Adenium obesum time again!

[JScott]

Every year, I like to try to take a minute to say, "thank you".

I have the best Adeium obesum I've ever seen, and it was bred by Kim at Fairorchids as part of his Adenium obesum breeding program.

This has become one of my absolute favorite plants I own, orchid or otherwise. I love it's compact growth habit, making the plant fuller as the flowers are held closer together. I love the rich color and bright pink margins on the petals, and I love that the petals are fuller than a typical desert rose, and how they are just a little frilly. So thank you Kim, for blessing me with this wonderful plant that keeps getting better every year.

[DeaC]

That's lovely! Mine(not from Kim unfortunately) is not as squatty. The caudex is more pear shape and tall branches(?) sending out new leaves. It's flowered but tic-toc tic-toc. How do you grow yours plz.

[DirtyCoconuts]

1- stunning and i love this plant in all it's itterations.

2- do you do the uprooting to grow the caudex? it has a good shape to do that if you wanted to

3-DeaC- sandy/perlite/dirt with lots of charcoal in well draining pots. i let mine get mixed full sun and dappled through out the day and i never water them, they get what they get from god

[estación seca]

I've heard Mark Dimmitt speak on them. He's the retired Curator of Plants at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, which is a must-see. He is also very well known in both the Adenium world as a hybridizer and the orchid world as an award winner. He's the co-author of this great book:
Adenium - Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance

Here's what he writes about growing them big and fast:
<i>Adenium</i> Culture: Producing Large Specimens Quickly

The essence of this article can be summarized in two crucial rules: 1) Grow adeniums as wetland tropicals, not desert plants. 2) Reject rule #1 when the plants are dormant.

I strongly recommend Adenium growers read the article.

[Leafmite]

The flowers are very pretty!

[JScott]

Originally Posted by DeaC

That's lovely! Mine(not from Kim unfortunately) is not as squatty. The caudex is more pear shape and tall branches(?) sending out new leaves. It's flowered but tic-toc tic-toc. How do you grow yours plz.

One of the things I like best about this one is how squatty it is, rather than so branchy like most other's I've seen.

---------- Post added at 06:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

I've heard Mark Dimmitt speak on them. He's the retired Curator of Plants at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, which is a must-see. He is also very well known in both the Adenium world as a hybridizer and the orchid world as an award winner. He's the co-author of this great book:
Adenium - Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance

Here's what he writes about growing them big and fast:
<i>Adenium</i> Culture: Producing Large Specimens Quickly

The essence of this article can be summarized in two crucial rules: 1) Grow adeniums as wetland tropicals, not desert plants. 2) Reject rule #1 when the plants are dormant.

I strongly recommend Adenium growers read the article.

That's pretty much how I grow mine. I keep it in nearly full sun, but I water it twice a day.

---------- Post added at 06:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 AM ----------

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

1- stunning and i love this plant in all it's itterations.

2- do you do the uprooting to grow the caudex? it has a good shape to do that if you wanted to

3-DeaC- sandy/perlite/dirt with lots of charcoal in well draining pots. i let mine get mixed full sun and dappled through out the day and i never water them, they get what they get from god

Tell me about this uprooting please! That sounds like fun, although I'm not familiar with the practice.

[WaterWitchin]

That's a lovely one JScott! I've yet to have mine flower, mostly because I've been pruning each year, and uprooting annually to enlarge the caudex. I plan on only uprooting one this year. (Is that the right term, DC, or is it your term?)

DeaC...Mine are in terracotta pots. Mix of potting soil, extra perlite, and a little extra Orchiata bark and a few LECA mixed in. In summer they get dappled shade with about three hours of full sun. Watered weeklyish or whenever I water other potted plants outside. In winter inside, watered once a weekish. I water like a hoya... drown and let dry.

My "uprooting" involves unpotting, then raising the planting depth of the caudex so that only about an inch of the caudex remains below soil level. I've seen several videos of ways to "uproot" that involved also cutting back roots, but haven't done so. Basically just pot it back up higher.

---------- Post added at 09:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 AM ----------

PS I've had three of these from Kim and one or two from DC for about three? years now. Mine have never gone dormant, but I think that's because I move them inside when it starts getting cold here.

[estación seca]

Succulentists use the term "raising the caudex." It's done as WW described it. People argue about how much one should raise it when doing so.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

That's a lovely one JScott! I've yet to have mine flower, mostly because I've been pruning each year, and uprooting annually to enlarge the caudex. I plan on only uprooting one this year. (Is that the right term, DC, or is it your term?)

DeaC...Mine are in terracotta pots. Mix of potting soil, extra perlite, and a little extra Orchiata bark and a few LECA mixed in. In summer they get dappled shade with about three hours of full sun. Watered weeklyish or whenever I water other potted plants outside. In winter inside, watered once a weekish. I water like a hoya... drown and let dry.

My "uprooting" involves unpotting, then raising the planting depth of the caudex so that only about an inch of the caudex remains below soil level. I've seen several videos of ways to "uproot" that involved also cutting back roots, but haven't done so. Basically just pot it back up higher.

---------- Post added at 09:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 AM ----------

PS I've had three of these from Kim and one or two from DC for about three? years now. Mine have never gone dormant, but I think that's because I move them inside when it starts getting cold here.

I'm definitely doing to do some research about this, and give it a try. I already googled some pictures, and I see why Coconuts suggests that mine might be a good candidate.

On an unrelated note, I've missed both of you WaterWitchin, and Coconuts! Nice to hear from both of you.

[DirtyCoconuts]

one can not have too many plant hobbies.

always nice to chat with you J