Hi Pagan,
I have started moving some inside sun room as the night temps. had been somewhat cooler and the day temps. where not staying as high. If the day temps. where consistently high then I would leave out.
The few that had buds on them probably would not complete and if they do inside then that is wonderful.
Rick

Cold weather already? We all hate this time of the year. The plants have to be inside....no greenhouse for me..

The winter seems so long....even with Texas' weather.

Marie

Thanks Rick and Marie!

Will they go dormant even if I bring them inside? Or should I leave them out a little longer to force them into dormancy? I want them to go to sleep.

Pagan,
I would think they may go dormant with lower temps. and light level diminishing. Last fall when I brought mine inside, not too many went dormant in the sense that they defoliated, they stopped growing.
I would be concerned about leaving them out too long if your night temperatures are really low and your day temperatures are not high still.
This in combination with being wet may cause some rot issues if left too long.

It is difficult to give a divi native answer with not experiencing your situation, can only go by what I would do here for me.
Rick

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've never brought in plants before and I have plants that are indoors all year long. My follow-up question is this:

1. Should I treat outdoor plants with anything like alcohol spray or neem oil before bringing them indoors for the winter? I like spiders, so I do not mind bringing them in for shelter but mites--ew. I have this fairy tale idea that bringing the plants in with their spiders will take care of the evil things hitching a ride. Am I kidding myself?

Winter is coming!

Pagan

Pagan,
I do treat mine and will with the 3 Tbsp dish soap + 1Tbsp olive oil to 1 Gallon of water before bringing in. Will rinse off afterwards, the bring them in.
Rick

Thank you Rick! Especially for the recipe--since I wont have to wade neck-deep in our archives to find it. Also, I did not know about rinsing afterwards. I'll do that too. I have one plant I am going to try to keep awake all winter--the one with buds still on it, for some reason. My other 4 plants attempted to bloom, made it all the way to about 1 cm and then they fell off. The one that is trying to bloom right now is my first ever adenium.

Fingers crossed!

Pagan

Funny you mention Pagan about the one with buds and being your first Adenium to bloom.
I brought some of my younger ones in when I went away for a week so that I did not have to be concerned about anyone doing anything with them.
Just noticed that 2 of them have buds on them. Do not know what will happen. They would be my first seed raised Adeniums to bloom also.
Let's hope.
Rick

Hi Pagan,

I agree with everyone.. Let they dry out before you bring them inside. Even with Gritty Mix. Mine are in the same mix and I will stop watering the way I usually do with mine. They are put in my sunroom, but will still drop leaves and eventually become dormant. Even the ones that I try and keep going under T -5 lights , still drop leaves and some will then get spider mites. So I will probably not worry about them growing under lights.. They are fine In The winter just relaxing. But, I am one who will give a little drink depending on the size of the tree once a month. Just a little. They still have live roots, so I will give 1/4 to 1/2 cup each.. Again, depending on the size of the container. ( because they are in the Gritty Mix, it will drain Fast too!)

I like Ricks recipe .. I also like to spray fish emulsion on them a few weeks before I bring them inside. The fish Emulsion stinks.. So be careful!! But it does help eliminate any critters...

Good luck!!

Take care,

Laura

Thank you, everyone. I really needed all this information. I've done all manners of experiments with my plants this summer but I really have no clue what to do with them as the season changes.

Rick, this budding plant was the first one I ever got and I got it as an adult plant so I can not take credit for it.

Laura, I'm probably going to have to skip the fish emulsion. My cats might get the wrong idea lol

I hope my Rik Ni Ran stays awake long enough for its buds to open! Then I'll probably have some pictures worthy of posting.

Pagan

Hi before you bring in also inspect for ants. They can live very easily under pots with out any noticeable signs. I use Seven just dust around pots and they move on. Paula

I hope your Rik Ni Ran blooms open for you! I know you'll be just as wowed over as I was when I finally saw mine bloom. They are so much more amazing in person than in my pictures.

Kirk

I might add that I found waiting on my Rik Ni Ran blooms to open was way more painful in patience than waiting on any of the other adenium blooms.

Kirk

Hi Paula! The ant solution I learned growing up is to just roll up a newspaper and light it up. Ants navigate by chemical signals and the odor of their charred brethren gets rid of them for at least two months. And I'm talking here of several tenacious species of ants in the tropics that just scoff and walk over sprays.

What I keep finding under my adenium pots are tiny cricket-like things and those bugs that look like capsules. They scurry away as soon as I lift the pots though. Oh! and also, I had several Brood II cicadas molting on my big Hasadee Red which was pretty cool. For some reason they only liked that one.

Kirk, I'm still wowed over by your RIk Ni Ran. Did you ever get seeds from that bloom cycle?

Pagan

Sadly no seed pods. I don't seem to have the pollinating touch. Well, yet, at least. When there's only a few blooms I hate to ruin them with attempts but I suspect next year after more pruning and branching I'll have a more substantial amount of blooms to play with. Fingers crossed!

Kirk