Try to rescue this 30+ yrs old neglected Adenium with root rot, we call her "Sleeping Nanny"
Try to show the step by step process and progress with pictures, hope we can save her, and try to learn something from the process


The main root is seriously rotted


Get rid of the tap root, as I don't think it can support the plant anymore



Further cut on the remaining caudex, to make it a straight-line with the trunk, at the same time I tried to slice 2 areas on the trunk, hope they will grow some roots from there


Applied some fungicide, will wait until the wound dries completely before planting her, hope she can make it.. will update further on the progress

@jfan. If that were my plant I would stake it up to hold it straight while it recovers. A couple of things could have caused this;
It is possible that the plant was under watered for a period of time causing the newest growth to weaken and bend under the weight of the leaves. You can see that the plant was "pushed" with fertilizer and water by noticing how far apart the old leaf node scars are on the stem. This growth will be weaker and more susceptible to bending.
Also some plants are naturally scrambling (Adenium swazicum and its hybrids for instance) but I don't think that's the case here.
I went out and took some pics for illustration.
This plant is 3' tall and shows no indication of bending

This plants flowers were so heavy that they bent the stems down so I staked them up.

Here I have removed the stake. Problem solved. I will prune the plant later.

Here is a lanky plant in desperate need of trimming. The flowers are triple petaled and weigh too much to be supported on such skinny stems.

I have staked it up until the stems are stronger and then trim.
This is a scrambling Adenium swazicum hybrid. They typically don't make much of a caudex but the roots under the surface are huge. I will lift it next year. Notice the ridiculously scrambling stems. Nothing I do will change its nature. I will plant it in something tall and let it cascade.

And last. This plant was a scrambler also but judicious pruning has it looking pretty good.

@Kaktus great job trying to save "Sleeping Nanny", she's made it 30+ so would love to see her survive.

@Wildbloomers great illustrations on different types and lengths. How old are these? Scrambling adenium would look beautiful with cascading Blooms.

I had to do more emergency repotting. I didn't disturb the roots. Just transferred to
Bigger pots with more fast
draining media and exposed a little bit of the caudex.
Of

@Gigi Plumeria I honestly do not know how old my plants are. I have so many that I don't even try and keep track any more. I have plants with tags in them with years of info like Genus, species, provenance, color/flower description, each fertilization, each repotting, hybrid parentage, etc. It got to be impossible to keep up with so I tried keeping a garden log instead but with the same result. Funny thing about those tags, they are guilt inducing. When I started growing plants the tags were important. If I lost a plant I would save the tag as a reminder. I put them in a 4" pot. Then it became a 6", 8", 3gal, 5gal. It finally struck me... I'm a plant murderer, and a mass murderer at that! It's much more comforting to skip the tags and just rely on the fact that I produce more than I kill. If I'm giving a talk to a new group or a group that hasn't heard me speak before I bring that beat up old bucket with tags and relate the story. It seems to give comfort to the professed 'brown thumbs' in the group.
I do have one rule though, if I've killed a plant three times its brethren are safe from future attacks by me. If I can't figure it out in three tries, shame on me. FYI, I no longer grow African violets.

@Wildbloomers, I can relate on that guilt. I have a collection of my plumeria tags that I killed or just died from frost or because of too much rain. It is sad to see the tags and I don't have the plants anymore. But like you I have a lot of plumerias grown from seeds. So, i can at least say, I have plumerias that no one has :).

Wow, didn't realize you are a master gardener speaker

I killed my "African violets too", plus a lot of roses and almost all my Phal collections and cattleya. I still have a few vandas left.

So I'm mostly growing plumerias, succulents and just recently started desert roses.

Kaktus said:Try to rescue this 30+ yrs old neglected Adenium with root rot, we call her "Sleeping Nanny"
Try to show the step by step process and progress with pictures, hope we can save her, and try to learn something from the process


The main root is seriously rotted


Get rid of the tap root, as I don't think it can support the plant anymore


Further cut on the remaining caudex, to make it a straight-line with the trunk, at the same time I tried to slice 2 areas on the trunk, hope they will grow some roots from there


Applied some fungicide, will wait until the wound dries completely before planting her, hope she can make it.. will update further on the progress

5 days after the cuttings, the wounds have dried, the nanny is ready for repotting...


Prepare some ropes / straws to position her to the pot


Everything set, I put a monk to accompany and guide her through the healing process, hope she can recover soon

Looks great! I think "Sleeping Nanny", will recover and wake up soon and reward you with beautiful blooms!

Update of my Sweetie Pie

Posted 7/27/2021:

GigiPlumeria said:Redid and tied this up. Removed the majority of the leaves. Seems ends have calloused and no visible rots. (Hopefully non, where I can't see it.)


I repotted in a smaller pot on Sunday with 40% sand and perlite (that is all I have). I watered it once (mixed with hydrogen peroxide).


If this will recover it will have a bruise, I accidentally scraped its skin. I'm not going to worry about it for now. Sand and perlite is moist. Hopefully it will not rot. The caudex seems dehydrated.

Update: It has been a month, this is still alive but caudex looks dehydrated but not mushy. I have been misting the base once or twice a week. I have applied Agro-thrive but for the flowering. Today. I switched to the Agro-Thrive "general purpose".

Still not dead but no new flush of leaves. Used paver sand and perlite mixture. Giving this only 50% survival rate. I have grafted some branches.

Redo- ,
using general purpose Agro-Thrive

Kaktus said:
5 days after the cuttings, the wounds have dried, the nanny is ready for repotting...


Prepare some ropes / straws to position her to the pot


Everything set, I put a monk to accompany and guide her through the healing process, hope she can recover soon

The only comment I have for your set-up is the media. It still looks way too moisture retentive. If it were mine, I would add more pumice to that media. Knowing that your location is also quite more humid than here, it is more imperative to really make its growing situation to dry up faster. Good luck!

My desert roses are getting a few hours of direct morning sun in our covered porch. My 50% perlite and 50% organic soil (Sandy soil with woodchips) in the partially glazed clay pots seem to dry really fast. I could tell it is not just the top soil that is dry because the blooms start to wilt and then will perk up when I spray the top soil (moist but not wet). Not sure if it is because the pots are shallow but I'd rather have them on the dry side than risk some root rot.

The caudex are firm and full so I know they are not dehydrated. I sometimes mist the top, if there is no rain. They get mist when it rains but not soaking wet. I water them thoroughly with collected rain water at least once a week (if there is no rain).

tarev said:

The only comment I have for your set-up is the media. It still looks way too moisture retentive. If it were mine, I would add more pumice to that media. Knowing that your location is also quite more humid than here, it is more imperative to really make its growing situation to dry up faster. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, the soil consist of lava rock : charcoal : garden soil (1:1:1), my garden soil is a mix of all unused / dead plant soil, they dry out quite fast, infact this morning I check the top media is too dry that I have to spray some water on them.

Gigi,
Great save on Sweetie Pie!

Kaktus,
Very interesting project. Thanks for sharing.

Walt, I can't wait to see her bloom again. It will be interesting to see her come back and if
She develops roots that can be later on be root trained.

Kaktus said:
Thanks for the suggestions, the soil consist of lava rock : charcoal : garden soil (1:1:1), my garden soil is a mix of all unused / dead plant soil, they dry out quite fast, infact this morning I check the top media is too dry that I have to spray some water on them.

Usually top part always looks drier, so it is in good measure to check below soil level..use bamboo skewers.to see if that is truly dry or is still damp wet. Looking at the previous damage to your plant, it shows it was staying too damp wet at that zone, otherwise the caudex below soil line would not have rotted. So consider improving your soil, add more pumice. I am inclined to think your garden soil is similar to the rich loam soil we have in the Philippines..truly wonderful for tropical plants..but too rich and moisture retentive for succulents. So succulent enthusiasts there have to add/ use gritty, rocky material.

tarev said:

Usually top part always looks drier, so it is in good measure to check below soil level..use bamboo skewers.to see if that is truly dry or is still damp wet. Looking at the previous damage to your plant, it shows it was staying too damp wet at that zone, otherwise the caudex below soil line would not have rotted. So consider improving your soil, add more pumice. I am inclined to think your garden soil is similar to the rich loam soil we have in the Philippines..truly wonderful for tropical plants..but too rich and moisture retentive for succulents. So succulent enthusiasts there have to add/ use gritty, rocky material.

@tarev
So we should put a bamboo skewer and if it comes completely dry then only we need to water? Skewer should not bring little bit of damp soil ?

I was checking the top 2 inches of soil and watering.

I have heard(YouTube videos) if the caudex presses a bit , it means plant needs water and we should water it.
Pl clarify

tarev said:

Usually top part always looks drier, so it is in good measure to check below soil level..use bamboo skewers.to see if that is truly dry or is still damp wet. Looking at the previous damage to your plant, it shows it was staying too damp wet at that zone, otherwise the caudex below soil line would not have rotted. So consider improving your soil, add more pumice. I am inclined to think your garden soil is similar to the rich loam soil we have in the Philippines..truly wonderful for tropical plants..but too rich and moisture retentive for succulents. So succulent enthusiasts there have to add/ use gritty, rocky material.

yes, will do

Aashna, it is just the bakers check the cakes, you can push a toothpick into the soil, let it be there for 5 to 10 seconds, then you pull out the toothpick and see whether the toothpick is dry or has moisture, if the toothpick is dry, then it is time for water..

Kaktus said:

yes, will do

Aashna, it is just the bakers check the cakes, you can push a toothpick into the soil, let it be there for 5 to 10 seconds, then you pull out the toothpick and see whether the toothpick is dry or has moisture, if the toothpick is dry, then it is time for water..

Ok got it, will do

Aashna said:

@tarev
So we should put a bamboo skewer and if it comes completely dry then only we need to water? Skewer should not bring little bit of damp soil ?

I was checking the top 2 inches of soil and watering.

I have heard(YouTube videos) if the caudex presses a bit , it means plant needs water and we should water it.
Pl clarify

Yes, when you want to check if soil below is still damp wet, stick skewer below. Adeniums as they mature continues to form its caudex below soil line as time goes by. At times that is the area that starts to rot if sitting too damp below. By the time you see damage above soil level, it becomes too hard to rectify.

As to what you are asking about the caudex, it depends if your plant has already formed a hard bark layer. If your plant is still too young, trunk and caidex still green, these ones still needs a bit more watering so it easily manifests being soft to your touch when it seems in need of water. But that being said, remember too that your media must stay very porous and well draining, so excess water is removed faster. Also our gardens have varying humidity levels, that also affects watering regimen to be observed for ones plants.

If your plant is quite older and more mature already, it would have formed a hard bark layer around its trunk/caudex. And this must stay rock hard firm and solid. The moment it feels soft anywhere, that is a clear indication some rotting is forming at root level and is spreading to the plant. If noticed in time and plant allowed to dry up properly, often requiring unpotting and air drying of root zone, plant may be salvaged or it may require removal of rotted parts, and air dried to save the rest of the plant. Matured Adeniums with this firm, solid, hard bark layer is so drought and heat tolerant. So it ably stores water in its trunk/caudex. That is why overwatering or too retentive soil material will damage the plant easily.

@Tarev for chiming in again. I miss your insight on adenium. You have one that has a really impressive caudex!

I have to keep reminding myself not to over water, especially the newly repotted ones. I caught a beginning of a rot on one of my newly purchases one. It looked healthy and blooming at the top but the smaller roots had some root rot. I cut them off, put some hydrogen peroxide and cinnamon only on the cut part. Repotted on a dry media and has not watered it for 3 days now. I had been misting the leaves and branches though because it still has a lot of blooms. It is soo humid right now that even if I don't water and the media is dry, I could tell it might have moisture on the soil but not wet. I plan to dig it up in a few more days to see if the roots have calloused before resuming watering.