I bought one a few months ago and it was compact and flowering nicely. Over time the stems have grown too long and are now drooping (almost to the ground). What is the best way to prune this back to spur new growth and give it better shape. I live in Florida

Balloonman said:I bought one a few months ago and it was compact and flowering nicely. Over time the stems have grown too long and are now drooping (almost to the ground). What is the best way to prune this back to spur new growth and give it better shape. I live in Florida

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You are keeping your soil too WET, and that's why your plant is drooping now.

but now what should I do? Prune it back? Any advice? The branches are too long.

Get it out of that soggy soil and into some porous, fast draining mix, give it full sun, and protect it from too much rain. You could cut back any of those branches to a point where you want new growth, but I doubt the plant will survive long enough if you don't solve the drainage issue.

I can stick my finger all the way in the dirt and it's dry.. I seriously never water that thing.

with what they said

might also add, the potting media needs to be more grittier & chunkier - and the plant is too small for the pot

have copied your picture and have added a few lines indicating where I prune this adenium .....



but before pruning off anything ... study the plant ...turn the pot - or walk around it .....ask yourself, can those imaginary lines be moved up or down on each of the limbs ??

the objective of pruning is to remove limbs that touch or rub other limbs - that cross other limbs - remove damaged limbs - pruning also is used to shape the plant -

from those pruning cuts new growth will emerge - from 1 to 5 new stems .... new stems means new stem tips ...more stem tips means more flowers

the cut stems will heal over in 3 to 5 years

as for repotting - here is a tried and true adenium mix that I have used for years ..... some of it may, or may not be easy to find ... but check with big box stores or online

Mix together:

1 Part: Coconut Coir -
1 Part: Poultry Grit (chicken grit) /or Pea Gravel
1 Part: Sand - coarse Builder's Sand, or Leveling Sand, or Horticultural Sand (sift out fine silt)
1 Part:: Lump Charcoal - Break-up (crush larger pieces) (sift out fine silt)
1 Part: Lava-rock – (volcanic cinders or pumice) (crush larger pieces) (sift out fine silt and the clay like material found in retail bags)

Optional: mix with above:

1 Part: Redwood Bark / Orchid (Phalaenopsis) Mix - Break-up, cut or crush larger stems & bark
1 Part: Perlite - coarse

Unable to find Coconut Coir ?? - substitute a 3 part mixture of 1 part regular potting mix - 1 part Orchid / Phalaenopsis Soil Mix (mostly bark and rocks) and 1 part Cactus / Palm Mix

I grow maybe 10 Desert Roses. Have had them for years. They have moved around the yard a number of times. I added a couple last year and, yes, their branches grew long. I'm thinking that may come from a new environment for the plant. Please do repot it. I use Jungle Growth and add a bunch of perlite to it. My plants are looking great! Before the summer rains came, I moved them to the front patio. Under the patio cover, they get no rain (I water about every 10 days). It's on the east side and the Desert Roses get 4-5 hours of sun. Happier than they have ever been. Here's a couple of pictures of the first plant in bloom. Four other plants are in bud.

I live in Florida and repotted and moved mine to a spot where it will get a good 6-7 hours of sun. Come rain season next year I'll move it back and forth as needed. I replaced the soil with a palm/orchid mix. I think it was "stretching" for sunlight and that's why the limbs got so long.

with Carol. If that plant is mine, I would repot immediately with a much coarser media, by adding more pumice, perlite or chicken grit to that soil. The plant is unable to maintain turgidity, that means it is unable to drink properly. Seeing it is outdoors, it is getting enough sun, so I would go to the root zone area and check.

Typically, if temps are still consistently hitting 90F to triple digits, and humidity drier, then it can take increased amount of watering and rains quite well. But if it rains too hard for days in a row, this plant hates too much humidity, and can easily have root rot if your media as it shows looks too rich and dense for what it needs.

It is also into Fall season, so depending on your light levels and temps there, the plant may start to go dormant now. So better improve the media right now. If caudex still feels very firm and rock hard, and checking below you do not see any rotting, then it still has good recovery chances. If you see rotting below, you got to uproot, cut off rotting part, apply some cinnamon and air dry. It will take quite a while, so be very patient. It needs to callus and then repot again to a better well draining and coarser media.