Thanks--okay, good to know.
I was worried the babies might be different--seems like they took up water when they plumped up after getting some. But I can resist the urge to see if that happens again, cuz I really don't want to kill them.

My plumeria is confused--it's actually growing new leaves right now and really happy to be inside away from the damn grasshoppers. I couldn't believe it, we had such a plague of them this year they even ate my plumy

it was so sad!

dirtdorphins said: Thanks--okay, good to know.
I was worried the babies might be different--seems like they took up water when they plumped up after getting some. But I can resist the urge to see if that happens again, cuz I really don't want to kill them.

My plumeria is confused--it's actually growing new leaves right now and really happy to be inside away from the damn grasshoppers. I couldn't believe it, we had such a plague of them this year they even ate my plumy

it was so sad!

Yes, better to be on the safe side. They are so susceptible to damping off too. So sometimes I would mix a tbsp of hydrogen peroxide to a cup of warm water to spray them.

Yikes on the grasshoppers, I Bet they liked the tasty leaves of the plumerias.

My desert roses on the other hand are being chewed up Oleander caterpillars. And I have recently noticed mealies in addition to aphids. Thank goodness that aphids can easily be removed by wet paper towels and mealies melts easy when I spray with alcohol. I have been able to contain them.

Can anyone post pic of your dormant adenium. Want to see how the leaves look. I am really worried. Media is dry and leaves are turning yellow with brown edges.

I just removed all the yellow leaves from my adeniums for storage in my camping tent but here is a few. Some are due to me withholding watering now. Too dry and they will also have yellow leaves. Tha caudex of yours seem firm:

Thanks Gigi
Mine look more or less same. I have couple of cuttings and 4 -1 year old growing in one pot. Didn't water it for long. It was bone dry. 1 year old adeniums in this pot started leaving dirt . I mean i don't know how to explain. There was a small gap between the dirt and the caudex. So gave little water. I am really confused now. When to water , how much to water or no water at all.
You said caudex looks firm . Is it a good thing?
I don't see any new growth in the plant in the picture.
Do you water your dormant plants or zero water ?

look closely at each stem tip ....what do you see ?

if you see new growth - tiny new leaves, that means dormancy is over - and time to resume watering
but -
if you see zero new growth .... no new tiny green emerging leaves ...old leaves appear to be yellowing or falling off .....- and - stem tips appear bald - perhaps bare -- this means the plant has entered dormancy - stop watering - not even a sip

during dormancy - adenium will use its reserves stored in the caudex .... this "use of resources" causes the caudex to shrink ..... it is this "caudex shrinkage" that causes that small gap between the dirt and the caudex (all around it) .... the gap will grow larger as dormancy continues .... and this is completely normal and to be expected .....

as dormancy breaks or ends ...and watering resumes - that gap between the dirt and the caudex will close ....everything back to normal

deepsouth said: look closely at each stem tip ....what do you see ?

if you see new growth - tiny new leaves, that means dormancy is over - and time to resume watering
but -
if you see zero new growth .... no new tiny green emerging leaves ...old leaves appear to be yellowing or falling off .....- and - stem tips appear bald - perhaps bare -- this means the plant has entered dormancy - stop watering - not even a sip

during dormancy - adenium will use its reserves stored in the caudex .... this "use of resources" causes the caudex to shrink ..... it is this "caudex shrinkage" that causes that small gap between the dirt and the caudex (all around it) .... the gap will grow larger as dormancy continues .... and this is completely normal and to be expected .....

as dormancy breaks or ends ...and watering resumes - that gap between the dirt and the caudex will close ....everything back to normal

Thank you @deepsouth for clarifying. I never witnessed such thing in the past. Didn't know they sleep on sunny days as well.

@Aashna photos of my plants posted on Dec 16 earlier.

I do not water my dormant matured Adeniums. They are matured ones already and have enough stored in their caudex. The only time I did water some Adeniums in winter, when they were really very, very young, and their trunk is still green. It was done sparingly and with care. At that time the young ones trunk was going too soft to my touch, but not out of rotting, it was just thirsty. So I watered well at the beginning of the winter season, and it was sufficient for the rest of the season. To be honest I had 3 very young ones at that time. I was not sure also how to handle it once winter came, so to play safe, I watered one well, and kept the other 2 dry. That is when I found out, if the plant is still very young, where the trunk is still greenish, it must be watered. I lost the 2 small ones, they got too dried out, but the one I watered survived, and it remains alive up to now.

But once it has matured with its harder bark texture, it can survive well being kept dry during dormancy. After all, during the long hot and dry months, I have been watering them liberally outdoors, so they ably stored enough in their caudex for their daily needs and future use.

tarev said: My Adeniums have been moved indoors as soon as temps overnight outdoors started dipping below 50F, that was around early Nov I think.

So now they are just by our 2nd floor southfacing window..dormant..no new growth, maybe holding on to some leaves, or goes yellow and drop. No watering at all, base of the plant is firm and rock hard.
I have learned never to give it water at this time. It may even go totally leafless later on, or may even attempt to do latent blooms..but I know it remains dormant. Got to patiently wait for new leaf growth in Spring.



Our overnight temps is in the mid 30F range..and daytime is at 55F to 60F, duration is too short..my other yardstick outdoors is my Plumeria Celadine...it has also gone dormant.

But it can stay outside. It endures better than my Adeniums.

@tarev don't know how i missed it. Caudex in mine plants is firm as well. So looks like it's normal. Mine matured adeniums have bigger caudex hopefully they will use their resources and survive.
I have 4 one year old and 1 eight months old adenium. Should I stop watering these also. Pl suggest.

Hello @Aashna, it seems your plants are still outdoors. As to watering, it all depends on your growing conditions there. Like how are the overnight temps and daytime temps like? Does it rain in your area?

I am not familiar with your growing area, so observe your growing area right now. Does your overnight temps stay at 50F (10C) and higher? If it goes unstable and lower than that, I would be slowly reducing watering. If it does not rain there at this time of the year and daytime highs goes beyond 60F (15C), then you may sparingly water them. But before you do that, see if your plant is still making new leaves. The thing with Adeniums, it may have already entered dormancy but just keeping existing leaves. So got to be careful and scale down watering if ambient temps are getting too low. And always position in the warmest and sunniest area you have.

If temps are below 50F, and you have rain forecast, best to shelter them and keep them drier but with as much light you can provide.

It is so easy to rot the caudex since it may also have already formed more fat roots below soil line.

tarev said: Hello @Aashna, it seems your plants are still outdoors. As to watering, it all depends on your growing conditions there. Like how are the overnight temps and daytime temps like? Does it rain in your area?

I am not familiar with your growing area, so observe your growing area right now. Does your overnight temps stay at 50F (10C) and higher? If it goes unstable and lower than that, I would be slowly reducing watering. If it does not rain there at this time of the year and daytime highs goes beyond 60F (15C), then you may sparingly water them. But before you do that, see if your plant is still making new leaves. The thing with Adeniums, it may have already entered dormancy but just keeping existing leaves. So got to be careful and scale down watering if ambient temps are getting too low. And always position in the warmest and sunniest area you have.

If temps are below 50F, and you have rain forecast, best to shelter them and keep them drier but with as much light you can provide.

It is so easy to rot the caudex since it may also have already formed more fat roots below soil line.

Hey Tarev
Ours is tropical climate. It never goes down below 20 C. But this was the first time I saw dormancy here. My plants are waking up. Saw tiny leaves coming.
Thank you so much Tarvev, Gigi, Deepsouth for helping me in understanding dormancy

Aashna said: Hey Tarev
Ours is tropical climate. It never goes down below 20 C. But this was the first time I saw dormancy here. My plants are waking up. Saw tiny leaves coming.
Thank you so much Tarvev, Gigi, Deepsouth for helping me in understanding dormancy

Tiny leaves coming out is a good sign

Good to know your temps are warmly stable there @Aashna. You are lucky, even if it rains, your plant can handle it, provided your media is very gritty and well draining. Keep us posted how it goes!

And here near Chicago I could move my adeniums outdoors today, it hit 60°. All the snow melted from the storm we had last week, I'm soooo glad I didn't go out and shovel when it -2° then.

GigiPlumeria said: Tiny leaves coming out is a good sign

Yeah hopefully they will produce flowers as well this year. Fingers crossed .
Looks like i messed up with spellings . Sorry typo.

tarev said: Good to know your temps are warmly stable there @Aashna. You are lucky, even if it rains, your plant can handle it, provided your media is very gritty and well draining. Keep us posted how it goes!

I have tried to keep media well draining. No rain forecast for next week. It works well as we are going out for vacations 😃 Adeniums can handle a week without watering. One of them has still not woken up. Didn't water for alomost 18 days .
Thanks @Tarev will keep posted.

Happy new year everyone. Have a great year ahead with great health , happiness and abundant blooms ❤️♥️

Have a Safe and Happy New Year to all!
🥳💞💫💥🏵🥂

Happy New Year! 🎆🎈🎊 I normally go dormant in winter too!

deepsouth said: For anyone growing adeniums

A Supplement to the book Adenium: Sculptural Elegance, Floral Extravagance

https://adenium.tucsoncactus.o...

@droth11 this might also help. And feel free to post your photos too. We love photos here.

You can also upload your adenium photos in the database.

Hey all, need help. All my adeniums have woken up. Temp is around 25 to 29 degrees C. One of my adenium ( hulk) - looks like it is still sleeping . I watered it on 10 dec 22. After that I have not watered . It doesn't show any new growth plus no yellow leaves as well. Leaves are green. Caudex is also normal. Looks like it is not using water from the caudex also. My question is should i water it or wait for new growth to show up.