Hi Toni. How have you been? I do increase the pot size but only marginally, and I raise the caudex with each re-potting. I only have 1 in a bonsai container and that's still small so I couldn't tell you about root pruning for a shallow container.

I water my dormant adeniums very little, if at all, but I do keep them warmer then most of my other dormant plants. They are susceptible to rot if chilled, especially if they're in moist soil. I keep my mature plants in a very well draining soil and water regularly during the growing season. No fertilizer while dormant and I don't worry about lighting either.

Hey Karyn! Glad you're here. I'm okay, and you?

Are your large Adeniums potted in clay, plastic or another material?
How often do you repot?

Do you repot in a larger size so roots can grow or to freshen soil? Or both reasons?

Since you water during winter, do leaves remain on your plants?

You said you don't worry about light while dormant..are your Adeniums in complete shade?

You also said, lol, you keep mature Adeniums in well-draining soil. What about baby Adeniums?

Karyn, I knew you were into other plants, but didn't know you liked Adeniums, too..lol.

I need to repot, 'not only to freshen soil,' every Adenium, but need the right size pots. Finding certain sizes and shapes are difficult.

Take care, Toni

Toni all my big adeniums are in decorative clay pots and the majority of my younger ones are in plain terra cotta. I keep younger seedlings in plastic nursery pots. I go up in pot size when necessary, when the caudex enlarges. My bigger plants are in 8" to 12" diameter pots and most of my 2 yr seedlings are in 4" containers. I repot every couple years and raise the caudex 1/2" - 1" each time, less often for the bigger plants. I keep the pot size pretty small, a couple inches room between the caudex and the side of the pot. I just repotted some in pots that are too small. They already almost completely fill the containers. I had underestimated the size of the caudexes but didn't feel like going out to get new pots. One is a ginger jar shape and I'll likely have to crack that pot when it's time to transplant. There's pics posted on 1 of these threads.

I treat newly sprouted seeds almost like tropicals and keep them in a regular high quality potting mix for the better part of a year. My seed grown plants often don't go dormant until the 2nd season so they are kept under lights and watered, though much less frequently during the winter. Dormant plants are kept on the warmer side, 60 F or above. Some are kept in a dark room with no light, others dim or natural light. The dormant plants get watered once every couple months, at the most, and sometimes I don't water at all during dormancy.

Hi Toni, great to see you here, and I have just replied to your latest email.
Karyn gives us all some good information in the post she has just done, thanks Karyn! We are all learning such a lot from each other here, its good we can do this. I was fed up of trawling through the other forums for Adenium threads so this is way better. I'm pleased it is a success so far.
As you say in your email, despite being from different parts of the world, our growing situations can be similar in some ways, so any info we can pass on is of help.
Happy growing season!
Gill from the UK.

Hi Karyn,

How ya doing?

You stated, larger Adeniums are potted in 12". What about container height? Are they shallow or long?

For some reason, I've always assumed, Adenium roots are shallow. Is this a misconception?

My youngsters are potted in 4" clay/plastic, 'standard size,' pots. But a 4" pots height isn't very tall. Know what I mean? ")

Is there a reason your smaller Adeniums are in plastic?

Sorry, don't know what a ginger jar is. What is it? lol

Problem is, a few Adeniums' roots fill the pot to the point the pots are bursting. lol. I can't find larger, shallow containers. I've looked everywhere.
In the meantime, those Adeniums have no room for roots to grow. What should I do?

I don't want decorative containers; plastic and clay are fine. In fact, most of my plants do better in plastic, growing pots.

Is the room where your Adeniums are in darkness, cool or warm?
Do you feel keeping Adeniums in the dark, makes a difference? What I mean is, do they produce more flowers? Foliage?
How can you tell their dormancy period is over? 'In dark rooms.' Do leaves sprout even though there isn't any light? Or do you assume it's time they awaken?

Karyn talks to her children. "Guys, time to get up." lol.

Karyn, thanks so much.

Howdy Gill,

Thanks to you, 'getting this forum started.' I for one have learned a few good tips on Adenium care.

Oh yes, Karyn is most helpful..She sure knows her plants.

I know what you mean when you say, trawling through the other forums for Adenium info.

Adeniums are definately in a 'Special' catagory. They're succulent, yet tropical, lol. If that makes sense.
Something I learned from you, Gill, so thanks.

So far, the Adenium Forum has taught me I have NOT been caring for my Adeniums properly.

Before, I feared watering and was unclear about dormancy. The watering phobia has ended, however, I still have questions about dormancy and pot sizes. Perhaps, in the future, grafting seedling Adeniums. In time, all will be answered.

Thanks again, Gill. Toni

Toni I use regular depth pots. I'm trying to train one in a bonsai pot but that's the exception.

While dormant I keep them warm. They don't need any light while dormant but I do move them to a well lit room in the late winter/early spring to wake up. It's a matter of storage space that some are kept in the dark. I just don't have room for everything. I allow the GH to get too cool at night over the winter for the adeniums so I find places in the house to keep them. Some places are well lit, others aren't.

I keep the babies in plastic because I keep their soil moist and I have loads of plastic nursery pots. I like decorative pots for the mature plants because I think they show off they caudex nicely. Here's some ginger jars. The opening is smaller then the middle.

http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=ginger+jar&v_t=keyword_rollover&s_it=searchtabs

I've had adenium roots burst thru a pot.

Toni,

My Adeniums are grown outside in Florida, and for sure they don't have shallow root systems. I had them growing in 1-2 gallon nursery pots and bottoms of the pots bulged out to the point that plants were falling! Caudexes and roots were growing down to the bottom; had to lift them 1-2 inches and now all 4 larger plants are in heavy terracotta planters (12-18 inches)! If you are happy with the size of your plant smaller pot will restrict it's growth... Mine are getting a bit out of control in the big pots with all the heat and rain we are getting now... According to Mark Dimmitt and Chuck Hanson you should treat them as succulents in the winter and as tropicals in the summer. I guess I have it easy considering climate. :o)

Howdy Karyn,

Sorry it took so long to respond. After the last post, I got sick, didn't get online.

Regarding the Adenium you're training as a bonsai, do/did you clip roots?

Tell me about space in winter, lol.

How warm is warm? I don't have an option. Although most rooms are filled with plants, the majority are wintered in two rooms that get pretty cold. To top it off, our 'new' windows leak. I lost a beautiful, variegated Haworthia baby, 'gift,' and a couple Euphorbias due to icy drafts this winter.

What material are your decorative pots? Ceramic? If ceramic, do you plant your adult Adeniums directly in the container, or use a pot within a pot?

I looked at the ginger jars..they're so pretty, but I can't figure how you pot inside? lol.
Happen to have a picture?

In this house, they'd break, lol. I can't tell you the number of times I potted plants in ceramic, 'plastic or clay inside,' only for someone to break them. Either pets or when my son was younger, his 'duh' friends would bump into them, and crashhhhhh

Truthfully, I'm afraid potting succulents in anything but clay or plastic. Is that called Apotaphobia? lol.

Karyn, you said, you keep your babies in plastic so soil stays moist. What about during winter?

Some day, you'll have to post your Adenium photos.

Hey Aggie,

I'm confused about roots now, lol.
Perhaps I assumed Adenium roots were shallow since most, not all, of my Adeniums are potted in shallow/bonsai containers.
IMO, shallow pots focus on the caudex.

You've given me hope. When I repot, how much larger, height and width, should Adeniums have?

Lucky you, living in Fl. Able to keep plants outside year round.
IL winters are usually long, dark and icy-cold, with very low humidity.

Apparently, humidity isn't needed during winter months, but what about spring/summer?

About pot sizes. I'd love for my Adeniums to grow taller, and of course, bloom.
I have 300-400 plants, so space is limited. That's one reason most of my plants are in smaller containers, but the main reason, (Adeniums/some succulents) is I like the bonsai/standard look.

So, you're saying, if I repot in a deep container, my Adeniums will grow taller and tree-like?
If so, that's great news. Unless they got too heavy. Hauling plants in and outdoors is a chore and a half; I'm not getting younger. lol.

How tall/wide are your Adeniums? 12-18" pots are huge..lol.
Any pics?

Sorry for all the questions, (Karyn and Aggie) and thanks for your help. Toni

Toni,

I keep my adeniums "over potted" to give them as much room as possible; want them BIG! I'm very lucky and have a lot of room outside, plus Florida heat and humidity! My 2 large DRs caudexes are 6-8 inches in diameter, more on the single solid side than multiple roots at this time and taller one is about 2.5 feet. I would say that last time I changed pots larger roots were about 10 in deep, hence the huge 18 in pot. I was afraid to trim roots and ended up looking for deep pot to accommodate roots, lifted plants about an inch and a half also. Now that's it, I can't lift bigger pots, so will just change/add soil! When I do it next time will take pictures. I guess if you give your plants deeper pots they will grow bigger, at least this is what I read.
I got 5 baby adeniums, 4-5 in tall for mothers day and plan to keep couple with gnarly roots in small pots as bonsai. This way I will know if it's possible to keep them small here in Fl, or they will keep growing anyway... :o)
Aggie

I plant directly in the ceramic pots. I don't have any problems with the roots sticking to the inside like I do with other plants. My baby adeniums usually don't go dormant their first winter so I treat them as I would any plant that continues growing over the winter and the plastic pots are cheap. They are too small to start trying to show off the caudex for a few years anyway so why bother investing in a ceramic pot.

I try and keep the dormant adeniums no lower then 60. A few hours of colder temps (not too cold) isn't going to hurt them but temps consistantly lower then that might. Most important besides warmth is keeping the soil dry with a dormant plant. Only give it enough water to keep the roots from drying out and sometimes I don't need to water my larger dormant adeniums at all over the winter. I don't think that humidity is a big factor during the summer. They just like the heat but I do water them often while they are actively growing during the warm weather.

With the one I'm trying to grow as a bonsai I didn't clip the roots, just spread them, but as it gets larger I'm sure I'll have to root prune. With my bigger plants I try and have the pot a few inches bigger then the caudex so an 8" diameter caudex might be in a 12-14" pot. The ginger jar pots though pretty aren't a good choice because you often have to break the pot to remove the plant since the opening is smaller then the center of the pot and you can't get the rootball out thru the opening.

Adeniums can get huge but that takes many years. They aren't the fastest growing plant. Think of it kind of like the huge jades you see but slower growing.