It happened to me too. Didn't think much about it.

Bump...anyone?

HI Gill, Hope all is well with you.

In regard to the issue with Gardenweb 'Photo, Houzz photo, etc. I send a note to the admin., as I had seen this in a few other posts. Not sure if anything was addressed with it?

With respect to the centipede root training. Will see if I can add the info. that Dino had given to me. I have done this with the cut/dry/root hormone/stick to disc and one worked and others withered away. Definitely better results with a older seedling than really young.

This was sent to me when I had asked Dino Adeniums for some advice on this procedure. Aslo, best done when it is warm out or atleast able to give these conditions.

Rick

Gill, I hope it works for you.

Rick, you are VERY help at all time.

Marie

Gill, I have not tried this, so can't offer advice. Just wanted to wish you good luck with it. :)

Hello Rick, I'm OK thanks for enquiring :-) Thanks also for the heads up on the centipede rooting. I can see from the illustration how to get round this concave business I'm getting. Slicing the outer skin back should make a difference. I'll recut the victims tomorrow as it's late evening here now....I could well end up minus some digits if I go in the g/h to do it now! The seedlings in question are around 3/4" in diameter, I think I'd be too ancient if I waited for them to get any bigger with the growth rates that I get here!

On a more positive note, I have buds on all three of my oldest seed sown trees! The cream/white one and the pink one are flowering as they did last year and I also have a few buds on the one that has never flowered before....it's looking like it's going to be a white centre with pink edges at the moment so maybe all three will turn out to be different from each other :-)

Thanks also to Marie and Rachael for the encouragement! The seedlings weren't doing that well, they had healthy leaves and no rot but they are just so slow, so I just decided to try something different, so we will see what happens...........

hi gill we have not met yet i have read alot of your comments and threads i have learnt alot i have this for you it may help you its just other way of doing your plant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzO15SroA8o&t=1s good luck and gday peter

Hi Gill!

Last year I cut the root off 4 arabicum and 2 obesum seedlings, age 3 months. I also cut two 6 month old obesums. That's 8 in total. I left one tiny surface root if it was present, dabbed the cut surface dry, allow to sit out overnight, and repotted the next day, half with just a button at the base and the others with nothing. All were propped up with styrofoam pieces. Half were trimmed at the rim, the other half were not. All were dipped in rooting hormone.

I placed them right back in direct sunlight. They immediately lifted their leaves up high to shield themselves. Still, I was experimenting and left them there. I misted occasionally the first 2 weeks, but did not soak or feed these. After that, I resumed regular watering & feeding. The younger seedlings all shriveled back quite a bit. 2 of the arabicums died. The others gradually relaxed their leaves and presented new growth. I removed the styrofoam after about 6 weeks.

The results: The 2 older obesums grew beautiful centipede roots without special treatment. 2 obesum seedlings grew multiple roots. 2 arabicum seedlings grew centipede roots. All those with centipede roots have a smoothe flat bottom, including the ones left with untrimmed rims and the ones without buttons. Here are the pictures I took in March:

Obviously, do not place back in direct sunlight after cutting.

Maria Elena

GS 3 & 5 are the older obesums.

EV 4 & 6 are the young obesums.

MV4.B & MV2.DNF are KO Brazilian and Desert Night Fork arabicums

The younger seedlings were planted in August, late in the season. They suffered stunted growth as our overnight temps fell to 68/70ºF in Jan/Feb. They have since branched and leafed out. These are the arabicums:

Maria Elena

Wow, all such nice specimens, Maria Elena. What a great tutorial and thank you for posting this.

Rick

Hi Gill, yes the cut surfaces do shrink and concave after few days. I normally dry them for 5-7 days with root hormone and then place it directly on an inverted plastic cup or styrofoam, without glue. So far so good, no problem with the air gaps... but then our growing conditions are so difference. Good luck :)

Thanks everyone for all the info/video etc above, lots of informative help :-)

My main concern was this potential air gap, but I'm going to try several methods and see what happens. My fingers are tightly crossed!

@Maria, you have had some excellent results, I especially admire the one in the first pic, it has a great multiple root system, well done and thanks for the detailed info.

@Peter, nice to meet you! Would this be Newcastle NSW where you hail from? Great part of the world, Sydney will remain one of my all time fav destinations...the Blue Mts were awesome, the 3sisters, dinner at the Hydro Majestic overlooking the Megalong Valley, awesome location and very fond memories of hols with my late d/h :-) Anyway, back to the matter in hand, I must stop the daydreaming and get back to adeniums....see that the video man trimmed the edge of the 'bark' at an angle, I'm going to try that too! G'day to you too:-)

@Tan, thank you also for sharing your experiences too. Wish my climate was better at times, but then I wouldn't be able to grow all the other things that thrive here in our temperate climate! We all seem to want what we haven't got!

Gill

Yea Newcastle nsw gill i love it born an bread here i really 1hr south of newi in a town called Swansea on the shores of lake mcquarie i have the beach one side lake the other side its gods country also good for growing DR no frost .

Here is my shot of roots training. Just root hormones. No drying done.