Mine is about 4 ft and I've cut it back each year. I'd cut it back in the Spring when it can actively grow bushier. You can also root the cuttings and have more plants. Now it's a challenge to get it to bloom!

Be very careful when taking cuttings from that plant. The sap inside (a white liquid under pressure which squirts out when stems are broken) can be a severe irritant, especially when your skin is broken. The result of exposure is 2-3 weeks of hideous painful rashes, a memorable experience. So wear gloves and eye protection, let cuttings heal over well before handling them, and just generally keep a safe distance from the action. E. tirucalli is on the dangerous side for a Euphorbia, even though it is quite common. One trick you can use with fresh cuttings is to swirl the cut end in cold water... that seems to put a quick end to the oozing.

I do use that cold water trick, Baja. I read it somewhere years ago. I've never had the rash, but I get one if I get sap on me from the Euphorbia millii. Plumeria sap doesn't bother me.

I have so far only 'pruned' my 'Firesticks' along the edges - so that it does not grow out across the sidewalk. My big regular E. tirucalli, is planted right next to the pathway to the front door so that gets regularly pruned, but again I do not really cut the main stems so much as mostly side branches that start reaching out towards the pathway/sidewalk. The big ~8ft regular one is the real gusher.

Update on K. marnieriana buds.


I have a LOT of K. fedtschenkoi plants making buds. This is the tallest. Hanging in an awkward spot. (Like so many of my pots while hiding from winter!)

It's going to be great with all of these in bloom soon! (K. fedtschenkoi.)


Noticed Graptosedum is starting to form an inflorescence.


These are almost ready to pop! (K. houghtonii.)

Sansevieria bloom that is smelling up my whole house. Gene

Lovely blooms Tiffany and Gene! My Sans has not given me blooms yet..so will enjoy your blooms Gene

C'mon buds!

Found some buds in just this particular branch of my Crassula ovata..something to look forward to

I waited a bit too long this morning to catch this Lithops bloom open. I'll try again in the morning if I can remember.

Here is one of my most unusual flowering succulent.
I have it's name around here somewhere but can't locate it at present. Anyone who can remind me?

Hello helenchild, sorry not familiar with your plant, maybe try to take another photo, once the blooms are more fully formed.

An update of my aloe-gasteria plant, it continues on with its blooming mode even in our on and off rains, tule fog and dipping temps:


and my plants are getting adorned with falling leaves as well.

Normally my Adenium obesum is not doing any bloom at this time of the year, once brought indoors already, and should be heading to just complete dormancy in winter. But this time, it is busy making buds, which still means it is going dormant, with no new leaves forming, but really thankful for the bud formation, this would be my first Christmas season blooming for it, if it continues on woohoo!

Tarev, I have a small DR that I brought indoors in October that is blooming. I quit watering all of mine since I expected them to go dormant/semi-dormant. Should I be lightly watering the one that is trying to bloom? The blooms are smaller and paler than normal.

Why would you stop watering if you bring it indoors?

The reason to stop watering is to let it go into dormancy but especially to not let it be wet and cold, but if it is indoors it does not get too cold (unless you keep it in an unheated garage), so you could (should?) keep giving it water once every so often - which may stop it from going dormant and thus give it a huge head start in terms of growth come spring. You just want to make sure it does not stay wet for very long. Dormancy is a response to changing conditions - it is not a requirement for the plant to grow well.

Obviously you do not want to water it like you do when it is hot, but afaik there is no reason to stop watering completely if you have the plant in a controlled environment. I wish I had the space to bring them inside I am willing to bet my plants would be so much further along in terms of growth. I keep them outside - but under a patio roof - all winter, so I more or less top watering completely once night time lows are <45 (yeah I know we do not get much of a winter), which some winters drives all of them into complete dormancy (most leaves gone), but in recent years because it has been pretty mild, I have had some of the DRs just keep going and then I do water them very sparingly.

To keep to the theme of the thread:

Aloe x 'Rooikappie'

Hello Deebie, I tend to go on the safe side with my Desert Rose, since I just grow it indoors during this colder season with whatever natural light it can get from our south facing window. So if I see it is dormant, less to no water. We all have varying temps maintained indoors and light levels are rather low. So easy to invite fungal damage on the plant if watered too much while it is heading to dormancy and temps getting lower than what it likes. For my plant right now, I am very cautious with my watering, just a slight dribble of water. It is my first time to have it do buds indoors, so I am also watching how it reacts.

Thijs, although my DR plants are indoors for the winter, the light level is not very high, and we seem to be having a lot more than usual cloudy days this winter. So, like most succulents, I thought that it should be kept drier during this time, especially since growth will be minimal. I thought that they were going dormant, as the plants dropped lots of leaves in response to the lower light levels. I need to find a way to set up some supplemental light for plants indoors during the winter. I have lights in the garage, but it too cold for DRs.

I agree, if you notice they are going dormant you should reduce/stop watering, but dormancy is not a necessity for the plant, if you can keep providing the right conditions, it does not have to go dormant - professional growers in Tucson heat their green houses for that reason - to keep the plants from going dormant.

One thing to consider though, especially if you took your plants inside before they started going dormant: if they are in an actively heated space there is a good chance that the conditions are generally less humid than what they are used to when outside, by keeping them dry and with the reduced brightness of light you may actually be forcing them into dormancy rather than reacting to the plants going into dormancy... But to make sure: my point was not to keep watering your plants like normal, but that watering them or not depends on the conditions they are in. If they are in an unheated room that is generally dark, probably better to not water them, but if they are on a bright window sill in a heated room, I'd probably test the soil regularly and provide them with some water.

I am doing the ultimate test this year. I put an Adenium obesum hybrid in the ground. It is in the protection of a Tecoma stans and beyond that a large Palo Verde - so it is probably protected from really low temperatures (ie. <32F - if we get any), but the worry is, it experiencing prolonged wet soil, while also getting low temperatures. So far the in the ground plant is looking better than my potted plants which have not been watered for a month or so now and are starting to look like they might go dormant, while the in the ground plant has gotten rained on a few times and looks like it is very happy. The lowest low we have had has been ~39F, but it was dry then... January - February is usually when we have the greatest chance of freezing temperatures during the night so that will be the difficult period.

I keep it simple for my Adenium. If going dormant, less to no watering. That's it. The limitations of my growing conditions. I just look forward to mid Spring, when I can safely bring it out to resume its active growing. I have learned now to wait patiently to end of April to bring it out.

Deebie, hope both our plants bloom nicely all winter long. Good luck on your experiment Thijs.