as of today they reach 100days, so i decided to transplant them already to there next home, i have 11 but the other 3 has been adopted by my auntie last night, didn't have the chance to see there roots, to see the rest of my pictures its gonna be on my post, i don't wanna invade martins grow log....mahalos

Adeniums · More Info

Adeniums · More Info

Adeniums · More Info

What healthy looking roots, Jericson.

Tracy, the seedlings respond quite differently to the light. As you know, some stay compact and others stretch towards the light, even seedlings of the same species (to no surprise). But some cultivars/hybrids are more prone to etiolated growth than others. I will keep that in mind and choose accordingly when ordering again. But first, I need another light setup for the growing seedlings. ;-)

Actually, you can see two A. somalense seedlings where the pen is resting. :-) A. somalense has narrow leaves. Both seedlings are branching out.

did your vitopod arrived already martin? i saw that from long time ago, its a stack-able greenhouse,

Unfortunately no. :-( Last Friday, I got an e-mail from the seller saying it was out of stock. But hopefully it will arrive sometime this week.

And yes, it's a fancy stackable and sturdy miniature greenhouse but quite expensive. I had to pay almost 100 USD (94 EUR) for it! I will use it as a shelter for some of my smaller plants prone to rot, for instance Adeniums. So far, the summer in Denmark has been disappointing. Very. Since the beginning of May, we have only had 7 days with day temperatures around and above 77 F degrees (25 C). Add to this changeable night temperatures ranging from 40 F to 68 F (5-20 C) and lots of overcast days. Try growing Adeniums under these conditions. :-( Hopefully the Vitopod will raise the temperature inside to at least 77 F on cloudy days. Nothing grows at temperatures below 77 F.

if you have a free room in your house, use that as a grow room, thats gonna be a big help for you, your adeniums gonna have a lots of dormancy with your weather, when i was in the army, i got stationed in virginia beach, usa, thats my very first 4 seasons and im not use to it lol, im a tropical person, 70F for me is cold already lol

Jericson Pastor, I have free room inside, but my east-facing windows won't let in sufficient direct sunlight during the day. Putting them outside solves the light problem. To solve the problem with low day temperatures outside, I will have to use a greenhouse or something equivalent, like a Vitopod. On a sunny day like this with temperatures of 68-70 F (20-21 C), temperatures in a miniature greenhouse will quickly rise to minimum 77 C. At midday, maybe even 85 F (30 C). You can actually grow cacti and other succulents successfully in Denmark. ;-)

I want to share a photo of my tiny "bulbs", Pachypodium horombense. One of them (the one in the front to the left) has begun branching out. I didn't think, they would survive their first weeks, but they sure did. :-) They are quite taken by the light bulbs and are fattening up nicely.

I,know what you mean, Jericson. I grew up in North Florida. 3, maybe 4 seasons. The 30 years I spent in New York was torture. I've been back in SW Florida for 11 years. I am enjoying the subtropical warmth and light. I refuse to go back north except for dire reasons.

I love seeing "house plants" grow wild here.

Martin, The P. horombense are neat looking plans. I also like the Pachy's. I only have the P. Saundersii & P. geayi. Had P. decaryi, P. brevicaule.

Yours are turning out very nice.

Rick

Rick, thanks. I have grown Pachypodiums before - ten years ago. Among others, I had a large specimen of P. brevicaule, but it never settled in. I find the particular species difficult to grow, at least plants bought as mature plants. I could be wrong, if I raised them from seeds myself.

Any thoughts on that?

Question for Rick - did your P. saundersii leaves maintain the rippled edges such as Martin's seedlings above?

Tracy

Martin, I did not make out too well with my brevicaule. It was wonderful for a year or two and then I did something and it rotted. I have heard that they can be finicky to grow, but maybe just a learning curve. The sofience, lamerii and decaryi seeds that I started where great until I put them outside and I believe now that the grit I had on top of the soil got too hot and effected the base of stem. Should have had in less sun or atleast misted the grit to stop from burning the base of stems. Live and learn.

Tracy, my saundersii does not have the slightly folded leaves with the wave to them. In fact at this time it does not have many leaves. I have never had this plant outside and I thought this was the year. I made the transition slowly, but it was not happy. Just starting to leaf out now.

Rick

Tracy, I have grown P. saundersii before. The rippled edges of leaves are probably a genetic thing and not due to diseases or horticultural practices. I have had larger plants with and without the conspicuous leaves, but the leaves of the species are predominantly only slightly "wavy"/folded or not at all. I guess, you just have to try sowing some seeds. :-)

Rick, my large P. brevicaule was fine for a year or two like your plant, but it slowly withered away. It didn't rot. I think that the species is difficult to establish in pots, if the frail root system is almost gone/dried up after being shipped. It's like Dioscoreas. For some reason, they can refuse to grow roots, even though they put out new leaves.

If I once again choose to grow them, I will never let the substrate go bone-dry for weeks, not even when the plants are dormant.

Martin, it must have been difficult to not have such wonderful specimens as I remember you posting photo's of previous. Atleast you have the tools to have this again sometime. Looking forward to seeing them.

Rick

This rubber band - preventing the lid of my light box from moving downwards - snapped at some point during the day:

Consequence? A lot of fried Adeniums. :-( Never trust a rubber band. ;-) I guess, around 50% of the seedlings now have yellowish leaves, a sunburn. Some even got "decapitated", but all in all this is just a (-nother) small setback with stunted growth. ;-)

OUCH! That hurts!

Ouch.

Such a cruel method to thin your herd, Martin. Haven't you heard of natural selection? ;)

Tracy

Tracy, yes, but I thought, I would do my own "selection" replicating natural disasters. ;-) Most of the seedling are okay. The Pachypodium saundersii seedlings got a slight sunburn with blackish leaves. :-/

Martin, you are soooo funny!

No! (GASP) Not the P saundersii. Can you share your source for those seed?

Tracy

Sneak a photo of my two Pachypodiums. Not the best specimens.

hope you do not mind me adding these, Martin.

Rick

Tracy, the P. saundersii seedling are fine, despite the scorched leaves. :-) The seeds are from Köhres Kakteen in Germany (link), a reliable seller/seed source.

Rick, did you grow them from seeds yourself? :-)

Martin, I did not grow these ones. There is a fella close by that has an absolutely wonderful nursery for Cacti & Succulents. He trades me Adenium seedlings for other plants.

i made an error with these two and especially the P. saundersii. I up potted it and should have left it in a smaller pot. It had a very nice compact habit and I thought I would give it more room. It proceeded to grow vertically, despite my efforts, even after a prune.

Martin, the Köhres Kakteen is a wonderful, isn't. I have viewed their list, but have yet to order anything.

Rick

Wow, pretty amazing Rick! I have to ask, how do you up pot these guys? Using kevlar gloves and tongs?

Thanks for the link, Martin. I will have to look at getting some of these seed to try for myself. The quantities on Köhres Kakteen show a listing as "Portion", which I can only assume are about 5 seeds? I saw an adult plant of P. horombense yesterday at the plant show and these are so incredible!

Tracy

Tracy, "portion" means quantity, meaning 10 seeds (10K) which is default. But normally you have the option to order 100 (or even 1000 seeds, if I recall correctly).

And yes, P. horombense can be quite showy. That is why, I will try growing this species again. ;-)

Rick, some people say that "under-potting" succulents in culture will channel more energy into caudex development, simply because root development is restricted and the need for more water storage capacity has to be "solved" in another way. This strategy may be true for some species, but I am not entirely convinced of the general assumption. For instance, Adeniums will be stunted if kept in too small contrainers. They need ample root space, if you want to grow them fast.

This A. multiflorum has been pruned and pinched several times and root-bound for the past 9 or 10 years! One of my experiments to restrict growth/"bonsai" Adeniums. It certainly worked out well. ;-)

Marin, I think that the latter (insufficient light) and possibly fertilizer is much of the problem.

The Lamerii has done well the last two years that I have had outside all summer and so I decided to wing it with the saundersii .

Rick

Martin, I love your multiflorum.

Photo update

7.5 weeks old Adenium arabicum seedlings (in the front row):

Pachypodium photo update

P. horombense (I like the "bulbs" a lot):

P. saundersii (recovering after sunburn. The previous black spots of the leaves are almost gone :-) ):

And because seeds are like chips, you can't have just one kind, I've ordered the following. And it is all your fault, Martin ;)

• Pachypodium Saundersii Seeds
• Pachypodium Rosulatum Seeds
• Pachypodium Lamerei Seeds
• Pachypodium Horombense Seeds
• Tylecodon Paniculatus Seeds

Martin,

Those seedlings Arabicum, P. saundersii & P. horombense are so cool. I love the P. horombense with their long leaves and you can see the spines starting.

I wish I could remember who it was Martin. Someone formed a thread and was asking about Pachypodiums starting and what differences in growth, i.e. leaves, spines, etc.. I told them what I knew from a one time starting some of the different species, but you would have been able to give them more in depth clarification.

Wonderful plants.

Rick

Tracy,

You are funny, hilarious and I am so glad that I am not the only one (I know there are many more here) that goes wild when ordering these seeds.

Good one you.

just looking through a log book I had started many years ago and kept all of the seed packs taped to pages with seller, date, germination, etc. to see what photo's of seedlings I might add to the Adenium_Ko thread. Didn't realize that I had received that many seeds. All I can say is that it is a good thing I do not have them still.

Rick

I've considered starting a log. Do you find that the log book has helped you at all?

Martin the P. horombense are even cooler looking than the P. saundersii. I am looking forward to see how these fare for me.

Tracy,

I keep a hand-written log in a comp. book of whatever I have done in my garden. The notebook is divided into sections for tracking different plants. Sometimes, though, I forget to write things down or leave out details. I also have "to do" lists by calendar dates to remind me to fertilize, take pictures, and so forth.

-Kadie

Yes, the log book is a great source and it is quite wonderful to look back and see what results or progress you made. I have even kept a log as to when I watered, with what fertilizer, temperature. This has helped me for when we went away and I could look back and see so that I could make sure the plants I wanted watered got it and those I did want done where left untouched by person staying here. After Gill's experience, it got me even more aware of what to be aware of when leaving your plants with someone that does not really know.

Rick

Thanks for the comments. :-)

And now to something different...

I forgot about my single Euphorbia obesa seedling. You know the small bulb from outer space? ;-) I reused some potting mix for the Adeniums, and suddenly I am experiencing an Euphorbia invasion! They popping up everywhere. ;-)

Another intruder in the background. The largest one in the middle. And look to the left, an unknown seedling. It looks like an Adenium, but I could be wrong. I will follow it closely, then. ;-)

Tracy, I am truely sorry, that my "fat-footed" and spined seedlings got your hooked/addicted to Pachypodiums and seed sowing. ;-) You know, you can always ship your future Pachypodium seedlings to me, if the new task as a Pachypodium grower becomes a burden to you. ;-)

And the "leftovers" from the days as a serious plant collector: ;-)

The Mammillaria-cactus is 30-35 years old. Got it when I was a wee boy. ;-) Any suggestions on the tree-like plant? ;-)

Very nice, Martin! Are you referring to the tree-plant in the back in the clay pot? Some closer pictures would be helpful here ;)

Also thanks for the advice about the log book. Mine will be computerized though so I can access it from anywhere of course.

P. S. Martin I realize I cannot blame you for my weakness to cute objects that grow. Even your tiny intruder seedlings are a great demonstration of the "magic" that takes place when you plant a tiny seed in some soil and wait for the response.

Martin...I don't mean to hijack this discussion, but you mentioned you are also growing Bursera...?

Would love to see those.

I have a Bursera Fagaroides which I've been trying to encourage branches on - all is going well at the moment with that (and I have several rooted cuttings from it because I couldn't throw away what I cut off !) When I bought it, it had been left to just grow up and up...no branches, so I've been working with it for a couple of years. It's looking a bit nicer now, but will take a few more years to get it looking how I'd like.

Dragonadeniums, well, I used to grow some Burseras and Commiphoras. I once had a nice Bursera specimen bought from a plant collector:

B. fagaroides is quite easy to grow (or at least keep alive ;-) ), but I find the species difficult to train as a bonsai. For some weird reason, my pruning never succeeds. The plants never grow branches where I want them to.

I would like to see your plant. :-)

My two Bursera fagaroides:

Btw, things aren't going my way. I never received the Vitopod/propagator, and today I received 100 (too) small "net containers" instead of 100 round pots, ordered two days ago. >:-( The bottom of the net contrainers is virtually 90% non-existent. They don't go well with gritty soil mix, eh?

Today, I wanted to transplant a whole tray of Adenium seedlings, but now I have to postpone it...

Sorry to hear about your bad luck streak, Martin. I was hoping to follow your results closely with the Vitopod.

I for one can attest to the net pots being the messiest! Even just watering them makes a mess. I am currently experimenting with some A. obesum seedlings in net pots. They all got a little crispy when I was traveling south earlier this month due to not being watered. Hopefully they will bounce back soon. Your luck will turn around tomorrow. Then you can repot your seedlings and take pictures for us all ;) I am hoping to repot my 16 week old A. obesum and A. arabicum seedlings this weekend.

Tracy

Martin, your Bursera look lovely ! I'm quite envious ! :)

I would love to grow some from seed. Maybe when I've got some space...I've just put 8 pots of rooted cuttings of P. Afra on ebay as I have too many ! If they find homes, I'll get my heated propagator out again, and maybe try some Commiphora too. I'd really like to try Boswellia, but it's hard to get seeds (and even harder to get them to germinate !)

My Bursera is very much a work in progress. When I got it, it had no branches and was about 3 feet long ! The first 6 or so inches was maybe an inch thick - it then tapered off like a whip. It had lost almost all of the few leaves it had whilst in transit (I imported it from Spain !)

It's shorter now, and thicker, and has developed some branches - it really is pot luck where they appear - but for me, any branch is welcome considering what it looked like when I got it !

As they are quite rare, I try to root everything I cut off it, and have had some success with that. I'll get some photos later today, or over the weekend.

This thread will be continued in "Adenium Garden - Martin in Denmark - Part II". It's already too long...