12 months young when she arrived...now pulled her pants down after 3 months to show some legs

her arrival 8.4.15


and now

A beauty!!

Good growing! Love the wide caudex!

I love the "strange-beauty" of the Adenium. I have 18 growing from seed, but they are only five months old. I hope just one of mine looks a bit like that when it turns a year old. Is there a way to "encourage" this sort of root/caudex growth, or is it simply hit-and-miss?

I had posted something here regards the use of certain descriptive language that I felt was offensive to me. I have deleted it since one person was not concerned about the language used in this website.

With the filth I see on TV, in the movies, and in song lyrics, that phrase is the least of my concern. Each to their own.

À chacun son goût! C'est la vie!

Ken,
These are Arabicums, TSoco hybrids, etc. This form can be accomplished, but the tree would have to have the genetic make up first. The ability to grow at optimal conditions all year long would assist getting it to this size in time listed. Many of us are not that fortunate to have these conditions continuously.
It can be done, just need the time and more so, patience.
Rick

I have the patience........don't know about the time. Age, you know.

Get you there, Ken. I think that I have the patience, but that is why I got a couple of these trees. So that I could enjoy having something more established and have the juveniles coming up behind. When I take in my growing time (natural, no artificial lighting) which is approx. 6-7 mths. with 4 mths. being the optimal light and temperatures. The trees have a slowing down going into the fall and then lost time with the recovery in the spring. This reduces the overall growing considerably compared to the Thai or anyone else growing them in a tropical climate (10-12 mths.)
I have known all of this going into growing these and it's not going to change.

I love growing these and others Genus from seed. The challenge and watching them grow and develop is very rewarding.

These are few of my larger trees.










Rick

So they are actually trees, huh?

Mine are all about 6 mo. old now and only have single "trunks". They seem happy and are growing larger by the week and have nice, dark-green leaves. They are all now in the solarium so that they can get special care and (perhaps) more frequent watering.

I would adjust and lessen a bit the winter watering Ken, even if you have it in a solarium. But the younger ones does need to be kept moist, but not too frequent water. The roots below soil level can further fatten up so it does not help watering them too much, they might rot.

One time I decided I want to know what the roots look like below on one of my younger Adeniums. It was dormant at that time anyways, so I dug it up to look..roots look like ginger, so it does tell me, be careful in watering.

My roots don't seem to be enlarged, at least so far. I will lessen the watering though. I was watering about every week, when the soil looked really dry. The majority of mine are in clay pots and they dry out way faster than those grown in plastic.

Hi Ken,
I had always referred to the Adeniums as plants, but since corresponding with people from different parts of the world. They all refer to the Adeniums and Plumeria as trees, so as a matter of using the correct wording for them. I thought I would make a practice to use the word 'Tree' instead.

I cut back on watering when I bring them in, but I gauge it much in the same way that I do in the summer. If they are kept inside and receiving full sun, especially the South and East sunlight for most of the day. They will slowly require less water. They can stay in leaf all winter in these conditions and if they do, all the better. The obesum's do not necessarily have an obligate dormancy period as many other species do. I prefer to keep young seedling going throughout their first winter and not let go dormant.
It is a fine line. If you over water with cold temps., then you could get rot. If you underwater, this can also promote dormancy.
Not to make it confusing, but you have been growing many plants and can understand things such as this.
Rick

Yep. Plumeria are truly trees, getting anywhere from 20' to 60' tall, depending on variety. There are now dwarfs available, but I suspect even those will get over 6' (just a guess). All my Adeniums are in the solarium and get some hours of sun. Right now they get about 6 hrs. The glass reduces the infra-red by 50% and practically eliminates the UV, so it is more like growing in a shade-house.

drdawg said: All my Adeniums are in the solarium and get some hours of sun. Right now they get about 6 hrs. The glass reduces the infra-red by 50% and practically eliminates the UV, so it is more like growing in a shade-house.

Sounds good, Ken. I have noticed that my adeniums like some shade from the sun. The ones growing under fronds of coconut leaves appear healthier than others in full glaring sun.

I think if the bark of the Adenium is still not thick enough/hardened enough it may suffer from too much direct sun. But once it is, it can take all the sun and heat happily as it does here during our very long dry months. And our summer heat here is the dry, furnace type with dismal humidity too. In late fall to winter it is different, it really craves for that sun but then temps are getting cooler. Eventually, it just rests and waits for the return of better conditions, unless you really provide them the temperature it prefers at the height of winter..expensive heating cost I would imagine, but for me cheaper to let it rest.

I guess, Tarev, since our new space is climate controlled and the glass is so amazing, we would spend exactly the same amount in heating/cooling, whether we had plants or not. It just so happens that what is comfortable for us is comfortable for my tropical plants. I guess that's a win-win.

Good for you, Ken! As long as you can foot the bill, that's well and good. Anyways, it is part of your plant business, so you really got to keep your plant inventory in good condition.

The solarium is just a part of the house, Tarev. Bringing in the outdoors is simply a bonus. I have never really grown plants indoors (other than on a winterized, screen porch) so everything I do is "experimental" at this point.

Here are some of my Adeniums grown from seed. The seeds were planted July 5, 2015. I have one plant that is at least twice as large as all the rest, but I don't know why (second picture, middle plant). As you can see, I don't have any of that wonderful caudex or root formation yet, just a single, fat trunk.