Peter - My adult adeniums are outside they stil get a lot of sun during the day, but always sheltered in case of rain. My baby adeniums are spoiled they in sun during day and in house at night under led lights. How about your plants?

Some are asleep but the majority of them are flowering and going fine it has surprised me they are on the front veranda coping the wind and cold maybe because they have been in the same spots for years . my seedlings are powering they are in a warm room with full sun all day (in the shed).

Agartta i have never used led lights what is the go with them im thinking of removing me fluro in my seedling growing cabinet and putting a led in its place

Peter - I find led lights cheaper to run, always cold never heats up, safe, easy to leave on forever, they are bright enought for seedlings. I do need to get a propagation heat mat.

thanks looking on eeeeeeeeeeeeeeebay now must get one another flower came out not worth showing its pink yuck

Hi Pete & Agartta, our older plants have gone dormant now (no new growth). Some are still trying to flower but we are withholding water with the cold weather. Many leaves starting to yellow, with the cold at night. Our cuttings still have green leaves and one is trying to grow flower buds, but I doubt I will do much. (Be aware that dormant plants can still flower but that does not mean that they are active)

Our babies are still growing, although slower then they would in Spring. We have them out in sun during day, and then indoors at night (no lights or heat lamps) Lets hope we have a mild Winter. :)

Rachel - just a question, would a greenhouse make any difference on Adeniums, I wonder if it would keep the seedlings warmer. Thanks.

Ok Agartta i will show you the pink ones that are flowering today

you asked for them pink pink pink the mud on the petals is poison (spider mites)

I like them Peter, they pretty pink, light pink nice and white with pink lines. Thanks for showing :)

Hi Agartta, You can use a mini greenhouse to keep your seedlings in to help keep them warm. We used one like this (see photos) one Winter to keep our 6mth old seedlings in, while still leaving them outside at night & they worked a treat. They are best placed up against a wall to help keep them stable in windy weather. They come with a plastic cover that zips and unzips for airflow. We did find that the plastic cover only lasted about a year before it started to tear. We would leave the cover open during the day and then close it up early afternoon while the sun was still warming it and trapped the heat inside to keep the seedlings warm through the night outside. We would then just open it again the next morning. Our seedlings kept growing and were also protected from rain. You could try one if it suits your purpose. There are a few different sizes available. You could also try a internet search for 'mini greenhouses' to see what others may be available elsewhere.....As for larger traditional shade cloth greenhouses - they will help somewhat, but the open weave will let rain in and they are an expensive option. (You would want one that encloses fully.) These are mini ones available online at Bunnings. Click photos to enlarge.

Your right Rachel i had one for 12mths the zip broke then it blew away it was good while it lasted now i prob need 10mx10m i have that many D/R plants i think i may be addicted. All the kids were around with there partners today i was worried it was going to be a intervention to my relief it wasn't :) dodged a bullet

Thanks Rachel, yes the mini greenhouse looks good, I would also like eventually get one from Bunnings a bit bigger for my older adeniums so they dont get too cold. I cant believe we so worried about some plants like they little kids.

Peter - yes you are addicted. i can see the 10 x 10 coming up soon in the near future haha. I start prob with 3x3 lol.

You two crack me up! Lol... :) At least growing desert roses is a healthy addiction.

Big rain last night and today 50mm in one hr worried about my D/R

weatherman said it is here for 3 days its coming your way Rachel batten down the hatches .

Crap Peter, don't send that rain here. it's already freezing today 8c this morning & tomorrow, but sunshine during day for now.

Sorry to hear your plants are stuck in that rain. If you've got a garage, you could move your car out for a wash & put your D/R in there till its gone. Maybe?

Rachel its a bit hard my pride and joy is my jeep it takes pride of place if i ask the department of war & finance to leave her car out i won't get funding for my next project the D/R usually survive i have very free draining soil if it still raining Saturday im going to have to do something or maybe tomorrow

Sue how are your DHA going

Aggartta hows the weather in WA

Hay i for got to tell use i ordered 6x plants from my supplier in NT i just have to wait for the plants to flower im after some orangeish i dont know is that a word anyway she had them ready for me in a place ready to send and someone else sold them. She has never let me down in the past she has top quality mature plants.thats were most of my larger plants come from.

Sooooo, "You bought a jeep". I guess those tv ads really work. Hee hee

Peter - the weather in WA is beautiful, sunny 24 degrees but at night goes down to 8, at least its not freezing temperature. I might think about the small greenhouse Rachel mentioned from Bunnings for $44 for my seedlings. Hows the Keiki paste going Peter? Have u tried some. I had no results so far from the aussie paste.

Yea the paste seems to be working on the seedlings i cannot show any pics at the moment my computer playing up the i can see little leaves forming Yep bought a jeep i was a cruzer man i have not been able to drive for three weeks stuffed my hip (pinched a nerve in the blastard thing on crutches) not being to surf and do things.It took me about 4hrs to plant my seedling the other day 48yo and falling apart make it worse all my new flowers are SINGLE PINKS ALL MOST! DAAAAMMMMMM THINGS now my computer hates me wont up load pics lol

Rachel how do you attack the dreaded spider mite i read after the cyclone you had a fair crop of mites how did you control them

No Pete, that was not me. I believe that was 'Marialeal' from NSW.

I don't usually get a problem here with spider mites. Our humidity is always high in Spring/Summer & spider mites tend to strike when the weather is dry/hot (low humidity). Over all the years I've been growing DR's I've only had a couple of plants that suffered spider mites. I would just hose the plants leaves (top & underneath) with water every day for a week & that seemed to solve the problem. I would also move them away from my other plants.

I did find that the couple that did get spider mites, seemed to get them every year - they could be sitting in the middle of ALL my other plants & would be the only ones attacked, year after year. Some plants seem to be prone to attacks while others never do.... I eventually got rid of them. (It's my way or the highway)....Have not had spider mites since....Seriously!

I don't use chemicals on my plants, so I can't advise the best product. They are a very hard thing to get rid of, and have built up a resistance to alot of the products available to us here in Australia. (You definitely need to buy a miticide to kill spider mites) :(

Thanks mate it must of been Sue that posted mite probs i never had probs with them untill i got one plant prom vic for my mother for xmas i had to hold it for 3 wks it was to late when i noticed them they had spread to my plants that was 4 years ago still fighting them .

Peter, Re:- question about fertiliser....asked on another thread.

Pete, everybody uses a different ratio of NPK, some from overseas have found an equal amount of NPK eg: 10/10/10 to be the best. I would be happy with that.

Others say (including Mark Dimmitt author of the book "Adenium: Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance" that the best formula is one that has about half as much N to P&K, or a ratio of 1:2:3 is even better. Eg: 10-20-30 (NPK). The plants need a moderate amount of nitrogen, somewhat more phosphorus and even more potassium. Nitrogen stimulates foliage growth....while phosphorus & potassium produce strong cells, stems, roots, resist disease & produce better flowers. This sounds pretty good too.

What you get should be up to you and what you think your plants need in the soul mix you use. Whatever you get don't forget to make sure it has trace elements as well, your plants need this in small amounts to keep healthy. My NPK is 12-8-18 with trace elements. That's the best I could find in store. Hope this helps. Also I prefer a liquid fertiliser. You may prefer a slow release or powder/granular fertiliser....It's possible that your mix with the cow manure holds a lot of nitrogen, just something to think about.

(Note:- some of this information is taken from Mark Dimmitt's book.)

Mmmmm I didn't take the cow into my NPK

Yep, just something to think about Pete. Too much nitrogen will lead to long, weak growth and it will slow down flowering.

U R the gun

I'm a sucker just ordered another 60 bang wang and KHZ DHA seeds and 200 mixed double and triple seeds i said I was finished with seeds until I sorted last season seedlings out the department of war and finance wont be happy ,well it is the winter solstice I must celebrate some how (÷ summer is coming woo hoo buy more seeds woo hoo

Peter - awesome, Im not much better, I get every 2 weeks a small parcel from Mr Ko more seeds yayyyy :)

I have to get fixed up and get back to work Rachel are you getting my rain i sent up to Brisbagus

Hi Everyone I have been reading your threads and Peter I have got 19 out of 20 bang wang up as I am still still putting seeds down here in Mackay and getting good results. I don't have a green house except like Rachel but don't use it at the moment I have stands and put my seedling on them. early morning sun and new seedling I put in full sun all day spraying 3 to 4 ties a day and it works for me. My ratio of plants as my husband works out is about 90 percent. Peter I got Ko seeds and not real happy with them at the moment as they a bit stringy how are yours? I am going to let them stay in the seedling mix for another few weeks to see if I can fatten them up.all other seedling are lovely chubby little fellows.Peter I read you have spider mite I haven't had spider mite so far but a friend of mine has and he has used Yates Mavrik you get from Bunnings and it seem to have worked

Hi Pete, No, your rain never made it up here, except for the rain you sent our way a couple of weeks ago....That was bad. We moved our plants under shelter for that rain, but they still got a little wet anyway. The rain just blew in from the side. Since then our plants have chucked a hissy fit & most of the leaves have yellowed and are falling off and they look rather sad now. :(

We are currently having what I call 'blue sky days' - meaning clear blue skies & sunshine, but our morning temps are cold 10-11C, sometimes lower - getting to around 23-24C for the day. Even though we go through this cold every year, I still worry about rot, being our plants are outside all the time. It is survival of the fittest. The babies we have growing spend the days outside soaking up as much sun as they can & then they come inside with us for the night. They are growing slower then I'd like but at least they are still growing and haven't stalled on us...yet!

Hi Sue, really wish we all had your weather right now. Would love to see some photos of your plants sometime. :)

Hi Agartta, how's your weather treating your plants now?

1. Hi sue had very good results with the bang wang seeds i have forgotten how many have came up probably about the same. are your bang wang very small. I only got 5 khz dha he is replacing 15 of them, 3 true to form dha baby's with curly leaves . my Riona seed are going OK bit of a weird one there too my mini plants are bigger than all my seedlings. I have stripped my main plants back of their leaves I have never seen so many mealy bug's .Rachel I took your advice up rooted 40 plants ond put them into fresh pots and put them in the garage.I'm going to put them back out there is good weather predicted.I have to move them to get the jeep out (daaarrrkk gggrrrreeeennn one) just getting in before you lol.

Pete, Ha ha about the jeep. I sooooo wanted to ask you 'what colour' last time you mentioned your jeep. Lol.

Keep your plants completely dry while they are in the garage & get them back out in sunshine when the weather improves. Sorry to here you have a mealy bug problem, the weather is probably not helping that situation. Good luck with all your babies. They are going to keep you very busy. :D

Have a look at these little beauties

I think I have a couple of DHA and the one on the top right has golden edges could it be a golden DHA I have more coming in love the minis imagine a little succulents garden in a bowl in the sun room with a mini taking pride of place in the middle of the bowl that would be haven mmmmm better start building a room that would help.

Peter - omg they so cute, I want some please lol

They are cute cannot wait for more

Just sitting around looking at our friends overseas plants how beautiful the flowers are and how green the leaves are, So I walked outside to ponder how good summer really is for our addiction D/R so I thought I should post some pics of ugly D/R plants that are infested with mealy bug's so here we go

these were badly infested with mealy bug's had to remove foliage and treated more infested plants in found the source of the bugs my wife's frangipani trees they have no leaves on them but the old leaves have got the remains of bugs all over them these plants live under the frangipani trees.now these plants were along my fence hanging off it we had almost 3wks of rain and very cold temperatures so I had to repot them and keep them out of the rain notice my car (yes it's a jeep) it has not moved for 3wks my wife has told me the plants have gotta move so we can give her car and rest so the boss has spoken I'm not sure we're I'm putting them but they are moving. So that's what is happening in my D/R addicted life .O I didn't mention the seedlings about 300 plus that's for another time ps just got my new LED grow light for the seedlings

Peter - build a vertical garden or stand for your DRs, have the plants set verticaly not horizontaly so they take less space. After you treated the infested plants isolate them in a kind of home made green house or tent so they dont get reinfected. Thats what I would do.

Peter - seedlings can be grown in small pots tied to the metal fence.

Agartta I have never seen a chain wire fence look so good. What I'm going to do when I get back on my feet is build a rustic style wall I have access to old timber at a mill this is what I done to the back of my house. The wall will look similar to this .I recon it would look Allright with D/R hanging off it

Peter - Thats a great idea, it will look great when all in full bloom.