Indoor growing

8 years ago

Greetings fellow plant enthusiasts.

I have acquired my first adeniums and my intention is to grow them, year round, without dormancy, under LED lights. I know that they need lots of light and I am trying them under a 6 tube T5 HO fixture, with LED retrofit tubes, giving LOTS of light (71,000 lumens)

I potted them up and did not water them, but my potting mix was barely moist when I potted them, earlier in the week. They are now bone dry. I have read that I should let them stay dry until I see new growth, but I feel I should give them a drink to get them rooting and let them dry in between. My potting mix is 2 parts sunshine mix #4 (coir and perlite), 3 parts charcoal (coarse), 4 parts turface ( expanded clay granules like kitty litter ), 1 part vermiculite, 3 parts coarse perlite, and some osmocote granular fertilizer pellets. As I want them to begin growing, should I water them and let them dry completely for a few days and water again?

Thank you for your advice!

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Comments (5)

Tin N
8 years ago
I always water them right after I repot or up-pot and all have been doing well. I never understand the concept of letting them dry out after repot/up-pot. It doesn’t make sense to me.
Tin N
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I am also growing mine inside right now because the outside temperature is too cold. I water mine on Monday and Friday. I give each of mine about 1/2 cup of water. My mix is consisted of 10% gravels, 20% soil and 70% perlite..
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Elena
8 years ago
Hello Andrew! Welcome to the forum! I'd suggest you to provide them bottom heat to wake them up and get going. All my new plants goes on heating matts and I water them lightly every three days or so... If you have some kinda tent or dome, it would be even better, in addition to lights adeniums love warmth and humidity. Last winter I tried to keep some of mine growing, those that were kept on heating matts and domes did really well, but those that had only LED lights and a room temperature around 74 F didn't do a whole lot. They got some new leaves and one even budded, but it was very slow growth... wasn't worth it. Good luck to you and keep us posted! :)
Andrew Norris
8 years ago
I was thinking just the same thing! I have some seedling mats and will be getting a mylar grow tent this Christmas. My humidity is fairly good indoors and consistently around 70%, year round. Temps do stay cooler, with 74F daytime temps and 65F nighttime temps being average.
Hyn Patty, Western NC Mountains (USA)
8 years ago
The concept is that the plants suffer shipping stress and it can take a few weeks for them to bounce back and start actively growing again. So it is MUCH safer to water very lightly or not at all when they first arrive, and water only very lightly if any, until you see new leaves coming out. New leaves mean you also likely have new roots and activity through the stems. If you water an adenium too much while it's stressed and not yet actively growing, you are much more likely to get root rot. These are succulents that /store/ a lot of water in the stems and roots, so they don't actually need any watering at all initially to get growing. The larger the plant, the larger those reserves will be before it'll -need- to be watered.