So Many Lateral Shoots!

9 years ago

A strange thing is happening with my adenium obesum seedlings that is making me pretty happy. A great many of them are producing tons of lateral branching. From reading a lot of other posts I got the impression that the arabicums start branching very early, but not so much obesums.

So I am wondering if my extra dry, hard winter conditions where I didn't water my seedlings much for a few months has caused them to explode into all of these new branches? I have been pinching some tops to force lateral branching but I only started that this month and none of these already going bonkers have pinched tips. They lost some older leaves and thin and shriveled but now I'm watering them more they fattened right up with lots of new growth.

Here are a pair of Rinoa 'Kiseki' selfed obesum seedlings started last august. They each have 7 or 8 active growing tips putting out new leaves.

Here's another pair of obesum selfed hybrid seedlings, also with several side branches starting. These have 5 or 6 growing tips.

And several of my KO seedlings as well. This one has 10 growing tips! That's going to be a heck of a lot of branches. This normal for the rest of you too? About 1/3 of my obesum seedlings are doing this and the rest (arabicums and Thai soccos included) are not producing side branches yet. So I'm merely curious.

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

Pretty much, Hyn. Some obesums are just naturally rambunctious. I sowed this one in January 2013. It is my most heavily-documented adenium!

April, 2013

Feb 2014

That giraffe look annoyed me so I sliced it off: March 2014

May 2014

Repotted in November 2015

August 2016

....too much? lol

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Comments (13)

User
9 years ago
Hi Hyn Patty, Hmmm you may be right. Your growing conditions may have something to do with your plants branching so well or it could be in the genes. It could also be a response to fresh soil media, have you recently repotted them? I have noticed, that our KO obesum seedlings, that we have grown over the years also branched well at a young age. Anyway, congratulations they look really good.

Rachel.
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA) thanked User
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Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
NOT too much! I'm fishing for information here because I simply didn't expect them to branch so heavily and so early. Thank you. Some of these have 10 growing tips already so I was curious if this was normal or maybe due to my excessively keeping them too dry by accident. Because I do not know, being new at adenium seedlings.
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I especially like how you cut the leading terminal growth much like my pinching back to force the laterals to grow more. I didn't do that to these but I'm starting to do it to the seedlings that are getting tall without branching. I'll keep it in mind though if the laterals lag in growth later.
Elena
9 years ago
Wow those are awesome looking seedlings you got there! Mine are all bold sticks, I'll chop them as soon as I'll see a new growth. If I don't kill them before that. :)
Francesco Switzerland ZH, 8a
9 years ago
Wow they look amazing! Good job Hyn!

Pagan, i also like your plant! very well documented! ^^
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA) thanked Francesco Switzerland ZH, 8a
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
No, they haven't been repotted since they were moved out of the starting flats last autumn, Rachael. It is my intention to leave them in these pots for a while yet until they are getting larger, then move them up to 3 inch (3 oz are 2 inch pots). I hugely appreciate the feedback since I'm new to adeniums. 40+ years of growing almost everything else (succulents, bonsai, orchids, gesneriads, etc) is helpful but I'm grateful for this group for your comments and guidance.
halocline
9 years ago
I bought this one at a nursery, and it was tagged as an obesum.

Rob
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
It looks like the top was cut originally? Is this a grafted plant?
halocline
9 years ago
Nope! No grafts, and no vertical cuts. But I question whether it's an obesum at all.??

Rob

(1 1/2 months later.)
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
I don't know but it looks good! It' looks like an obesum. Likely the terminal growing tip died but that's only a guess if it wasn't cut. Definitely looks like scaring there. *shrug*
halocline
9 years ago
Yeah, there's a scar on the front where a branch was removed.

Rob
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
Original Author
9 years ago
Ah, thumbs up! That makes sense.