I was told that ones that are rooted from cuttings won't form the bulbus trunk, only the seed grown ones will. I have mine in at least 6 hours of sun. :o)

Congratulations on your new plant! How fun!

Adenium obesums are succulents. They require all day, full sun, for best results.

Katkin is correct. Only adeniums grown from seed have a caudex. Although the flowers are pretty, the caudex is thought to be THE significant, interesting, attractive feature of this plant. So rooted cuttings are missing this feature.

The link below has tons of great info on adeniums.

Enjoy your new plant!
Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropica Nursery - Adeniums

Hmmmmm my Mom has rooted hers from cuttings.

Yes, they will root and flower, but I was told they won't get that big fat bottom of the trunk. Does your Mom's have that? Or is it just a straight trunk? :o)

Carol and Katkin are correct, you won't get a big fat interesting caudex from a cutting, only from seed grown plants.

Tom

but "this link" shows differently...

Interesting info izhar. So now my question is about lifting. When do you do this and how often? I tried it once and my plants were not happy for weeks afterwards.

Yes. Mine looks like the second and third photo. It's pretty leggy, but the trunk is pretty cool.

Tom, the seeds you gave me are sprouting now. How long until I need to repot into a larger cup and how long until they grow nicely?

Tom, the seeds you gave me are sprouting now. How long until I need to repot into a larger cup and how long until they grow nicely?

3-4 months before the next pot up, and not much bigger that the 3oz cup they are currently in. Keep them on the dry side or it's easy to kill them, remember, these are succulents. They grow very slow, you can encourage them some with a very weak fertilizer but don't overdo it and not very often...ten years to the size you see available at HD, Lowes and most of the nurseries...12-15".

Tom

I got one at a big box store last winter. Unfortunately I neglected to bring it in on one of the chilly nights and it died back to the trunk. It just recently started putting out small leaves, but who knows when it will flower, not for quite a while I suspect. I have it in a pot facing south, against a white wall, so it's getting plenty of sun.

I keep it in sun and water it only when it dries out. I found a good way to stop rot if you end up getting any on the caudex. Cut the rotted part out and put cinnamon on it. Works really well. Dh is into these plants lol.
Our first one when it was little. Need to get more pics.
When you turn the caudex around it looks like a butt :D lol

That is lovely. I am sad I lost the white one this winter.

Here are photos of mine. This was grown from a cutting

The ones grown from cuttings will not form the bulbous trunk but they will form some very interesting roots, and if you plant them in a shallow planter, they will push those strange twisted roots up out of the ground. Sometimes, they are just as interesting as the caudixes.

But take a look at my photo. What's a caudex? The bottom of mine looks like the others, and this was grown from a cutting.

So is mine the roots or the caudex thing?

Julia,

I'm not an expert and I'm not 100% sure, but I think if yours is grown from a cutting, you have roots, not a caudex. Here are two excellent sites that may help - everything you ever wanted to know about Desert Rose (adenium obesum):

http://adenium.tucsoncactus.org/index.html

http://www.tropicanursery.com/adenium/story.htm

Carol

A caudex is those baggy looking roots (almost like fruits) that hang off the sides of the main trunk and not the swelled part of the root just above the dirt.

Click on the link below to see the pictures.

Lou

Here is a link that might be useful: Caudex pictures

Lou, those are too funny! What a great link. I think the caudices in those photos may be authentic but the flowers are TOTALLY PHOTOSHOPPED! Look at the one with the man in the background - same exact pose in the "after" shot? How about the one with all of the red roses? Total photoshop! Hahahahahaha!

Carol

Carol,
I agree, every rose flower is perfectly the exact same image.
But my intention was to show the caudices since there seemed to be so much question to what they actually were and not with the authenticity of the blooms.

Lou

Hey Julia,

What do I know? But it looks like its' got a caudex to me! I work on developing mine by lifting and twisting and training them into interesting shapes. I also have a few that where grafted...basically someone grew out a non-spectacular DR and cut the top off, made a wedge from a cutting like the one your mom gave you and taped it together. I'm planning on trying it myself when my grafted ones get a little bigger...I'm going to take cuttings from other DR and make myself a desert rose cocktail tree lol!

Someone on GW has a great old post on DR's - how to grow / train/etc...search for it (I think it was Pugluvr?)

I think yours is beautiful, maybe try moving it to a slightly smaller pot and lifting it up about an inch or so out of the soil and see if you can continue to gently train it as it continues to develop.

Very NICE Desert roses everyone!

Here's a few pictures when I "raised the caudex" and pruned mine in January of this year...I was very happy how quickly it recovered with new growths and blooms.

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Beautiful display Puglvr1..

Carol, these pics are no doubt photoshopped and he (Mr. Choochart) mentioned it that they are just models but they sell one of the best adeniums I have ever come across. My friend regularly buys with them and the pics he showed me were just jaw dropping...

Note to self----lift desert roses in January. Nice visual Puglvr.

Puglvr - that is gorgeous!!

I would never have the nerve to cut mine back that hard. Looks like I may have to cover my eyes and snip. Beautiful results.

Terri

Thanks so much Izhar, Coffeemom and Terri!

Terri, I completely understand your apprehension...when I did this for the very first time I thought I'd kill the poor plant,lol...This is at least 6 times I've pruned this plant...but only three times that I've pruned it this heavily...most of the time I just tip prune to shape it.

So puglvr, when you lifted the caudex, did you trim the roots as well as the top? I keep mine in the greenhouse till around Feb..should I 'lift it' them or do it earlier?
I am in 9a zone a little cooler than yours.

http://youtu.be/JPSkkrIF0lo

http://youtu.be/INeoGvCkepo

http://youtu.be/QJR7aQgd_zM

Hi Sultry, I have done it both ways...I've only trimmed the roots twice since I've had it (appx 5 years)...I only trim the roots if the roots have filled in the pot I want to keep in. I've pruned my DR just about any time of year...but I've noticed the best time is right after it blooms or when its dormant usually around Dec. or Jan. That way it will have 3-4 months to grow new leaves and plenty of time to bloom before Spring gets here...just what's worked for me. I keep it inside during temps below 40 degrees and out of direct harsh sun when its completely without leaves...so I don't sunburn the limbs...then I slowly acclimate it to full sun once it starts leafing out.

Everyone, how are your adeniums doing? Getting blooms yet? Did you lift and root-prune in March? Hard prune the branches?

I just got back into desert rose (adenium) this year. It all started with one from a Lowes clearance rack. Sigh. Now I've ordered seeds! Heeheehee!

I just love it when I research something and up pops my old links. Just the info I needed! Too funny - that's how I got back to this thread. It happens more often than I would have guessed... I Google a question and find the exact same question... and then I find out it was from me, five or ten years ago. Funny! I laugh at myself because obviously I'm still thinking the same way... and I still don't know or remember the answer!

Carol