Hi Maria Elena, I agree with you, there are benefits to growing cuttings. We recently were given a cutting of a dark purple flower/that we didn't have, that we hope might come in handy for hand pollinating.

****I hope you don't mind me adding a few more reasons to grow cuttings to your list.*** Rachel :)

+ Cuttings can be a extra source of pollen (particularly if the mother plant is not in flower at the time you need the pollen). We do like to hand pollinate some of our plants each year.

+ Multiple cuttings of 'different coloured' flowers look really nice flowering together in the same pot. (Eg - bonsai forest look)

+ You can use your cuttings to grow seed pods, the same way you would on the mother plant.

Maria Elena. I do love cuttings, they made a good bonsai root system (nebari). You will have plenty scions from it to graft on root stocks.

Superb! Thank you for the added information ... So helpful!

Wow Stuart, your 2year old cuttings are looking great already. Did you do any root training with them???

Last Spring my husband & I planted 3 cuttings of 3 different coloured double flowers together in one pot. The stems have thickened considerably and we have had to repot them twice this growing season as they have grown so many roots. It is Autumn here now (Australia) & I can't wait till Spring (September) to see what they look like under the soil. We also have more cuttings planted a couple of weeks ago that would eventually look nice as a forest style bonsai. Rachel :)

I can't throw away cuttings after pruning either. They seem to root easily, and they will make nice plants for presents (unless they grow like Stuart's: then I would definitely keep them!).

Ouuu.....I see a new experiment for that season ;-)

This is the root system of our 3-yr-old cutting:

It measures 6" at the widest point. That is the same width of my largest 1-yr-old seedling (yearling).

For comparison, here is the same plant last year:

Maria Elena

Maria Elena, that's a pretty impressive root system. Will you now pot this plant higher to show off some of those roots or will you keep them under the soil for a bit longer??? Rachel

Will begin lifting an inch at a time with each repot.

I have actually collected a lot of photos of adenium bonsai started from cuttings that eventually develop thickened trunks much like a lean caudex. It just takes a good long while but they are gorgeous. I like them much better, like Stuart's bonsai'd adenium by Anucha Hiransirilak.

So while it may never form a big FAT caudex I think with patience you can develop some seriously superior plants from them. It really depends on what you want. With my interest in bonsai, I am more interested in the obesums in particular looking like trees more than looking blimped out and fat.

Your cutting looks amazing Maria Elena. Never thought a cutting could develop such nice roots. I have so fare just once pruned a plant. I cut away some of the caudex to produce a centipede plant. I cut away most of the caudex except for the last two roots on it. After pruning I realized, that I might cut away "all" of the caudex :-/. That plant is now starting to produce new foliage and I cant wait to see the root system it developed. After seeing your plant, I'm hoping for some nice looking roots. Wish me luck! :-)

Rachel. I didn't do any root training on cuttings but next time I will

Francesco ... I just HAD to do the same thing on a seedling. The entire root system rotted from so much rain. Sending good vibes your way for fabulous rooting! Please keep us posted.

Stuart ... Anucha's tree doesn't look like a cutting at all. Amazing. I wonder how that's done. Cuttings usually have a clear delineation of the trunk bark at the bottom where the roots come in. BTW, what substrate are you using in your bonsai pots? Do you get a fair share of rot due to excessive rains in your region? Please share your best practices on the topic.

Maria Elena

Maria Elena. Anucha's tree is an Arabicum or Thai Soco with root training.

Rot due to excessive rains depends on the soil mix.

I'm using sifted river sand, fine gravel, coconut fiber and potting soil.

A layer of Coconut fiber at the bottom and the mix on it.

Thank you, Stuart. When I say excessive rain I mean a drenching downpour every single night for almost 2 weeks. It may just be an isolated incident. I only found one damaged seedling but am seriously considering making some modification to what I currently have. These drenching downpours occur often ... So does drought.

My current mix is about 1 part course river sand, 1 part potting soil, 1 part pine bark, 2 parts perlite. It's quick draining but stayed wet due to all the rain. The pots are usually completely dry within 2-3 days, depending on the size. I'm thinking of adding gravel. Something like 1/2 part gravel to 1 part current mix. What do you think?

I think your current mix is fine. I do water everyday no matter if the soil is dry or not, except when it's raining.

Ugh, you have no way to shelter your plants against weeks of rain? I don't think it's going to matter what kind of mix you use, even straight gravel, isn't going to be enough to help if you get rain every day for weeks.

Whew ... I have to admit I was NOT looking forward to all that repotting ... again! I may muster up the strength to do it gradually anyway just to check everything. Maybe some gravel or lava rock? I am not watering (or feeding) them at all this week!

I've tried bringing them all in out of the rain to give them a break, but that's just too much ... There are too many. Their yellowed lower leaves told me they didn't appreciate it either.

I tried putting up a tarp and the wind blew it into the neighbor's yard. I tried a temporary drape and they were cooking under all this humidity ... and still got wet!

Soooo ... survival of the fittest; eat or be eaten. I'll keep putting up the tarp ... My neighbors kids love all the commotion.

Stuart, I only water small seedlings daily, actually mist 3x daily. It's super humid here all the time. The 3+ month olds only get watered 1x week Jan - April and 2x week May - Dec. If it rains, I only fertilize on Saturday mornings. This was determined by sticking my finger in the soil ... dry 1" down for small pots, 2-3" down for larger pots.

Maria Elena

My deepest sympathies. I hope it works out. Super humid here too and I usually get about 50 inches of rainfall a year (drought last year though) so it's been my worry too. Most of mine are small yet and I hope to have at least a cold frame hoop house up later this year to shelter them against hurricane season.

Patty,

No sympathies necessary. That seedling was my first root rot since Jan 2016, when I first began growing these. I chopped off 1/2 the caudex and pruned most of its leaves. It's sitting atop dry soil, hopefully rooting. If not, I have 11 more just like it.

Unfortunately, this is not my home and I am unable to make even the most minute modification. I am only here as Mom's caregiver 24/7, with my principal focus on her quality of life. My father is no piece of cake and gives new & super-extended meaning to the phrase, "You can't go home again!" God forbid I attach anything to a fence or make a recommendation!

I am living a life not my own for now, for the sake of my very beloved mother, who is suffering from vascular dementia. She is very stable now that I'm here, so i do it joyfully & lovingly. Growing C&S is one of several hobbies I've always engage in, now to a larger degree in order to remain sane. This, too, shall pass.

Maria Elena

Ugh, understood. Soooo glad to own my own home. That is very responsible and very generous of you to be looking out for your mother. Both of my parents are long dead and I miss them. But my husband has great family and I love them.