Adenium - Martin in Denmark - Part III
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8 years agoUser
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Flowers....at last!
Comments (15)Gill, my condolences to you for the loss of your husband. My mother passed away in March this year, but life is returning - and my interest in plants, especially Adeniums. ;-) I am glad that you are back! And, of course, congratulations on your great Adenium achievement. :-) I guess, "bud-development" (and actual flowering) is as hard to achieve as it is in Denmark. Btw, you have a marvelous view, rolling hills crowned with trees this way and that! Absolutely stunning. Yesterday, I watched a danish documentary about the famous gardens and hedgerows in Cotswolds. Definitely worth a visit! ;-) Regards, Martin, Denmark...See MoreThoughts on a Grow-Out
Comments (183)Just a quick note. With all of the splitting up of seeds between some participants. I hope that this is being done with cost of seeds and postage being reimbursed to the sender, unless other arrangements have been discussed? I had not mentioned it previous, in my forgetfulness, but this can be overlooked and I wanted make it now. In my past experiences this has happened and could just be a understanding, but if someone is kind enough to share, they should not be left in the negative. Should have mentioned this previous to starting, but I know that everyone here will come through. As I was the only one from Canada, I was not sending out mine and Tracy very kindly took over the organizing of this and her time and efforts are so appreciated. NO NEED TO RESPOND. DO NOT WANT THIS THREAD ABOUT THIS! Rick...See Moreany tips for my adenium obesum?
Comments (18)Marco, Please don't feel overwhelmed. Here is a link so you at least know what Dyna Grow is: http://www.spraysmarter.com/catalog/product/view/id/34216/.html?gclid=CLvomqOlv80CFVBhfgod2Z8Ohw Here is a quickie on fertilization that I recently posted on another thread: Adeniums should be fertilized via bottom watering weekly at 1/4 strength (or less) with one or both of two formulations, in alternating weekly applications: NPK 20-20-20 / 14-14-14 / 10-10-10 for leaf and overall root development and NPK where the P formulation is higher, such as NPK 6-12-6 (tomato food), for bloom development. I use 20-20-20 once a month and tomato food the other three weeks of the month at 1/4 strength. Never splash the leaves with fertilizer ... it will burn the leaves. In terms of all the rest: 1. Get some fast draining cactus soil and mix it 1/2 & 1/2 with perlite. Home Depot sells perlite in large bags. I used to get smaller bags and a great cactus mix at my local florist shop. 2. The reason why you should never use an oversized pot is that all that extra soil will stay wet longer, increasing the chance of rot. You will do best to leave about 1.5 inches of free space all the way around the fattest part of the caudex to allow for growth. 3. The longer the roots are underground, the bigger they will grow. Place a little more than half of that baby under soil. Water in and leave it for a week. Don't fertilize right away. 4. After a week, stick your finger about 2 inches into the soil to determine whether it needs watering. Only water when the soil feels dry 2" down. When you do water, water thoroughly until water runs out the drainage holes. Never let the pot sit on a saucer of water. Usually, once a week during the summer is sufficient. However, it depends on several factors, including climate, pot, soil, etc. Clay pots are great because they breathe, but require more watering. Test the soil with your finger until you can determine the correct watering schedule for your particular tree. 5. Move slowly into direct sunlight over the course of 2 weeks. Give it 2 weeks because we don't want to shock the little guy. 6. Fertilize at 1/4 strength or less. Never fertilize a dry plant. Water one day then bottom fertilize the next. Try to get a schedule going. Most of us do this on the weekend when we have more time. *** Another common rule of thumb is to never water on cloudy, rainy days. The reasoning is you want the heat of the sun to evaporate some of the water so the substrate doesn't stay excessively moist....See MoreI have two Adenium brown thumbs:(
Comments (28)A note on pruning & rooting cuttings: Cut low, especially above Y branching, so you don't have a lot of bare branch on the mother plant. Anything you cut can be rooted. Leave 4-6 mature leaves on the tip but cut off anything below that. Remember, nodes are potential branching areas ... Do not tear off leaves or it can damage the nodes; use a scissor to cut near the stem shaft. Any remaining piece will dry and fall off on its own. You pruned at an angle, now cut the bottom of your cutting straight across. You can leave it just like this or... You can try for centipede roots by trimming off the edge of your cut surface at an small angle. You can try for elephant roots by lancing an X or star * 1/2" deep into the bottom of the cut branch. Apply a horticultural fungicide or cinnamon or curcumin/turmeric powder (both anti-fungals) to the cut surface. A little goes a long way. Allow the cutting to callous over about a week. After a week, dip cut end in water, then in rooting hormone and plant in DRY succulent soil. Use a clear plastic water bottle (top cut off, holes cut into bottom) so you can see when roots develop. Place the plastic bottle in a plastic bag and tie off LOOSELY, so you have air circulation, while at the same time creating heat in the soil for humidity build up. Place in a warm corner of a porch, away from rain and away from direct sunlight. Be patient. Rooting can take up to two months. Occasionally, check the stem near the soil ... squeeze it to make sure it hasn't gone soft. If it has, uproot it to check for rot. You can recut the cutting and begin all over again if this happens. If the leaves you left on perk up, you are on your way. But don't dismay if they don't. Some cuttings take longer than others to root, in which case all the leaves can fall off before the cutting has rooted. That's OK. Once rooted, begin watering lightly and acclimate to full sun as you increase water. Once in full sun, begin feeding weekly, weakly at 1/4 strength and water normally. Although cuttings never develop a caudex, they can in time develop massive roots, which can be raised just as with any other adenium. Here is a three year old as an example. You can see the trunk delineation, a telltale sign of a cutting. No more brown thumbs for you, Kara! Maria Elena...See More
addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years agoUser
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoUser
8 years agoThanks, Phil. Being a retired viking (done pillaging), I prefer "norse", though. ;-)
"Stavkirke"/Norse church in Copenhagen:
Phil UK zone 8b
8 years agoUser
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoFlower Update
Almost open... It's a matter of hours, before midnight with a little luck. :-)
Winter is coming... And Christmas and Sandy Claws! ;-)
Anyone got the adenium Santa Claus cultivar? ;-)
Phil UK zone 8b
8 years agoUser
8 years agoThanks. :-)
Phil, that's a bummer. :-( I love macro, and especially extreme macro photography taking close-ups of arthropods. This jumping spider was only 0.5-0.7 mm big:
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoFlower Photo Update
It finally opened, but the colours are nothing special. Dark pink'ish petals with red margins and a yellow throat with nectar guides: :-/
But it could show off with a nice display of flowers. It has several buds on the other branches. I think, I will let it flower - and then prune. ;-)
Pachypodium Photo Update
The saundersii has gotten noticeably fatter and is still quite compact:
2015-11-03:
2015-11-22:
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8 years agoaddicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoArabicum Photo Update
Some fat arabicums from this years batch:
Somalense Photo
I don't think I have shown you this nice conical-shaped somalense with multiple branches:
Monster Somalense Photo UpdateThis one is getting big, almost 3 inches wide and growing like weed:
Pagan
8 years agoUser
8 years agoPhil UK zone 8b
8 years agoUser
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPhil, thanks. :-)
And great choice of DSLR camera. This is a good value/beginners' camera.
The best HDR (High Dynamic Range) software is Photomatix Pro. It's fairly easy to use, but I would suggest that you find a Photomatix Pro guide on the internet or in a local library. I bought a booklet in Danish.
Another thing. You need a stable tripod and some sort of trigger device (or a timer on your camera) to make HDR images.
Phil UK zone 8b
8 years agoa rubbish effort of mine when I kept leopard geckos with a Nikon d3100 a while back
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPhil, thanks. :-) About lenses... I know what you mean. I am a photography nerd and use expensive pro lenses, but I don't have children myself, which makes my addiction tolerable. ;-) It really pays off by better sharpness, colours and maximum aperture etc - and quality lenses are a joy to handle in the field!
Reptiles are always showy. No offence, but the colours of your photo look a bit "flat", the white balance is off. I always shoot in RAW and correct white balance, colour saturation, contrast and sharpness among other things in either Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. It makes a huge difference! But it can be rather time-consuming...
Have fun with your new camera and do post some photos. :-) Maybe we should start an off-topic photography thread?
Tracy, thank you. :-) No, I have never framed and hung my work. I don't know why. ;-) I shoot every aspect of life, persons, buildings, landscapes/nature or just odd or beautiful things which strike my eye. The last photos, honestly!:
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPhil, thanks. Yes, I am self-taught, but I have a photo nerd friend, read numerious books and articles on photography and I have participated in various public "shoot-outs" in the local area. To no surprise, photography has a lot to do with getting to know your gear in the field (and the limits of a particular setup) and how to use it properly. In my experience, 99% of camera-owners have no idea of the basics. They just point and shoot and hope for the best. ;-) If you know how to set aperture, shutterspeed and ISO and know their implications, you have come a long a way on the road to better photography.
If you want to buy more expensive lenses (or a new more expensive camera in the future), you should definitely visit www.dpreview.com and have a look at the different reviews. Before doing so, you should have an idea of what you aim for. Do you want a "walk-around lens" to capture various situations or a more specialized lens, for instance a macro or wideangle lens?
In my experience, I would say that the enthusiastic and professional line of (expensive) lenses are the best-performing lenses. Generally. But I have used cheap plastic lenses performing fairly well. But top-notch often weather-sealed lenses are high-quality products made of sturdy metal parts and superb optical lens elements reducing the severity of "lens faults" or making them go away alltogether (for instance chromatic aberration, lens flare and vignetting ). Cheaper lenses have cheaper lens elements meaning a higher degree of "lens faults". I admire good workmanship and I like using products that perform well.
I have a small collection of 25-35 year old manual metal lenses, which I still use - on my DSLR. Back then they were "mid-range" products, but they perform well even compared to todays digital lenses:
Pagan
8 years agoI want to be taught too! The "self" who has been teaching me has reached the limit of her patience. I want to go on a field trip with a backseat instructor.
In my experience, dpreview is as bad as STC Haworthia. I just end up with a longer wishlist than I did coming in.
Quick link for you Phil. While salivating over macro lenses, you'll be surprised at how much you can do with just these. Then someday, when you get a windfall, you can buy both of us some kickass macros lol
Pagan
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPagan, nice photo!
I have a fancy expensive macro lens - and my own extreme macro setup. The latter takes photos of insect eyes. 28mm reversed lens (30 years old!) mounted on 125mm extension tubes (no AF), DIY diffuser and Novoflex Flash Grip: ;-)
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8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPagan
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoaddicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoPagan
8 years agoUser
8 years agoDon't be afraid of posting photos here. Photos are welcome, especially stacked photos and HDR photos. ;-)
Tracy, what happens when you press the "Page down" key? On my iPad, I simply use the "jump to end of thread" link or press the on-screen "Page down" arrow.
Tada!:
So far I counted 14 other flowers buds. The flower might not be strikingly beautiful, but the tree is not a bad bloomer.
I want to prune it soon, very soon. ;-)
addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years agoPagan
8 years agorooftopbklyn (zone 7a)
8 years ago
addicted2plants Southern IL USA