Thanks for the nice comments. Cindy you are so funny LOL. I am currently watering this one twice a day now to make sure the entire cluster of blooms matures completely. There are like 3 more that haven't opened yet, one is getting ready. I love the staying power of the single petaled bloom!

Tracy

Tracy, firstly congrats on getting Shorty to flower so quickly. So, can I ask...you mentioned you are now watering twice a day to get all the blooms to set....is this because of your higher temps/gritty mix, do potted plants need copious amounts of water to get all their buds to develop fully?.....not read this one before. Maybe that was one of the problems with my plant for the previous three years? I know it began to bud late each time before and our weather wasn't warm enough, so obviously it wasn't getting as much water as during the summer months.

Gill UK

Gill, your previous problem is more likely due to insufficient sunlight and decreasing temperatures. Probably not a water issue. I have experienced this many times myself.

That being said adeniums with buds do require more water to bloom. Therefore you should not let your tree go bone dry. But as you know, the weather in our geographical region can be a bit tricky/changeable and you should water accordingly. Temperatures can suddenly drop. The past week we have had nice sunny weather in Copenhagen up to 77F/25C. But sometime during the weekend the temperature will drop to no more than 55F/13C. The forecast for next week says only 45-50F/8-10C (!).

Using a heating mat, I can probably stop my adeniums from going (semi-)dormant but I will cut down on the watering. Buds or no buds.

Thanks Martin for that extra clarification, it was just the bit about keeping them well watered while flowering that made me ask, I don't recall reading that, but I guess it's a fact of life for any flowering plant? I have the same problem here as you do at the moment asit seems like the good weather has left us both. We basked in temps in the very high 20sC at the weekend, today it's more like 12C, dull and rainy, and it never stopped raining yesterday.

Gill UK

Gill over the winter most of my plants grew to a point of being pot-bound. Until I was able to begin moving things outside they stayed like this. These blooming plants were ready for a repot long ago so the pots they are in don't hold much water. With the temps in the tent staying in the 90s the water is used quickly. So I will keep up the double-duty until their bloom cycle finishes then put them in a bigger pot that can hold more water. I didn't realize they were being deprived until that double bloomed Somalense kept going limp before it fully opened.

Tracy

Another bloom opened!

I really like that flower!

Thanks Jedoba. I love their circular shape and their staying power! That first bloom is 8 days old and not showing any signs of giving up.

Tracy, those blooms and the whole plant are so picturesque. What a treat to have this tree.

do you think this is what is true to the hybrid. Not that it matters, but just curious as I know you will have checked this out.

Rick

Congrats on the lovely blooms Tracy!

Thanks for your kind words. Rick the S1 aka Golden Bell sits at the top of the Thai Soco hierarchy, meaning it was not derived through hybridization. This plant definitely exhibits all of the common traits of this cultivar. The sweet dark pink round flowers, the large internodes, the obvious line or leaf rib, the thick shiny folded leaves, the branches are more upright than other Socos. I was bummed about the low germination rate of this batch of seeds (only 2 of 12 germinated). However I am quite pleased with the resulting two seedlings. The other seedling is busy growing fat right now. Will get a photo this weekend.

Tracy

Update on my GB seedlings...

This last GB seedling is from a different batch

Tall S1 photo update.

Zebkorn , they are amazing! I love the color and form. Really nice.
Tracy

The S1 is filling in nice. The side branches are catching up

Thanks Marica. It is getting fat in the roots area.

Thanks Tracy! Your tall S1 is starting to take a really good form!

My Golden bells from December are finally looking really good. Not as good as Tracy. But I'm happy. The one from October is still piddling along. They do like the hot Florida sunshine.

Cynthia looking great!. It looks like you have a black skinned Soco! The one on the left. Beautiful.

Tracy

I finally did it. My GB got a trim today. I was tired of the up and up.

Update on my GB seedlings. Sorry for not posting for so long but got logged out and couldn't remember my password for a while. Anyways, I lost my silver leafed one. It just couldn't handle the sun and after taking it in and out the base cracked and then rot got in. But my other 4 are going well. 3 of them are a bit naked at the moment due to winter (not that we get much of one). But overall I'm really thrilled with how well they are doing. They are all nice and fat and got lots of nice stubby branches. They are now about 9 months old.

Mine did not survive my "adapt or die" regime. I'll just sit here and watch yours!

Pagan

Sorry I am not in the group, but have good time looking at these healthy lovely seedlings.

Good job everybody.

Marie

Christine, your GB are so big and robust. I like your Dain. I have not pruned mine..

the two December seedlings are still bigger than the October one. I just up potted and separated them.

It's so nice to compare these plants with others all over the world! They appear to really grow under the summer sun. Here are my two largest before a recent repot. Unless something strange happens to our weather, these guys will be under the Sun until about the end of November. I expect to see huge changes. I'll post updates on the smaller ones soon.

I have some that look like they have lighter green leaves, and are filled with tiny "glitter" in the sunlight. Not sure if I can photograph that with my cell phone.

Everyone is looking great! Pagan sorry that yours were lost. We will just need to get you some more seed.

Christine I am amazed by the progress of your seedlings, they are so big! Sorry about the silver beauty.

Eight months photo update. Tall boy is now Fat Boy approaching 3 inches in width. Shorty is going on his second bloom cycle.

shorty has filled in nicely.

Thanks Marica. I am looking forward to seeing Shorty bloom. This time the basal branches are blooming too!

Love Fat Boy. Very much a cutie. Mine haven't flowered yet. Will be interesting to see the flower size.

Jed, yours are taking off with all those new branches forming down lower, especially the one on the right. Looking good.

Here is the latest on my largest.

Looking pretty darn awesome there Jedoba! Might be the shape of a bell! Do you bare root your seedlings completely every time you repot? I personally think you lose some of the momentum of their growth spurts by doing so. I would like to know if you notice a lag or shock after repotting them? Interested.

Tracy

I rarely clean the roots on small plants, but i do adolescents. Honestly, I think I gain when I wash them and move them around. Perhaps there is a bit of lag, but I usually don't repot until the roots are 'bound' anyway. (Where they circle the pot and create a ball)

By breaking that ball, I believe it's helping the plant. I know it's standard practice in larger trees to just cut 4-5 slashes to break the roots. I just wash the soil off, so I don't lose much. But I have never noticed any lag. (Maybe I should look more often?) Nah, my neighbors probably already think I'm nuts looking at them 2-3 times some days, lol.

Of all the seedlings that germinated only two survived and here is a pic of those...The rest were sadly lost to the cold weather and few died in the extreme heat this summer. They were sown on 23 Sep 15. I would call them strugglers because they have only gained some height and hardly any girth.Maybe they lack the fat caudex gene.

They did pick up some height during this monsoon. Few days ago I cut the leaves hoping that their stems may thicken but no luck so far!!

The largest of mine from 10/5/2015 has bloomed.

The next largest bloomed today.

Quite an intense deep fuschia color, Jedoba. Really like it and you know it holds nice lobe shaped petals, which may typically have more pointed petals. I find that I like this shape on my Singles.

Rick

Been a long time since taking a photo of my Golden Bell. I only have one left as I sold the others but kept this one as it was the best of them.

Photo update on Tall Boy

One of my GB baby has produced some seeds this past December and surprised me with this little one...

Tall Boy is looking great!

Nice looking plant, Tracy

Alyssa - Are those planted in pure sand, or is that just a top dressing?

Rob

No, they're in regular potting soil with sand for a topdressing

Oops!! Sorry all, didn't realize this was a thread for specific growers. Lol!

alyssa, you are fine. we love pix and reports on all things adenium...

My largest TS from 11/5/15

How's that for poor technology? I attached them, but they hadn't yet loaded, and then I hit submit. It only submitted the words instead of waiting for the attached pics.

Haha this bloomed before. Oh my memory..

Nice thread.

I thought I'd update here as well. I sowed in Nov 2015 so 2 years and 2 months ago. It's been a while! I finally got a bloom. It's a little plain, but pretty. The caudex itself is really nice. I have 4 survivors out of 10 seeds sowed. The other 3 are half the size and haven't bloomed yet. Oddly this one had significant rot cut out of it last year and it didn't flinch. We've had a cold spell here in S. Florida so it dropped its leaves. It's about a foot tall from soil line to top. Show me yours from the grow out!