Bergit, I also have adenium seedlings, about 7 months old, and I'm not sure about watering, either. The mature plants want to be very dry, but seedlings don't have much storage capacity. So far mine (about 2 inches tall) are okay being out potted in cactus mix, which holds almost no moisture, and only getting water about once a week. It's hot here (90's) but there's also a lot of humidity in the air.

It sounds like whatever you're doing is working and as you warm up you could mist more frequently to be on the safe side, and only water when the leaves begin to droop.

Jen

I also have my in Cactus mix. When they were pretty young I moved them outdoors in the shade and then into full sun after a couple weeks or so.

I probably water them once or twice a week. I have them in small terra cotta pots, honestly it would be hard for them to get wet feet in this scenario.

That being said, It is also hard to imagine killing a Plumeria or Adenium from not enough water....but I bet many have died from too much water. I have a larger Adenium that suffered some caudex rot and it wasn't getting what I considered to be a lot of water.

For fertilizer I've been spraying with spray-n-grow, cocowet and bill's perfect every other week, and in between simply feeding their roots.

Good luck! It is fun watching these grow. My hope is/was that gratification will come sooner than with Plumeria seedlings.

Thanks !!!

- Being a newbie both in this forum and at growing these plants , I really value hearing about your experiences !

Yesterday I found one of the seedlings lying on it's side in the pot. The lower part of the steem had rotted ... Hm ... I'll have to be even more careful with how I water the plants.
There are 80 or so seedlings left, I can't keep that many of these plants anyway, but still it's sad to loose plants because of my incompetence. I'd rather have the chance to give away those that I can't keep.

Hi there, well firstly I'm no adenium expert but I have been able to grow 3 to just over 3yrs old and one to 2 yrs old from seeds here in the less than tropical conditions of the UK. Saying that, I have lost far more than are surviving at present...haha!!
I found the site below very useful in helping me out along with folks here on the plumie and cactus&succ forums. Very young seedlings can take a lot more water than older plants which should be treated as cacti in the winter...very little water if at all, through to tropicals in the summer months...taking up rather more water than you would imagine. Apart from when thay are germinating the soil should drain as fast as water is put onto it really, the faster the better, never let them sit in wet saucers. My last batches of seeds failed miserably, I think that was due to old seeds from ebay, but I have yet to find them for sale as seed or plants here in the UK except for one plant I saw several years ago which was too dear. Here's a pic of mine for you to see. One of the bigger 3yr old plants made buds last year and the year before in late summer early autumn but they all aborted before they developed fully. Our season is so short and we dont get prolonged high temps sadly....but its fun trying!!
{{gwi:545589}}

Here is a link that might be useful: adenium info

Thanks , greenclaws !

Your plants look exactly like what I want to see in my windowsills sometime in future ! - And when you can get such good results in the UK , then maybe there's hope for me in Norway as well ... :-)

My seeds are also from Ebay, they germinated after 1 day in water and 2 days in soil ( on my electrically heated bathroom floor ).

I'll print out the info in your link and read thoroughly. Thanks !

Did you mistspray your seedlings at first ?

Hi there. As far as I can recall, I probably did both!! I seem to remember watering the compost directly and also spraying the baby seedlings as well. It's a very fine line between drowning the poor little things or letting them dry out too much.
Once they grow on a bit and the caudex has started to swell nicely, I tend to reduce the times I water, but it's still surprising how much they can take up when in full leaf and the weathers warm. I find its better to water them thoroughly and then drain them, and re-water when they have dried out.....rather than keeping the medium wet all the while else you can get root/caudex rot all to easily. My last batches just didn't get going at all unfortunately but I am tempted to try again, maybe with a different ebay supplier this time.
Keep us posted on your progress : )
Gill from the UK.

Greenclaws, beautiful seedlings! The one on the far right looks like a champion brancher. I'll cross my fingers that you get some blooms this season!

I planted about 8 seeds and have lost a few after germination, and most look pretty puny. Maybe it's the nature of adenium that most seedlings don't survive long because the plumie seeds that germinated with them are doing far better.

Jen

Hello again , Jill !

You wrote : "It's a very fine line between drowning the poor little things or letting them dry out too much." Well , there we are at the core of the matter !

The tiny seedlings have such fine / thin / fragrile roots , and it makes them very vulnerable to any mistakes we make with the watering.

As I said I lost one , too wet feet I think ... The rest still look ok , I can see they are starting to form their first true leaves.

My strategy now , after what I have read , will be to water each plant / pot separately , after feeling the weight of the pot in my hand.

I've been growing lots of plants from seeds over the years , but I'm new to Adenium , and succulents as such , so I don't trust my gut feeling the way I normally do ... Well , we'll see ... ;-)