Help with Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum)

[Cathytran]

Hello, I Need some help on identifying problems with my desert rose. I reported the plant 2 weeks ago with regular potting soil (before I joined this forum to learn I should have used sandy soil for good drainage). The leaves started to get yellow and fell. I noticed the soil looked dry so I’ve been watering once per week. Do you think I overwatered it? What should I do to help it recover? Many thanks! Cathy

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Where do you live? What are the temperatures and light like in your growing area right now? Where are you going to keep it over the winter? What are the temperatures and light like where you are going to overwinter it?

These are easy to grow in warm to hot, brightly lit summers. They can be treated like oleanders, their relatives, in the summer. They need a lot of water and fertilizer at that time.

But - they need to dry out completely for the winter, unless you can keep them hot and sunny all winter. Without a heated greenhouse, or very warm sunny window, most people overwinter them completely dry at the roots and as warm as they can keep them. They drop their leaves in this situation.

People who need to let them go dormant for the winter do far better with very loose non-organic soil. Sandy soil is not good for them at all in this situation; it stays wet too long in the fall. Most people use a combination of 90% pumice or large perlite, and 10% organic material like potting soil.

An expert grower in Tucson, Mark Dimmitt, stops watering his Adeniums completely by late August to mid September, depending on the year, so he can be sure the pots are bone dry by the time temperatures cool down in his greenhouse. He doesn't water all winter.

I would unpot your plant right now, remove all the soil and let it dry out. I will give you more advice once I know what your growing conditions are like, now and for the winter.

If you find any soft squishy rotten spots anywhere on your plant, don't worry too much. Use your fingers, not a knife, to remove the squishy parts down to hard tissue. Rinse it under tap water to remove all the dead tissue. Apply powdered cinnamon or powdered sulfur (flowers of sulfur) to the damaged area and let it dry completely in bright, warm shade.

[Cathytran]

Thank you, estacionseca, for your prompt reply!
I’m visiting my daughter who lives in Philadelphia. The temperature was in the high seventies, and it was quite sunny that week that I repotted her plant. And I did leave it outside with that warm weather. I started to keep it inside since last week as the temperature began to get cooler at night in the fifties.
I had stopped watering for a week now. Do the leaves stay green during the dormant stage in winter?
I’m very tempted to repot the plant in order to check if it gets any root damage, but I’m afraid doing so may cause more stress to the plant. Let me wait for a few more days and see if the leaves stop turning yellow.
I will take your advice for not watering throughout winter time.
I will keep you updated. Cathy

[estación seca]

They can't tolerate cool weather plus damp or wet soil at all. Try never to let it have even one night in the 50s. It's even worse with any moisture in the soil. If the plant now is bone dry throughout the pot it is fine kept dry over winter in the house. Dropping leaves can be normal dormancy or rotting roots. They are triggered into dormancy by dryness and not by cool temperatures. They don't mind being unpotted in the least. If your plant has yellowing leaves and the soil is moist there is a high chance it has root rot. I would unpot it and remove all the potting mix to examine the roots. Bare-rooting won't hurt the plant at all.

[DirtyCoconuts]

they are impossible to kill any way EXCEPT drowning....

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

they are impossible to kill any way EXCEPT drowning....

Where you live. 50 degrees F / 10C and moist soil can kill them in 1-2 days.

[DirtyCoconuts]

good call..i was being myopic.


where I live...they cannot be killed any way but drowning Lol

Wise to catch that, ES

[JScott]

In addition to what they others said, which is all very good advice, I would like to add my own input based on my limited experience.

In my limited experience, it doesn't really matter what soil they grow in as long as you don't keep them soggy. Also in my limited experience, they tend to lose their leaves in the winter anyway.

As recommended, unpot yours and make sure nothing is squishy or rotting, then keep it dry for the winter. If everything seems in order below the soil, then it is possible that the leaves are just falling off because that's what they do. I don't think leaves falling off in and of itself is cause for alarm, but make sure nothing else is going on just to be sure.

[Cathytran]

Thank you everyone for your great advice!
I just unpotted today and checked the roots and the soil under. No rotten sign and the soil is looking dry.
I see some new tiny leaves growing. So l will not water throughout the next few months per your advice.
Hopefully next time when I post again, the plant will have flowers blooming 😉
Cathy

[WaterWitchin]

I'm also doing my first go-round growing Desert Rose. Mine still has leaves, and as long as it does I'm going to keep doing just as I've been doing. (Small clay pot, well draining potting soil, drench/drain, then water again in about a week once soil is dry.) And keep it at minimum 68-70F in strong light. If it starts to lose its leaves, I'll let it go dormant for rest of winter. We'll see what happens as the winter progresses... never grown one before, so Winter #1 should provide some answers here.