Adenium arabicum seedlings - thanks JT!

I bought the seeds from JT (gone2seed) a couple of months ago. I am pleased with the results so far. The photo is of a few of the seedlings, I have given some as gifts and I planted one in a rock with a hole in it - I hope that turns out well.

Looking good Maggi.

How old are those seedlings? How long did they take to sprout? What did you do to encourage germination? Nice work!

You just got my head buzzing as I would love to get some obesum seeds going.

I think I started them in late June. All I had for soil was a fairly rough potting mix - not anything special - I pushed the seeds down into the soil, kept the seed flat under a mist system for a few days - not constantly misting - then put a web flat upside down over the emerging seedlings to keep the kittens off them! Hahaha. I think it took less than a week for a lot of them to sprout. I potted them up into a mixture of 2 parts sifted potting mix (sifted to remove larger chunks of bark) to which I added maybe one part lava sand because it was the only grit I had at the time. I fertilized them for the first time this past weekend with a tiny spoonful of StaGreen (14-4-8??) because it was on sale the last time Ken went to Lowes. The tiny spoonful was the little end of one of those small measuring scoops you get with every fertilizer.

Keep in mind our temps in late June and into July were in the mid to upper 90s, I don't know if that's why they sprouted so well, or if it was because JT sent such good seeds.

I am ready to get some A. obesum seeds started too - maybe JT will have some of those soon ;~)

Hi Maggie, wgen transplanting Adenium seedlings for the first time it is advisable to snip the taproot . This promotes above ground
caudex growth instead of the large bulbous underground root system in the pot. Bob.

Congrats - I, myself, just planted some seeds two days ago (A. Obesum). They have already sprouted. Could you tell me when (at what stage) exactly did you transplant the seedlings. I really don't want to damage their fragile roots.

Charmaine

This message was edited Aug 26, 2008 9:43 AM

Species Nut - At what stage do you snip the tip off?

Charmaine

I waited till they had 2 sets of leaves. The seed flat I started them in had very small cells and the roots had nearly filled the cells. I wish I had known the tip about snipping the taproot, I will do that the next time?

Maggi,I do have some obesum seedpods on one of my white ones.The Arabicum seed actually came from Adenium Ko on Ebay.I made a bulk purchase and had too many for my own use.You can depend on Ko for fresh seed and that's what it takes for good germination.

Thanks JT, I have been watching Adenium KO's auctions. I like that he puts up a selection of seeds in one item. I will hope to win one someday :~)

Hi again, I usually do the first transplant whe they have 1 or 2 pair of true leaves. This allows them to grow a reasonable feeder root system
as well as the main tap root. It will not matter if they are not root trimmed unntil later, but it just means they have put that much more energy into
the underground system. I have cut the tap root on plants i bought in flower. Tap roots are a major storage area on wild plants but in cultivation
they are not going to be subject to several years without water, so don,t need the extra survival capacity. Better to force them to grow that bulk
above ground. , , , , As far as watering in winter to keep roots alive, all this does is reduce flowering and promote rot.
Most plants will flower more heavily if stressed. this has been known by the Chinese for centuries, and it has been a practice there to
cincture, ie. run a sharp blade fully around either the branches or the trunk to stop sap flow temporarily, thus promoting a heavy flowering.
In some western countries the same result is attained by hitting the trunk of grape vines and fruit trees with heavy sticks. Hope this may help.
Bob.

I beat my fig trees with a shovel every spring.
i have gallons of figs more than i could ever eat.
The animals and birds also eat their fill.
I have 4 neighbors who also like them lol!
The stressing does work on many plants.

I planted 300 seeds from my own hand pollinated adeniums
1 was a variegated beauty cloud.
I now have 4 variegated seedlings in the lot!! woot!!

This message was edited Aug 28, 2008 8:25 PM

WOW!

Heres a slideshow to check out for fun ;)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v515/Malestrom22/Adeniums/Seedlings/?action=view¤t=fdd6f048.pbw

Lovely slideshow!

And thus, with time and care, patience and a little luck; entirely new plant cultivars come into the world of horticulture!

Indeed ;)

I bought some of that seed too, and my seedlings are doing very well so far. I am faced with a problem, they are in community pots, and I would like to transplant them. I know that the potting soil I started them in is not porous enough. What is a good mixture for me to repot them into? I have a hard time using barks because of allergies here.

Anything that drains well.Cactus mix comes to mind.The native habitat for these plants is rocky,sandy, desert.For our "keeper" plants we buy chicken grit from the local farm store and mix with regular potting mix.....about half and half.Chicken grit is just pulverized granite,a little smaller than a bb.

Thanks, I can do grit and potting soil!

chicken or turkey grit comes in 3 sizes, use 'grower'
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v515/Malestrom22/Potting%20Method%20for%20Cold%20Zones/?action=view¤t=ADENIUMPOTTING.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v515/Malestrom22/Potting%20Method%20for%20Cold%20Zones/?action=view¤t=SOILMIXTURE.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v515/Malestrom22/Potting%20Method%20for%20Cold%20Zones/?action=view¤t=SOILLAYERINGANDFINISHING.flv
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v515/Malestrom22/Potting%20Method%20for%20Cold%20Zones/?action=view¤t=Finishingoff.flv

Michael,how long have you had adeniums in this mix?I like your idea of using crushed shell but am concerned that this might lower the ph too much.Shell,after all,is just calcium carbonate with a few other minerals.Pulverized,that's lime.If you have had long term sucess I'm going out and get some shell.It might add some needed minerals.

I have a heavy feeding program as well
i use chicken poo, rabbitt poo
miracle grow, super thrive.. lol!
plenty of acid here.
Adeniums are heavy feeders in the hot season and even like rich soil
The dormant / cold season is our concern, thus all the aggregate ;)
Skip the shells if u like, no 'need' for them
I selected them as an aggregate with an unusual shape.
Im a bit of a mad scientist
ill try literally anything.
I have some astounding successes and many failures too.
no guts no glory
Take notes and move forward with what works
If I posted 1/2 of my experiments some folks here would have heart attacks lol!!
i dont post many of my tests for the sake of keeping the peace amongst my purist friends ;)

Thank you for the videos, I repotted an Adenium awhile back and pressed firmly all around the plant. Now I know why it began to rot, I must have damaged the roots by pushing too hard. I am really in unchartered waters right now. The A. arabicum are doing really well now, but I used straight Miracle Grow potting soil with just a little bit of Pearlite mixed in, and I know that they have been too moist at times.

This message was edited Sep 30, 2008 3:57 PM

AAhhhhh,now I have to try the shell.

Arabicum have the unique ability to heal root rot as no other variety except perhaps a hybrid of a. arabicum.
Have fun!! ;p