Marica, I just went out and touched the stems/caudex on my adenium and everything is hot, like bread that just came out of the oven. Can they be overheating? The pots are on a large wooden tray. Perhaps they'd be better on the porch during July/August. My zone is actually 12b/13a ... we're on the northern shoreline.

LL everybody is watching for roots cooking or sunburn. I would lean towards protection then wait till they are hurt.

It was my Mom's main tree that was really hot today. It's still producing branches and hasn't flowered since I pruned it. I uprooted this one 2 months ago because its lower leaves began yellowing. What I found was that one of the major fat roots was spongy and there was a weird beigish, 'wet-looking' color to it. I gave the roots a trim, gave it a sprinkling of cinnamon, and laid it out bare root (out of the sun) for 10 days.

I amended the existing soil 50/50 with perlite, sprinkled a little rooting hormone on the roots before repotting into the lightly moist, yet unwatered soil. That fat root remained spongy with no visible or palpable change and I admit I was a little concerned. I reacclimated it to full sun, left it a month on the dry side, and only began lightly bottom watering it weekly two weeks ago. Last week I fed it lightly. It hasn't dropped another leaf.

I uprooted it today to check the roots after it got so hot and am happy to report no more sponginess, no damage. All the roots are even colored, hard, and healthy. There are tons of new tiny healthy roots all over the root system.

Can anyone tell me what would have caused that sponginess on only one of the fattest main roots? Could something like this lead to rot if left unchecked? I suspect it may have been soaked a couple of times by overnight rains. It's in a larger pot and may not have dried out sufficiently between waterings.

- Maria Elena

Please share your ideas re: throat color change (OP) and re: causes of root sponginess (▲), since corrected. Thank you.

LL maybe you need to PM a few to get Idea's looks like they missed this.

Maria Elena,

I compare the color change in the throat of the bloom to my Variegated plant producing two blooms, one w a secondary set of petals within it's throat and all subsequent ones singles.

Whether it is fertilizer related, genetic anomaly, humidity?

Glad to hear that your Mom's plant bounced back.

Not sure why only one of the main Haddock roots would be soft. I have had the odd plant have spongy roots and recover. Most times it is indirect relation to them being new bare root plants, change of soil and the plant needs to recover and/or grow new feeder roots. Then the plant can take up water.

I think often of how they would grow in the ground. In the ground the roots are not exposed to the same conditions as they are when in a pot. The pots get hot resulting in the root mass getting quite hot and in the ground the roots could get warm, but if they have a canopy of leaves shading the soil. The soil would remain somewhat cooler.

I realize they like/need heat and sun, but at times I believe that the pots heat up too much. Creating issues with hot and moist conditions.

Rick