Hello ctg.....You also say the squishyness of the branches is progressing, that makes me think that when you cut the ends off there was still something going with the remainder. Did you cut back to clean white/cream tissue to get rid of the bad bits? If it was all white, it could well have been from thirst, but any brownish staining indicates rotting material. Can you post any pics to show us what it looks like now? Please post pics of the unpotted roots too and your new mix as pics help us so much when advise is sought.

Gill

I trimmed the branches when I repotted so that the remaining limbs were firm. I don't remember if the wound was white or brown. The branches are continuing to decay. Here are a couple of pics:

I used Premier Horticulture 432P "Pro-mix" BX with Mycorise soil for the Adeniums. It was recommended to me as a good soil for planting Japanese maples in containers. I do add some Turface which is a gritty mix to the soil for drainage. It works great for potted trees.

I don't have pics of the roots because I haven't repotted them yet.

If it decays to graft is it worth saving?

Thanks

Thanks for the reply. First thing I did I checked the ingredients of the recommended mix you used, it mentions spaghnum peat....something that is highly absorbent and water retentive which we don't generally advise using for Adeniums, on this forum anyway. Why the manufacturerers use it in a supposedly fast draining medium I'm not sure. However, it's use can depend on the circumstances it's used in, if for e.g. Plants are indoors and therefore Watering is controlled it 'could' work out ok, if plants are left outside, it may well not as they can potentially stay wet for too long. Adeniums can never have enough inert percentage of material to grow in as they need perfect drainage. What amount of turface did you add % wise? I'm in the UK so use completely different ingredients.

Until the plant is uprooted we cant say whether it's soft caudex is from root rot or not. That branch is rotted though. Is it a grafted plant for certain? It could be that it's just callousing that dead arm over by itself and it's getting ready to drop it at that collar that's formed. It doesn't look as if it's salvageable so it may well drop off itself and leave the lower part clear of rot, if it doesn't and it looks brown you will have to get rid of all decay else it will track down the main stem then all could be lost. Pic would help again when you or it decides to remove/drop it.

The other two branch ends are also shrivelling, one of mine did the same one year and I cut off about 1cm back to clean white tissue and they healed over with no problems, however, it seems to have longer bits of shrivelling. Leaving the bad ends will only allow it to track further back I'm afraid.

As long as there are old leaf scars a plant can resprout from dormant buds and regrow, so in my opinion it's worth trying as you would still have the long portion to try and reshape. Hopefully Rick will come back on this...he knows more than me:-)

Gill

This branch dieback is not necessarily caused by too much watering. It could also be self-pruning of branches starving from lack of water and light. I see it every winter. Especially when I force adeniums into dormancy. Like this:

I didn't mix the soil with Turface for the adenium plantings. I mentioned that I use Turface for my container planted Japanese maples to illustrate that this soil needs some drainage material. Unfortunately, I used only the soil mentioned in my previous post.

The branch die back started without any pruning. I pruned the squishy portion, but the branch continues to decay. I suspect it is the roots. I will remove the adenium from the pot and send a pic.

Even if this one is a goner I have learned some lessons from this discussion. Much appreciated.

Martin - how did you get your adenium to grow lots of small offshoots from the base?

Nothing actually. It's primary a matter of genetics - and plenty of light.

If the branch tips dry or die back, remain hard and the branch beyond it is green/firm w no signs of shriveling, then it should be fine.

If the branch, as in photo seems to be continuing down the stem. The alternative is to cut back with a sanitized blade, bit by bit until you have clear off white tissue w absolutely No biege coloring/spots within tissue visible. Each Cut you have to wipe blade w Isopropyl alcohol.

The branch w rot closest to the Graft Union may have continued.

Best way to confirm anything else going on w this plant is to lift out of soil, clean off and look and feel for any signs of rot.

Peat moss in any form as Gill has mentioned is definitely not a good choice for soil use of Adeniums. Maybe if you live in a Hot Climate, even then most do not use it. Free draining, coarse mix.

You need to rule out all the obvious issues first, then proceed.

Rick

I removed it from the pot. Here are some pics of the roots: