If your plant could speak it would probably say "I wish I was back home in Tanzania, I miss the hot weather" :-) I wonder if it's just not hot enough for your plant to be in full-tilt growth mode, so it may not be responding to watering, sun or food the way you may think. Bring the plant outside in July and August and you will see what I mean. Adeniums are beautiful plants, but growing them well outside of Saudi Arabia, Thailand, China or Arizona is exceedingly difficult...perhaps more challenging than almost any other succulent species. They simply need lots of heat. X

The folks on the adenium forum agree that something is munching on the plant whether I can see it or not. Neem oil was recommended. I'm glad to have a specific recommendation because I am never sure which plant can withstand what treatment. It was also suggested that if Neem doesn't work, prune. Pruning has been my plan after the blooming stops, but this one may not make it to bloom this year. Thanks for your opinion. Whatever it is, it is small. I'm watching the other DR for signs of trouble. They sit next to each other.

As Gill mentions, the skin of the Adenium is a natural process as it ages. There does not look to be any issues to me with scale. The Yellowing of the leaves is even and it is on the lower part of the branches, which could just be a case of old leaves shedding. Aslo, could be the soil and water retention. Most of the big box stores receive their plants growing in a peat or coco peat based mix. This would be the first thing I would change as it holds water too long and no aeration to the root zone. Where you reside is definitely much warmer than many of us and you could probably use a good cactus mix with added perlite or something similar. I like the Gritty Mix. The only thing in your climate that you would need to become familiar with the watering requirements. They would need to be monitored just to get used to that the Gritty Mix dries back quicker than any fine particle soil will. Checking for water needs is a basic need which is required no matter what soil we decide to go with. The dark ends with the bark looking as it is rolling back a bit. This is from an old pruning site and is normal as the cut edges callus up at cambium layer edges. Part of the issue here is that whomever pruned it did not make the cuts at a 45 degree angle which is best to keep any moisture from collecting at this site. I would definitely re pot this tree and give it a good pruning to give it more stabililty and better shape. You are in a climate that has a good length growing season. The branches are quite long and would definitely give it more strength to support blooms later on. It will push out more blooms after a pruning. Rick

According to the videos I've seen about desert roses, the pots I'm using are actually quite a bit bigger than they need to be for the size of my plants. I'm using insecticide so often because before this I had an infestation of spider mites. Plus a nearby silver dust plant basically got decimated by... most likely locusts. I'm watering whenever the soil looks dry. So about once every 2 days. I know desert roses don't like to be fed too much water. Perhaps I can get small white stones to cover the surface of the pots, to cool down the soil? I'm not sure about repotting the plants either. Read somewhere that it's not a good idea to repot while the plants are blooming. But I really don't know what's causing the leaves to get broken at the tips. I did spray insecticide on the flowers. Didn't realize that was harmful. I just saw what looked like possible insect eggs on them... I guess I'll see what they look like tomorrow...