Wendy, They can stay in small pots and do fine. I would pot it up into a bit bigger pot. A pot that would leave about 1"-2" on either side of it's Caudex (widest part above soil line). Have about 2"-3" of soil below, no more. Most of these Ademiums sold in large stores are grown in a coco peat mix and yours looks to have a large fine root mass inside the pot. Also, with it growing out the bottom.

Cut the pot off with a pair of scissors, down the side of the pot being careful not to cut the roots.

The leaves could be a combination of change in light, temps, etc. The yellowing leaves at lower extremities can be natural. They do require a bit more light than 4-5 hours to get good blooming.

Pot into a very fast draining mix without Coconut coir or Peat if you can.

Would be good to see what is going on under the soil.

Rick

Thanks for the feedback. after carefully removing from pot, this is what I'm left with. It was really compacted. Do I need to get all the soil from crevasses? Do I need to do anything to roots before I repot? They appear healthy. I'm going to repot in 50/50 cacti soil and perlite. Thought?

Also..Should I cut this root? It feels a bit firm but mushy compared to rest

Sorry Wendy. Not sure which root you are referring to?

It would be worth just spraying off all the dirt you can with plain water. The mix you mention should be fine living in Florida.

Rick

Nice job! Yes, please wash off the roots. You can take a hose to it or dunk the roots in a bucket of water. Let the plant sit out to dry.

With regards to the root you mentioned, do you mean the discolored root dead center in your 2nd photo? As long as nothing is black / brown, I think it may be waterlogged. Let the roots dry out a full day, then lightly sprinkle powdered tumeric / curcumin, nutmeg, or cinnamon (natural fungicide in order of potency) on it before repotting.

The new substrate and larger pot (1" around the widest part of the caudex / lg root mass) will improve growing conditions. Also, be sure to fertilize weekly at 1/4 strength. Adeniums love sunlight. Provide as much as you can. Filtered, indirect sunlight (porch) is 2nd best but fine as long as the plant is outdoors receiving high lumen light.

All the best to you!

Maria Elena

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Wendy,

When you mix your substrate and if you have some, add a handful of course construction (river) sand to each gallon. Mix well.

Maria Elena

Thank you all for your advice.plant is drying out and I will repot tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

Maria Elena, I do. It have any ricer sand. Is this something that home Depot/ Lowe's would carry?

Yes, it is available at any hardware store. River sand is the course, gritty construction sand used to mix in with concrete. It will improve drainage and root aeration.

Don't ever use beach sand in any substrate .... It is extremely fine and laden with salt.

LatinLady, here I'd just mentioned adding coarse gritty sharp sand to someone's mix and others freaked like that was some kind of huge no-no. Which is weird to me, so glad to read your suggesting the same here. I've run into so many websites saying they use it and I've used it in my succulent mixes for the past 40+ years to improve drainage. I've never had a problem with it accumulating at the bottom of the pot and holding water as some people seem to be afraid of. Perhaps they've used sand that is very fine.

The majority of people attempting to use sand find that the Playbox, beach, fine sand is what is readily available and this would be why people would deflect someone from using it. In most cases it is like a "bad word".

This is something that could be better photographed so that those wanting to use Sand, would have an idea as to what to look for. This Coarse River type sand in many cases is not sold as "Sand", but as Grit or other.

Hope that people will benefit from such info.

Rick

Yeah, I think you are right, Rick. It's a terminology issue. And even with 'sharp' sand such as used in construction, the actual grit size varies by location. What I have here is pretty gritty but still a little 'sandy' and it seems to work great especially with my seedlings. I get about 50 inches of rain fall a year and my cacti do great with it in my mix (though I shelter them from rain from November until April).

So far my adeniums also are doing well with it, though I admit to being new to growing them. I've been looking at soil mixes on a ton of websites. I'm making a mix for adult plants that has a small amount of potting soil, sharp sand, touch of worm casings, but is mostly large chunky perlite with some charcoal. I found Jericson Pastor's mix to be interesting as it seems to be much finer than my own and I know he gets a higher rainfall than I do. His plants couldn't be healthier!

A lot of the Taiwan growers are using mixes are surprisingly 'soil' like. Then top dressed. I sure would like to know what people like Ram are using. I should have paid more attention when I was living in China.

Keep us posted on how your plant is doing, Wendy! ;)

Patty,

I have also been successfully growing cactus & succulents for over 40 years. Not only do I use gritty, course construction sand but I also place rocks at the base of some pots! Oh, no!

Rocks on the bottom is no surprise! Seems a likely thing with many people many years ago. What ever works for you. Best rule of thumb.

Rick

Yeah, I use a layer of coarse perlite in the bottom, but if I run short, then gravel. So, some of us do it much a like.