can you show us a picture of your Adenium seedlings?

you're in Canada. right?

chris

I am growing them with a grow light indoors. I am from Canada, yes.

This post was edited by clusty on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 0:14

I see you have them in growing in the compressed pellets, this is something I'm trying for the first time with my seeds. Am now wondering if the outer 'membrane' will restrict the roots in any way...has anyone found this to be the case?
Gill from the UK.

first i'd say take it very easy on fertilization.
second try to get your light closer to your seedlings. they're starting to stretch now and are likely to get worse fast.
in my opinion it is much better to grow slow and try to keep them as compact as possible.
i think i'd tear one of those peat pellets open and have a look at the roots. if roots are circling i'd probably start thinking about getting them into actual pots sooner rather than later.
if you're goal is to get them outdoors for the growing season then i think a 4" standard pot will be fine. some recommend square over round pots. i've used both and haven't noticed a remarkable difference in root development. square will save you space initially by reducing space between pots on your bench.

durch,
Thanks for the comprehensive answer.
I use one of those algae fertilizers: 0.1-0.5-0.1 about once every 2 weeks.
The grow lights are fairly strong: 90W LEDs and are about 2 feet from the ground (recommended distance is 12"-24"). Think I need to approach them more? (I have scorched plants before). I thought it was a variety specific thing the stretching (only some stretched)

This post was edited by clusty on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 8:31

I just noticed the biggest seedling has a few tiny roots sticking out through the mos pellet.

This post was edited by clusty on Thu, Mar 7, 13 at 22:14

Chris? How do you ensure compact growing early on? I have my 2-week old seedlings still under HO t5 lights since it's still snowing outside. Also, when DO you start fertilizing?

I wish this forum had sticky posts. For people with no experience with plants like myself, I need something like Dr. Spock's Adenium Care with the first 12 months discussed in detail!

Pagan

don't be in a rush to start feeding your seedlings, especially if you can't provide strong light, warm temperatures, and humidity.
this approach will yield slower growth but it is likely to be more compact growth.

Not very obvious how much light is strong light. So far they get blasted for 12 hours by my 90W LED at about 15" distance. Temperature is around 22C. From what I read, room temperature is ok for growth.

in measurable terms 10,000 foot candles is round about high light.
22C is fine for growth given enough light.
ambient humidity is very important too.
at the end of the day the best school is always the school of personal observation.
with a little attention to detail it is easy to grow brag worthy Adeniums.

Ohhhk. Looks like I am getting around 10% of that for 12h. Would it help if they got more light hours?

i ran my lights 16 hours per day.

1000 foot candles is about right for african violets. it's pretty dim for Adenium.

trick for you will be to grow slow.

get your lights close and keep humidity above 50% if you can.

beyond that the best advice i can give is to study some of the Cannabis sites. you'll fast a treasure trove of lighting and indoor culture tips and tricks.

Clusty, going back to your original question if I may?.....I have just potted up some of my new seedlings into 2.5inch pots. I think they will be fine for this year in this size.....but this of course is with my conditions here in the UK. I know what size I can expect with a years growth looking back at my older ones. Yours I think would also be fine in that size. The worst thing you can do is overpot a youngster, it could lead to rot. Far easier to move them on if you get super growth I think. Just my thoughts :)

I also mentioned I had started them in the same coir based pellets that you also used. The roots had not grown much I thought and the membrane around the pellet was quite tough. My verdict is....I found them OK for starting the seeds off as they liked the moisture they held, but best to get them out and into some proper adenium mix, not quite as gritty and fast draining as the older ones can take, but better than plain coir fibre.
Gill from the UK.

Hey,

I just finished planting them in 4" pots. I made a mix of equal parts potting mix sand.

Think there is a chance they'll flower in the first year?

Here are 2 of my seedlings that I planted at the beginning of Summer last year. They were transplanted last Saturday from the "seed starter" and "peat pots" that they were started in, into the 4" pots and gritty mix. One of them is supposed to be an "Arrogant" and the other was from a few seeds in a packet marked "extra seeds", so who knows what it will grow up to be. The little guy on the left sprouted 3 branches right away, at the same time it was putting out its first leaves.