Adenium plants

[Ospreywatcher]

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Two photos, one of my arabicum transferred into a 9.5" pot yesterday, a £2 coin to indicate size. The second photo is of two obesum seedlings planted 2 weeks ago. Another 3 hopefully to emerge very soon. A new venture for me as I haven't grown from seed before.

[ChrisR]

I just saw this outside our local Thai restaurant.......a few flowers like this one on a plant with normal red flowers.

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[KathyM]

I read about how easy Adeniums are to grow from seed but the first time I tried the seeds all went mouldy. With hindsight, February maybe wasn't the best time to try. I had another go in summer and they've nearly all germinated.

[Ospreywatcher]

I sent for a packet of 10 obesum seeds. I only planted 5 to start with, 4 of which have developed into seedlings. I then planted the remaining 5 seeds but unfortunately I think the compost was a tad too moist as none of them have grown and seem to have rotted away. Lesson learned and I look forward to getting more Adenium and other types of seed in the Spring as I suspect it is a bit late in the summer now though if anyone can assure me there is still more time to plant I will reconsider!

[Eric Williams]

Hi OW, sorry to here of your germination problem. As Rene Giesler one of our best seed raisers always said. ". we learn from our mistakes". My compost contains well over 50percent Tesco finest. In fact I have had exellent results using Tesco finest by itself although this leads to a problem later on as it contains no feed. Re germination now, if you can provide warmth and light in doors over the Winter, I would give it another go with adjustments to your compost. I say indoors as you can keep an eye on your seedlings. Good luck.

[Ospreywatcher]

Thanks Eric, I used the same compost for both batches I planted. However the compost bag was outdoors to prevent it drying out in the conservatory. I thought it was well covered but after a lot of rain there must have been some moisture got into the bag and while it wasn't soaking wet I think the compost was damper than it should have been for the purpose of seed raising. I will certainly be giving it another bash and may even branch out into Pachypodiums etc though I understand they may need warmer temperatures and I will leave them till next year!

[Nick_G]

With Adeniums I soak the compost when I sow the seed and soak it again when the top starts to dry out. I don't cover them nor keep them in a bag. I don't think it would matter with Adeniums what compost you use to germinate the seed, if the seeds OK they will sprout if wet and warm enough. They are really easy. Sounds to me that your compost wasn't wet enough.

[Ospreywatcher]

Before planting the seeds I followed a recommendation to soak them in a jug of water and wait for them to sink to the bottom. The compost I used was certainly not too dry either as the failed batch were planted in wetter compost than the successful batch. I also planted in a self watering Garland seed tray so there is no possibility the compost was too dry. Maybe the seed quality was the problem yet I managed to get 4 seedlings from 5 seeds.

[Ivan]

I found these were not too difficult to grow. Every seed I sowed came up. These were planted March 2014.

[KathyM]

I am reassured I'm not the only person to have had some fail to germinate, they're often made out to be completely foolproof. I think the seeds I planted were all viable from how they swelled up after soaking in water, I must have just let the first ones get too cold and soggy.