Rachel, that’s incredible, it must surely be a record! I hope as you say it’s got the power to push those buds into flowers....good luck ‘lil guy!

Gill

What a classic u r doing something right. Rachael i think u r right about the weather this has been the one of the weirdest summers in a long time. It is so dry down here the Newcastle show has cancelled the produce competition due to the lack of rain,when u up in the tropics are getting smashed by rain:×)

The clothes pin hasn't been with it for a long time? If it had I was going to suggest maybe the chemicals in the plastic having estrogenic effects on the plant.

What a mystery! Can't wait to see what it does. If it does successfully flower, I hope you can get some seeds from it and hopefully a fast-flowering variety is born!

Hi Rachel I have had them bloom at around 6 mo never this small and young maybe the good care you have given it

roger

Amazing! You must have that magical touch! I can`t wait to see the flower when it opens. Jody

Gill, Pete, Laticauda, Roger and Jody, if this baby manages to keep growing the buds then it will be the youngest and smallest one I have ever had to flower. (I will update photos as it grows).

Roger, I have had a few that flowered at 6mths as well, but they were a lot bigger plants. I have not done anything different with these seedlings then I would normally do....I believe the constant heatwave conditions are to blame. I think the seedlings have been conserving their energy to deal with the heat (to protect themselves) instead of using that energy to grow. For instance, yesterday was our first day of Autumn and it was a stinking hot 36degrees Celsius with hot northerly breezes making it feel more like 40 degrees, and we have more heat to come. Definitely no signs of Autumn yet.

1. Laticauda, as you mentioned seed pods, check this out. This photo shows an almost 12mth old seedling grown from our own seed. It flowered for the first time a few weeks ago. The buds came up looking almost black and we thought that we’d have a black flower, but somehow it turned out to be a pinky colour.... again I think our heat messed with it, so we are holding on to this one for awhile hoping that it will develop a black colour in future flowering. It now has a seed pod.....that is a dark purple/black colour. Hmmm?
   
   

Not laughing I have the same thing going on but I'm thinking it was the cold that set them back I don't have any blooms on any but they are about the same size my seeds were all hand pollinated from my plants I'm thinking adeniums are just stupid but I love them

roger

Rachel did you hand pollinate this plant I have never had any luck pollinating the first set of blooms

roger

Wow, that is the super Adenium plant. Well done Rachel. Your plants love you.

Roger, Are you sure you’re not laughing....I did say it was tiny. :) Now you can see why I was so surprised to find flower buds on it. Good luck with your seedlings, and no I didn’t pollinate the plant. The seed pod was a surprise, mother nature can take the credit for that one.

Rachel I'm going to the greenhouse in the morning and look mine over and make sure I don't have a bloom on one of mine there so small I have not looked for a bloom but there old enough to bloom

roger

You know ....... Kids these days mature early lol

I blame the internet

That's got to be it Laticauda the Internet. No blooms on my little ones this morning

roger

That's a really nice flower, Lyka!

Greetings to all!

Wow! You guys have me laughing. What precocious little ones you have!

Rachel, correct me if I'm wrong but I think you've experienced something similar last year. Rachel and Lyka, what are you feeding your little ones? Just the 1/4 strength ferts or are you adding fish emulsion, guano, and such?

I wonder whether it's good for any adenium to bloom so early. It takes a lot of energy for a plant to bud out and at three or four months, well ... Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to see blooms so early but I wonder if it harms the immature baby. If anyone knows for certain, let me know. Not that this ever happened to me ... Mine bloom at 1-2 years of age.

Maria Elena

Great thread and congrats, Rachel! I hear Tracey has flowered some of her seedlings as early as 3 months but obviously it's rare. I have some that have flowered at that size but only if I grafted them. My smallest was only about 4 inches tall but had three flowers (not a mini) but it was older, despite the wee size. I agree though that it takes a lot out of a plant to produce flowers when it's so young so I usually disbud, or only let one flower open to check the color. Encourage it to grow instead.

Agartta, ha ha you crack me up. I was going to say “it’s not how big it is.............. Maria Elena, No, I had no issues with growth last year. The larger plant with the seed pod in the photo above was one of our own seeds we grew through our Winter and even with the cold, those seedlings still grew well.

Our growing season this year started with heatwave conditions from the get go. The tiny seedling and the 4 varieties planted at the same time, (Rinoa’s seed) grew very slow from the beginning. (All four different varieties behaved the same.) Our babies had to adapt quickly to the heat, but I believe this is what slowed them from the beginning. As for fertiliser - we don’t fertilise our babies regularly, they usually get enough nutrients from the soil mix. But, as these grew slower, we did supplement them occasionally with a little fertiliser, (one with a slightly higher nitrogen content). Fertiliser did not seem to help with growth. We do also, feed all our babies with seaweed solution (seasol) while they are small. As for whether it harms the baby flowering early, I don’t know, but I will let you know if I notice anything different with this one. I agree that it takes a lot of energy from the plant to flower, as it also does for growing seed pods. But, I am sooo curious to see if this little one can flower....so fingers crossed. :)

Here’s a photo of the seed/variety this little one is from. (Rinoa’s photo)

Hopefully it'll be just as pretty, or even better! I have a similar looking one (grafted) that is going to bloom soon, I hope.

Rachel,

Ahhh, the seaweed solution is very relevant and is the nutrient that is giving you such vigorous growth. Very nice! Your blooms are always beautiful. I will add that to my fertilizing rotation to help switch up the menu each week.

I have a few adeniums grown from Rinoa's seeds. The results have been the best I've seen so far in terms of expected blooms. She is doing a great job of stabilizing her seeds.

All the very best to you.

Maria Elena

Thanks Hyn Patty and Maria Elena, I too hope for something nice from this seed variety. I would love a true “Revel” but I would be satisfied with anything new and different to what I already have....Hyn patty, I hope your grafted one flowers for you soon. :) I am looking forward to seeing your blooms and other’s blooms as your weather warms up. Will be nice to enjoy all the posts/photos....Maria Elena, I have been reading your ‘blooms from seed 2’ post and enjoying your photos/results from your Ko seed. Good luck with your other seedlings too :) In regards to the seaweed solution, we use it on all our plants, when we repot, on our babies...In Summer to help our plants cope with the heat and in Winter for resistance to the cold.

Hi All!

Maria Elena, hahaha. I think its the seaweed too. I feed my seedlings that then transplant it in Spring in composted soil and cinder rocks.

(: Lyka

Hi All, quick update on my little seedling. The buds on this plant have grown a tiny bit more, but I think it’s going to be a slow process. We have just had days of rain and this seedling has been undercover to protect it from the rain. I’m hoping we might get a little bit of sunshine today so that I can put it back out in the sun to help it grow. I may give it a little flowering fertiliser sometime this week to help it along.

Also, it looks like 1 more of my seedlings from the ‘same variety’ is trying to develop a flower bud too. It is a slightly bigger seedling, but the bud is barely noticeable at the moment. If you’ve got good eyes you might be able to see it in the photo below.

Fantastic! Yes, I see the flower buds! My little Violet Angel graft was tiny like your first one when it flowered. I was so excited, though it was older than it's very small size suggested. ;)

I will be keeping an eye on my other “Revel” babies to see if any others develop flower buds also. This has me wondering if this variety may be an early flowerer.....The other 3 varieties planted at the same time have not shown any signs of buds.

Yep, siblings, thats what happens when kids wach too much tv. They mature way too quick. Next thing u know, they'll be asking for your car keys lol