I have my desert rose in a clay pot.. I do not water it until it is dry about an inch down. And cut back on water in winter. It is in a south window and gets lots of light in the winter. It goes out on my covered front facing south after all chance of frost is over. It loses some leaves in winter. I have had it for three or four years. I took a cutting alert it dry out on the end put in spot of regular miracle grow potting soil and it has started putting on leaves.. I would love to try planting from seeds.. My cutting even got water logged and started to turn mushy on the end and I cut it off jammed it back in soil and it started leafing out again. I think over watering is what kills most cactus roses.. I also fertilize with mirical grow and alter with blooms fertilizer in summer.

flgrown, I am going to try a product that an acquaintance has been using for quite some time. It is a product called Floor Dry made from Diatomite. The size of the particles is roughly the same size as the Turface, but is much lighter in weight. He uses it as one of his components to gritty mix. Not tried it yet, but got a bag and am going to this summer. Will also screen it. This is a photo of one of my special plants and I was doing usual touch and feel process. Always feeling firmness throughout the winter months. One of the very small roots of the side had gone mushy. I cut it out as far back until no biege tissue apparent. This was done in Dec. and it looks to be fine, so far. The brownish color is from the Elmer's Waterproof wood glue that I applied to it after cutting away bad tissue. This may not be similar to your's. When I found this, I was sick and felt that I was going to lose it if I did not try something. One of the first plants I ever got and really like it. Rick

Hello there, glad you posted here from the c/s forum, you will soon get some good advise I'm sure. I don't think the small plants are DR's at all, I don't know what they could be, but they don't look like Adeniums to me. Is any part of the large DR soft, either on the caudex or roots? You need to check every part carefully, if it's damaged the root needs to be cut off cleanly and allowed to dry, sulphur dust can be applied to the cut ends if they're large, small ones should be fine. If the caudex has soft, rotten or damaged areas, that also needs to be removed, allowed to dry and cinnamon can be applied to those cut surfaces, no brown should be visible. If you find any areas like this come back for further advise ASAP....even before you cut. Hopefully others will add info to help you. The large plant will be ok out of soil for several days yet. Clay pot and slightly damp gritty mix is the way to go for the big DR. Gill

Hi dreynolds, Honestly, this is my opinion on what I would do. I would take this plant home & place it in a warm sunny position & enjoy its beauty at home. Desert roses don't like the cold at all & need plenty of heat/sun to flower well. (Wet & cold conditions will cause root rot)...I understand wanting something beautiful for the office to look at while you work.... I think you might be better off buying a different plant that would cope with the cold in your office. It would probably be difficult in an office environment to give your desert rose what it needs to keep it happy. Some others here might give you some advice on how to grow in your office environment.... Here's a few tips on what makes a happy desert rose. Lots of sunshine/heat/light.... Free draining potting mix (your cactus soil is correct, but probably needs some perlite mixed into soil for an office situation).....Water, then let dry or almost dry between waterings... Do not over pot. Desert roses don't mind being pot bound.