It our area its not the bees but the butterflies. Butterflies are more attracted to adeniums than bees in SE Florida. Also, certain types of butterflies caterpillars love the leaves of the adeniums. We (AdeniumRose Company) usually let them munch on the leaves until gone. Once all the leaves are gone the caterpillars leave and the plants burst out with new growth including more branches sometimes. Plus, if early in the summer season it will product more flowers after the leaves grow back!

Bees did it for me, or more likely the flies, I have a lot of flies near my pond and plants.

Or course that means no control on which plant mates with which plant, but I didn't care about that.

So far nothing...I see a lot of bees,butterflies,even ants. Nothing yet!!

Ants are bad ... They protect and spread around aphids, mealy bugs, etc. Get rid of them with a little insecticidal soap. If you don't have any, an ounce of liquid castile soap in a gallon of water will work well. Use an atomizer to apply.

To hand pollinate, use a very thin brush inserted deep in the center of the bloom you want to take pollen from. Gently lift a little and twirl the brush. The pollen is above the ovary, separated by a gel cap ... Always remember that. Carefully insert deeply into the bloom you want seed pods on and twirl. Lift a little to get pollen from that one and introduce into another bloom on the other plant. Work back and forth between the two until you finish doing all the blooms.

Wash the brush thoroughly with soap and water and move on to the next two plants.

Happy gardening and may you get loads of seed pods.

Maria Elena

If you look under my Ideabooks, Pictorials, I have about 3 illustrations of what the inside of an adenium looks like. You can clearly see the pollen, the gel cap, and the receptive surface (ovary). This will help you visualize what you're doing with the brush and twirling method. I am NOT a fan of tearing open flowers to pollinate them.

Remember, adeniums may not produce sufficient pollen until they are mature (age 3). Give them time. One of my 1.5 year olds just gave me a seed pod with only 9 seeds ... The plant is too immature and precocious, but the seeds are big and strong. This is the 2nd time this happens with a young plant. The other one only had 3 seeds in its pod.

Maria Elena