is this wise? Please help. Thank you

Best Regards,

Dev
{{gwi:596792}}Adenium

Here is a link that might be useful: Adenium Plant

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Comments (6)

Marie Tran
13 years ago
Randy, where are you? A friend needs your help....
This DR needs not only attention, but heavy dose of medicine also.
rjj1
13 years ago
I would guess you are from a tropical region based on bark coloration and the air roots. The plant looks like it was grown under a tree or heavy shade.

Your photos are not ideal in giving advice. In the future you might consider shooting the plant at eye level and from the side you consider the best.

If the plant were mine and I had decided not to compost it (I'm not a plant saver, it has to earn the privilege of being on my benches ), some pruning would be in order. I would repot at a different angle. The plant would be more upright with the biggest stem the dominate and the smaller at an angle from it.

The bigger would be pruned slightly longer than the angled branch.
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First of all to Gill, Rick and Stuart: thank you for replying so quick to my questions. It is so wonderful to be in contact with knowledgable people who also understand this inexplicable adenium addiction. The plastic pot I bought the plant in did have drain holes. Clearly a case of a grower just trying to make a quick buck without caring about the product itself too much. In another tread on this forum someone referred to adeniums from the Netherlands as the crap growers' product from the Netherlands (or something similar). He or she must have had the same experience. Anyway, things never seem to go the way one had planned. I didn't get round to carry on the operations based on the advice above first thing this morning, as I had our weekly shopping to do which also gave me the opportunity to buy another pot for this adenium more suitable to its new size and shape. I should have held back... You were right about the dark end at the bottom of the roots.... Not all as bad, but nevertheless something that couldn't have been neglected. One of the tiny darker spots (not shown in a separate picture yesterday) on the side of one of the big roots turned out to hide a completely hollow root.... Here are the results after today's operation. I'm afraid there's not much left of the caudex, and I wonder whether or not the plant will recover in a nice way. On the other side it only cost EUR 7 so for that price it may have been a good object for practice. Now, a few more questions. When you say I'm gonna have to let it hang for a few weeks, do you actually mean "hang it up" with string or something, or is it okay to lay it on its side on a big plate (indoors, in the shade)? And a few weeks, with alll the big cutting I've done, would you say 10-14 days? Tomorrow I will go out and hunt for yet another smaller new home pot for it. Any maybe I'll treat myself to another one of these (saw a nice one yesterday but convinced myself I didn't need a second one - but that was then...).
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beachplant
13 years ago
I see from your page you live in Malasyia nice!
Knock it out of it's pot. Wash off the old mix. Put it in the pot upright, prune the branches to a shape you like. You can lift about 1/3 of the base up out of the soil if you desire. Trim off any roots that are above ground. Fill pot with the mix of your choice. Water well. Put it in some bright shade and gradually move it to full sun. In your climate they are very forgiving. You can pretty much prune off as much as you like. I fertilize mine while actively growing if I remember.

I am a plant rescuer myself. Got a big yard and think the more green the better. I've rescued some great plants from trash piles over the years. Some looked dead when rescued but with a little care wow!!
Tally HO!

Good luck with your new baby!
devs
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi All,

Thank you for your replies. Yes, I am from Malaysia. I have currently changed the soil mix, trimmed it and potted it a little upright. It is currently sitting on my balcony, where its bright but shady. How long do I have to keep it shaded before moving it out to full sun? Also, what is the best fertilizer mix for adenium and how frequent should I feed the plant? Thanks again for the assist.
Regards,
Dave
jmomcon
13 years ago
do you have a follow up picture for us to see how you have fared? love yo see it!
Jessica
beachplant
13 years ago
Gradually move it to full sun over a couple of weeks. I give mine a dilute fish emulsion every month or so if I remember and once or twice a year a bloom booster. Seems more water, more sun = fast growth. I'm not very good at fertilizing, always forget.
Tally HO!

Adenium Help!!...I Need To Save My Plant.

Comments (6)

Marie Tran

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