Adenium Obesum

ADENIUM OBESUM

OVERVIEW

Adenium also known as desert Rose is a slow growing but long lived succulent plant.  The attractive flowers of adenium and their interesting bottle shaped trunk make them desirable for the garden. Adeniums are easy to grow plant and thrive in humid tropical climates like India, Thailand and the Philippines. As Hardy and tough plants adenium needs very little care, the only way to kill one of these plants is to over water or leave it exposed to low temperature. If a few simple precautions are taken, Adenium also thrives in cool wet climates.

BASIC CONCEPTS : Adeniums are basically long lived succulent perennials from tropical regions . They are not, generally, desert plants . Moreover, the cultivars and even species in cultivation today represent a “domesticated”  selection- only clones that could take the wetter condition under cultivation survived with the result that remaining plants are even less happy with arid conditions than wild populations.

MEDIA

Adeniums typically need a very well aerated yet moisture retentive media for the best growth. However media selection must be made in conjunction with the existing watering practices or the letter must be modified to suit the media selected. For example if your system is to water frequently use a media with low water retention.

CONTAINERS

Container shape tends to be more important in determining growth. We find that early growth is better in deeper pots  compared to half pots or bowls. More mature plants are right with shallow pots.

WATERING

Proper watering is the key to keep your adenium healthy. Frequency of watering depends on the container and soil mix used to plant and of course temperature. Adenium needs more water when plants are actively growing and hot summer days. During monsoon and winter water requirement is less as soil retains moisture for a longer period due to slow absorption by plants.

ENVIRONMENT

Adeniums grow best under warm moist and sunny conditions

NUTRITION

The secret to adenium nutrition is little and often. Because the plant, given ideal conditions, can grow surprisingly fast, it can utilise a lot of nitrogen and other nutrients. On the other hand, excessively fast growth is soft and susceptible to rot as well as aesthetically  unappealing.

PRUNING

Usually pruning is done to reduce overall plant size, or to selectively remove branches to “sculpt”  a more perfect plant.

REPOTTING

Adeniums responds well to annual or biannual repotting. Spring is the best time for repotting- this is when fresh growth is just beginning and rapid root growth will support vigorous shoot growth.