Adenium obesum advice

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dazzy2000
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Adenium obesum advice

Post by dazzy2000 »

Hi

I grew 10 adeniums 2 years ago and up to now have done well. The leaves have turned yellow and dropped. I have reported in normal cactus compost, 1 JI No2, 1 sand and 1 grit.

Does anyone have any basic advice for growing these in the UK. Am I using the correct soil and should they be placed in full direct sun.

Thank you
Eric Williams
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Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by Eric Williams »

Hi Dazzy, if you grow this plant indoors you can grow it as a house plant, and it will retain its leaves. If grown in a green house as I do, I give it cactus treatment. That is refrain from watering about Oct. The plant then will go dormant and its leaves will go yellow and drop off. I do not water then until Spring, and I can see some new growth. Hope this helps.
Terry S.

Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by Terry S. »

I would have thought that the adenium aficionados would have responded. So on the basis of growing four plants, here is my view. My plants are grown with a fair amount of direct sunlight. They love warmth and are certainly much happier as house plants with some water through the winter, even if they are transferred to a greenhouse for summer. My 35cm Adenium 'Anouk' is sitting about a metre from this PC in a SW-facing window and has its first buds of the year, which will open in about a week. It is in the compost that I use for everything bulbous or succulent which is a mixture of John Innes No. 3 and coarse grit, 2:1 in this case. It gets Chempak 8 every few weeks.

That is my successful one. The annoying plants are seed-raised and probably older than the named cultivar. They have developed nice fat trunks, but have steadfastly refused to flower. I believe the seed came from Thailand so perhaps the bottom line is get a vegetatively-propagated cultivar from Holland because it has been selected for northern European conditions.
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Aiko
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Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by Aiko »

dazzy2000 wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 9:00 pm Does anyone have any basic advice for growing these in the UK. Am I using the correct soil and should they be placed in full direct sun.
Be sure to regularly give them water, also in winter. In winter you will notice the trunk gets soft. This is less a symptom of rot, but just a very dehydrated trunk. This can go fast for little plants. But they plump up nicely quickly after watering too.
dazzy2000
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Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by dazzy2000 »

Thank you everyone for the advice, puts my mind at ease. I repotted them a few weeks ago and I think they are sulking a bit. The trunks have gone soft I didn't want to overdo the watering until they have settled in.
Terry you mention buying from Holland. Is it straight forward buying from overseas? I often see cactus for sale from Europe. Does anyone have any good locations for buying plants in Europe.
Terry S.

Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by Terry S. »

It was bought in a Belgian super-garden centre and just brought home in the car. However it was almost certainly produced on a nursery in Holland and other plants must have been shipped wholesale to the UK. Many of the plants you buy from UK succulent plant dealers will have come from Holland.

No documentation, currently required to buy plants from the EU, but once we have left the EU that could change considerably. Also their are rumours about introduction of Plant Passports for movements of all plants within the EC because of the threat of Xylella.
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Ospreywatcher
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Re: Adenium obesum advice

Post by Ospreywatcher »

I have two larger Adeniums, an Arabicum and an Obesum. Both have flowered. I also have a number of seedlings of both species which I am raising. I have recently started repotting the seedlings into a mixture of JI2 and pure pumice with some grit and cat litter. I purchased a bottle of liquid feed specifically for Adeniums which seems to be helping the plants along. I keep them in a conservatory during daylight hours when the temperature is above 15 degrees but move them into the lounge overnight when outside temperatures drop. I water a couple of times a week and apply the liquid food every two weeks.
Into all sorts of exotic plants but with only having a conservatory I prefer to buy small young plants and miniature cacti.

My Flickr photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ospreywatc ... 070601017/
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