I like it even better over here. ;-)

randy

correct me if im wrong please.. but i was under the assumption that cuttings from either adenium or pachypodium wont develop the "natural" "bottle-neck" type tapered caudex as a seed grown one does.. either way, arabicum is beautiful no matter how you grow it :)

I think ant,cuttings won't bottle as much if left to their own.But if you cut them back to as the grow-they are bound to develop a swollen trunk/caudex.
I have arabicum also and since i dont like like the long branch look for them either..

Keith,

do you have a photo update?

Regards,

Martin

Reminds me,I need to pot up.The pruning did a great job of invigorating the plant. To think, I almost had shaky hand deciding if it was the the right thing to stump it. It was.

Ant, you are correct. Cuttings tend to develop a slightly swollen base and lots of fat, potato-like roots. Growers tend to raise the plant to create the effect of a fatter base but it is really just lots of very thick roots.

Seedlings develop a much more pronounced caudex.

x

Sad to say it rotted on me in March :~(

Keith,

I'm sorry to hear that!:-( It really had potential.

I cut back a leggy A. arabicum months ago and forgot all about it. But the other day when I was putting plants outside, I saw swellings on the Adenium. I guess, it's not dead afterall.

If you guys are interested, I can post a photo later today.

Regards,

Martin

Keith,

A. arabicum was the only one that (1) never lost its leaves in an open-sided structure in San Diego and (2) never rotted on me; those darned obesums always did....

cactus,did you find hybrid obesums to be any hardier than straight species obesums? Cross's sometimes increase that in other plants.

{{gwi:582786}}
{{gwi:582787}}
{{gwi:582788}}

All those 'eyes' look ready to burst forth at any moment, keep us posted!
Gill.

Stan,

I never had any hybrids that I was aware of.

I see my arabicum is developing a larger trunk per it's size than my obesum "Top of Star". I guess it's that seedling vs cutting thing. Of the two which is largest in habitat?

This is a newbie question: How do you tell the difference between Adenium obesum and arabicum and the others?

NellieC

Nellie,

The link below may help you some. Be prepared for major changes in the future on some species names after DNA results are studied. Obesum and arabicum are two names applied to a certain species that will not be the same down the road.

If you have a passion for reading good stuff you might invest in Mark Dimmitt's "Adenium, Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance." I'm usually not much on books, but have read this one twice through already. Mark is both a scientist and a grower with many years experience. It shows in what the book offers to the reader.

randy

Here is a link that might be useful: Adenium Species

Randy:

Thanks for the information. Do I gather correctly (after viewing the link you provided) that you can only tell the difference among the various species of Adenium by the flowers? The other parts - trunk, leaves, etc. - all look the same?

I will also take a look at the book you recommended. I do have a "passion for reading good stuff" and especially when it is a subject in which I'm interested, such as the Adenium.

NellieC

Nellie,

Some species can be recognized by foliage and shape. But as more of them are bred with obesum, the offspring lose some of those defining characteristics.

randy