My Adenium bloometh

See it bloom and it is putting out more leaves and buds:

Hooray! Looks like a very happy plant!

Should draw a smiley face on the belly, doncha think?

Yes, but stick it on with a bit of scotch tape, no marks on that lovely little belly! :-)

My Adenium obesum is acting odd this year. I've had it for about 8-9 years and it's always dropped its leaves in the winter when I bring it indoors, then in the spring it comes back to life with new leaves and blooms. Great. Then we moved here to NM and it's all mixed up.

This year it did not drop any leaves when I moved it indoors. Since it still had a full set of leaves, I gave it a bit of water now and then. Now it's setting buds while still indoors in poor light, and finally starting to drop leaves. Normally I don't water when it starts dropping leaves, since it's wanting to go dormant. But with some leaves still on and buds coming...I don't know what it wants in the way of water. We are all very confused here.

I think I will draw a question mark on the belly of mine. If you or anyone has any advice I'm all ears!
Sheri

Mine was confused until I figured out what it wants. I'm giving mine lots of light, now it's getting the CFI light for 15 hrs a day (on a timer) and warmth, lots of warmth (my office is 75 deg F and dry). Maybe get a CFI bulb for yours, a cheap timer, a heat mat. I'm watering mine a few times a week to encourage it to stay in leaf; if it gets dry at all, it drops leaves. That my advice as a neophyte adenium grower who gleaned info from the diferent sites and DG folks.

Thanks, good light is a problem in my house. This guy is too big to fit on my light shelves, so I've been carrying it outdoors on nice days. But that gets old as winter marches on! I'll have to give that some thought, maybe I could rig up a light for it.

I'm so glad yours has gifted you with a nice bloom to thank you for all the good care you've provided!

Sheri, just buy a desk lamp and stick a CFI in it, that's what I did. No ballast, no special wiring, easy to hook up to a $10 timer. And to keep it war, get a $20 heat mat for propagation for Harbor Freight or someplace. Won't run up your home heating bill but provides enough gentle warmth for these guys. I rooted a plumie (check my posts over at the plumeria forum) over the fall this way.

Thanks, that's a very good idea. I also didn't know that Harbor Freight had heating mats, I'll have to check out the local store here. I appreciate your help!

Beautiful color!
:) Donna