It's perfectly okay, Ken. I feel it is good to revisit topics so that others who had not read previous posts could possibly benefit.

EDITED
@drdawg
Glad to see you posting again.

Update on Thai Soco KHZ "Shada"

It's true...there is no tap root evident in Thai Soco trees...at least at the age of my trees: 7.5 months.




My Thai Soco's sprouted in July, and in September I up-rooted and washed off the soil of two of them. On one I found a tap root that was growing straight down, on the other the tap root was growing laterally. I had cut off both tap roots and replanted in panterra bowls. I had noted that they grew a lot slower than the others that I had up-potted, root ball intact, into 5" pots and left to grow for the next 4 months.

I had since up-potted those in 5" pots into 8" panterra bowls but left the root balls intact again...only added fresh med. And they are growing fast!

I had two more to up-pot this month and decided check the roots. So I washed off the media and found no long tap roots! It seems the neo-natal taproots eventually bend laterally while growing, and blends in with the other fine roots that sprouted from the base of the caudex.

Very interesting this! I had heard that certain adenium varieties didn't have tap roots, but I scoffed at this believing that the growers had cut the tap roots. Well...now I know it to be true...from my own experience!

My plant just kept rotting. I finally just cut off the 3 best branches, let them sit for a few days and planted them as cuttings.

My seedlings are doing ok. 8 obesums up - cute little things.

David, the arabicum seeds are older, so maybe needs a little more time to plump up and germinate. The Thai starfruit seeds are so fresh that maybe I didn't give it enough time to dry out before packing...we'll see.

Glad the obesum seeds are sprouting. Here are what the flowers are supposed to look like...sure hope many will come true to parents.

The little guys are so cute. I will give things another week or so and then make a new post.

@RCanada
Rick, please enlarge this photo of Thai Soco KHZ



Notice the two little stems growing on either side of center? Okay, I left those alone, but on the large middle stem, there was a stem bud sprouting so I cut it off thinking it would not look good there and would be crowded. That was on Jan. 30...now a month later, another bud sprouted next to the one I had cut off, and more are growing on the other large stems. Should I leave them alone to grow? They wouldn't be getting any sunlight due to the large leaves on the big stems I think. What to do?

Kadie,
This a remarkable tree. I am still soaking up as much info as I can on these TS & Arabicums.
I have seen and been told that the TS's will have many branches and eventually grow outward rather than upright. They can have many tiny side branches off of a main stem/branch.
They will prune lightly if there becomes too many.
If the tree is in growth and branches start getting long, they will snip off the leaves to allow the smaller ones to get light to grow. Also to get sun to the skin (not sure what this does?).
This is a TS hybrid called Nin mungkorn.



In this photo, you can see all the little buds. Doesn't look as though they grow too much more.
I sure hope yours is what they classify as True TS.

Rick

Thanks, Rick. I'll leave them alone then, only cut leaves to allow direct sun on the stems and new growths. But I'll do this later...there appears to be new reddish growth on the tips...flowers maybe...? Hoping....

Please do keep me/us informed of whatever you learn about Thai Soco's...want to grow our babies to the best form possible.

@RCanada
Rick, hang on to your computer chair arm rests! If I'm not mistaken, these are flower buds on one of my Thai Soco that is 8 months old.

Wow. Kadie looking good. I cross my fingers for you that they are really buds. Good job. Is that the Thai Soco KHZ?

That's great, KD.

That is fantastic and on such a beautiful tree, too. I am so pleased for you and they definitely do look like buds.
Rick

Yes, Willeke, it's a Thai Soco. The watching and waiting for the buds to grow and blossom is agonizing.

Thanks all for your input!

What a gorgeous tree Kadie. Such a nice shape. I hope it does blossom soon.

Go, go, go Thai Soco!

What a gorgeous tree Kadie. Such a nice shape. I hope it does blossom soon.

I started a new batch of adenium seedlings on Mar. 13...3 days later one sprout came up...now all the seeds have sprouted.


I am amazed and surprised that all 10 seeds germinated! I stored the seeds in the refrigerator since I bought them last July. The batches that I had planted 3 months ago did not all germinate, so I had expected that even fewer would germinate due to the age of the seeds.

I learned from @DavidLMO about treating seeds (of any kind) with H2O2. Thanks, David, for this terrific tip!

So before planting, I soaked these seeds in a bowl of filtered water with a few drops of H202 for 24 hours. Then after treating the potting media with rain water and H2O2 (another tip from David) and allowing the water to soak and settle the media, I planted the seeds. Another thing I did differently...I poked holes in the treated media, placed the seeds in the holes, scraped media over, then sprinkled perlite on top (perlite tip from @Adeniumgirl) and sprayed more H2O2/water to moisten.

In previous plantings, I had placed the seeds on top of the media then covered with a thin layer of media and watered thoroughly. When the seeds sprouted, the roots were not deep enough into the media that the seedlings would lean over. Then I would have to put more media around the base in order to support the stem. The above new method shows that it's okay to have the seeds slightly deeper than advised.

These are the smallest adenium seedlings I have ever seen...just hope they grow up to look like these:

@Rainbow.

Glad that it seems your new planting method - including using H2O2 worked for you.

WRT poking holes, except for microscopically small seed [MSS] (e.g. Asutralian tea tree, Eucalyptus, nicotiana) I always poke a hole to plant seeds. UNLESS germination instructions indicate to leave on surface for larger seeds. I use an old pencil or a cut piece of small bamboo.

MSS are always a problem and when I run into seeds that appear like dust, I always surface sow. Keeping these properly moist is hit or miss...

I use H2O2 solution till the seedling are 3 - 4 inches or so. And up to that size, when I start feeding them (usually after first sets of true leaves appear) I mix the fertilizer into the H2O2 solution.

I usually grow from 1 - 2 thousand seeds or more a year, starting in my basement. Since starting to use the H2O2 solution a few years ago, I seldom have damping off and seldom have mold problems. I mix up a gallon at a time.

My adeniums (~10) are really looking cool and making their little fat trunks. So now I do not feel so bad having killed my larger plant.

Please give me the dilution of the H2O2 again, David.