Hi Rick

Yes I was wondering whether it must be photosynthesising through the stem as surely it would have died weeks ago.

I have left it alone as it is in the same tub as the other seedlings.

Anyhow it has two chances as some gardeners say.

Thanx.

Gareth ( England ).

Hello Gareth,

I've seen a few like this elsewhere online, and most (if not all) of them have been ok.

I joined this forum a few minutes ago, and was quite surprised to see someone from England posting about Adeniums !

Hi! Gareth, I have one baby seeding same as yours. I also accidentally ripped both leaves and left only the stem but it has grown round and fat but not tall, so after two months it was still the same no leave come out, so I just throw it away.

Chris

Hi and thanks for your replies.

Yes I just joined this site today although I have been viewing it for a while.

I wanted to post a photo of what I had done as I am sure other people might have done the same.

Maybe the tip on your seedling Chris was too damaged, although I am no expert.

Yes Dragon from North West England I am still not sure whether England has the right climate for Adeniums.

It is possible to grow them (indoors) in the UK...but, depending on what facilities you have, you may need some additional help - with light, mostly !

NW England...not too far from me, then ! I'm in North Wales.

Same climate as me then dragon. I do have an Obesum grown from seed which is a few years old now. Unfortunately it just hasn't grown very much.

I was wandering about a SAD light as a grow light but I had better ask that on another forum.

Lighting is a complicated subject !

I've spent hours researching it...it really depends on what kind of set-up you have, how many plants and how much space.

For a few plants indoors, the best I can suggest is a bulb that has 6,500 Kelvin (a cold daylight bulb) and a high CRI (colour rendering index) - at least 80. Or two bulbs - one cold daylight and one warm daylight, again with high CRI's.

Or you could go for one of the plant-specific coloured ones...but you might get some strange looks/comments depending on whether it was visible from outside !

Light bulbs on Amazon usually have the Kelvin/CRI details included in the description.

A timer could be a good idea, then you wouldn't have to remember to turn it on and off !

Lighting can be very expensive to run, too, but there are lots of energy efficient ones that would be ok for a small set-up where you'd only be needing a few lamps.

I'll be experimenting with a lamp with mine soon, it'll be interesting to see what happens - if anything !

I live in usually very warm and sunny South Texas, but I use a light all winter. My plants never stop growing. I like to keep them growing because growth limits the effect of negative things like root rot, infections, etc. Early on, I read research that showed Adeniums and many other plants will "grow through" problems that might have otherwise killed them if they would have been dormant.

Four foot T5 (6500k) shop lights are a growers favorite. I use T8's but that's because I already had the bulbs, and I liked the fixtures. I also have some cheaper LED panels and they can be good, but the really good ones are very expensive.

If you have any questions about growing indoors, I'd be happy to help you.

Thanx for your replies about lights.

It is moving into a nice spring and then hopefully a good summer here in the UK. So hopefully the good old Sun should be enough soon.

It would be interesting to know how much a grow light costs in energy bills in UK, USA and elsewhere.

I am sure they would give my Adenium seedlings a boost.

Hi Gareth, from combined reading and experience that seedling without any leaves is not going to fully develop. Unfortunately with both leaves gone it is pretty much a goner. I have beheaded many myself and have learned a little trick recently. Instead of trying to manually remove them I just spritz them with a little bit of water and turn the seed tray the opposite direction from the light. The next day all their little hats are off!

Tracy

Gill & Brian are from the UK (Gill being the founder of this Adenium Forum).

They do amazingly well with their plants. Gill, waiting on some blooms, but Brian has posted some marvelous blooms and plants. An inspiration.

As you mention, the climate varies depending on where we each live.

Rick

As I live in Malaysia so I don't have all winter problems and planting adenium are much easy for me because we have sunshine all round the year.

Chris

Hello Gareth,

Energy saving 6,500 K bulbs shouldn't be too much of an addition on your electricity bill, most are around 20W to 30W, with the average light bulb being 40W (or 60W)

I have a 30W CFL energy saving bulb pointed at my plants. Great on a dark rainy day like today !

If you wanted a large, "professional" style lighting solution, then those types can use lots of electricity. Big increase on your bill !

LED lights are the cheapest to run, but they can be expensive to buy.

I guess the final cost depends on how much light you need !

Thanx for all your replies. I bought this batch of seeds off EBay. There was 5 seeds and all of them germinated which I was pleased about. The leafless seedling is in the same tub as the other seedling. So when the others have started growing proper leaves I think I will put it out of its misery.

Jed could you post some photos of your plants as I very interested in the fact that you don't let your desert roses go dormant.

Gareth I should have been more specific in my post the other day. The reason your poor headless seeding doesn't stand a chance is due to the fact it will never have a terminal bud. This is necessary to put growth on as you probably already are aware. When both leaves are gone there is no chance. In my personal experiences some with 1 leaf can survive IF it is able to generate a terminal bud.

Tracy

Hi Tracy

Thank you for your advice and the one about spraying the seed cases and turning the plants. I think I will be doing that from now on rather than my ham-fisted attempts to pull the seed cases off.

Regards Gareth.

I heavily trimmed my largest not too long ago, so it does not look good. I would have pruned it when I brought it inside, but it was setting buds. I have some pictures of it flowering under the lights this winter.

I bought this next one and repotted it the same day as I brought my plants inside. It was October 28th. I heavily pruned it, and this is the growth over that time. The red circle is where I pruned, and the black line shows the growth. I actually had this plant sitting to the side of the direct light because I had run out of space. Some of the leaves are slightly burned because I put it into direct sun about ten days ago.

When I bought the above plant, another very small plant was in the same pot. It DID go into dormancy over the winter, even with light. As far as I know, only Adenium obesum, and A. swazicum don't require dormancy, so I believe the smaller plant is one of those varieties. I'll post a picture of that plant if anyone would like.

I found this webpage to be helpful: http://adenium.tucsoncactus.org/large.html