I bought this Adenium several years ago and may have messed it up. I'm thinking it has some kind of rot, but I don't know.

2 things may have contributed to the problem:

1. I had read somewhere that it was best to prune during growing season, I may have done it late or maybe followed bad advice. I pruned it around the beginning of August.

2. I live in Houston and accidentally forgot about it outside when we had about a week or 2 of rain almost every day after I had pruned it about a week or two before.


I was worried about root rot, so I brought it in and haven't watered it since, that was probably about a month ago. Most of the leaves turned brown and fell off. It started to get some sprouts close to one of the pruned areas but quickly lost those as well. Some of the stems also started to become soft and squishy and you can see the wrinkles in them on the pics I've included.

Please forgive me for the lack of weeding in the pot, I kept up with doing it when it was outside before I brought it in. But when I was worried about the root rot, I figured the weeds would sucks up the excess moisture in the pot and help the adenium.


Any ideas on what to do? Please understand I'm an inexperienced brown thumb, so detailed instructions in layman's terms are appreciated. Thanks

Also, it hasn't really grown leaves all spring/summer long before it was pruned, and only had about one good round of flowers for a few weeks towards the end of spring. So maybe this was an issue from before, but this is as many details as I can think of, sorry if the pictures aren't clear enough.

Ted,
The top growth of the branches becoming wrinkled is not a good sign. Could be root issue.

The first thing that should have been done and needs to be done now, is to take it out of the soil. Rinse it off and check for any dark or soft areas on the roots.

The top pieces of the branches need to be cut off. Take any branch tip off by cutting just below where the wrinkled part starts. With each cut wipe the razor blade with Alcochol. This needs to be done until the inside of the branches are completely white/cream with absolutely 'No' beige disclored area inside of stem or around outer edge (cambium layer). If there is, keep cutting down.
Alcohol every cut important so not to effect good tissue while cutting.

Do this and then let us know your results.
Rick

Definitely stem rot! I don't prune branches just before my rain season. I still get stem rot during the rain season (I grow my plants outdoors), but I leave them alone. During the rain season, the plant will create abscission zones within that stops further rot down the stem. The rotted stems eventually comes off and the result is healthy numerous branches at the apical meristem.

Edited to say: This is how I treat my adeniums in my AHS zone.
@RCanada Rick's instructions on checking roots for rot and pruning branches is spot on.

Where are my manners! Welcome to NGA @Tedbow00!

Hi, @Tedbow00. Welcome to NGA from one fellow Houstonian to another! I have a bunch of adeniums as well. As for the issue, ditto on what Rick said, only to add that this needs to be done ASAP. If it is rot, it spreads extremely quickly and the sooner you can get it out of the pot and any rotted parts cut off the better. Also, if you cut any roots off that might have rot you'll need to leave the plant unpotted for at least several days to a week so that the newly cut roots can dry and callous over - otherwise, you are just inviting rot back in if you stick freshly cut roots directly back in soil.

When you repot, make sure to use very well draining soil. You can use any regular potting soil mixed with extra perlite at a soil:perlite ratio of 1:1 or 3:2. In your case, I'd go 1:1 (50% soil/50% perlite).

Our rain has been crazy the last couple of years, hasn't it?? Our springs and summers have been either feast or famine in regards to precipitation. Luckily my adeniums weren't adversely affected by the rain, but they were all in full growth at the time, so that is not doubt what saved them. I had recently trimmed a few of them, but they had popped new buds by the time the rain hit.

Good luck - let us know the results and definitely ask if you have any other questions or need any additional advice!

Carter.

Oh, @Rainbow, our "rainy season" here in Houston is really more in winter with generally dryer summers. The last several years, though, our spring/summer rains have just been crazy. We'll go a month without a drop, and then get several inches (or more) a day for 5-10 days straight, and then back to nothing for another month. "Normally" our summer rains are just nice little isolated scattered "pop up" showers that hit unpredicably and drop 1/4" to maybe 1" or so in a short time and then disappear (extreme heat+humidity=daily small isolated showers).

Our plants keep yo-yoing from bone dry to super drenched to bone dry to super drenched...

Carter, I hear you about the weather! Last year we had over 10 tropical storms in our area of which 2 of them hit us! I lost quite a number of young adeniums due to the constant precipitation while the storms hit or passed by us. And this year, believe it or not, we had a 6 week drought period between May and June, then storms started up and have been originating in the area between us and the Philippines. So far no direct hits on us but the storms were large enough that we got some of the winds and rains.

I think my adeniums are in limbo right now...too much yo-yo-ing. Flower buds that begin developing drop off after a few of days of rain and/or overcast days with no direct sunshine.

I am so looking forward to our "spring time"...October through April...wonderful balmy weather with occasional light showers. My adeniums perform very well during this time.

Well I did what you said Rick and I had to cut down all the way to right above the caudex before there was no longer a beige discoloration. I also looked the roots over, but didn't find any areas where they were really soft or discolored, so I didn't cut any off. The caudex of the root ball were a little soft but didnt give too much, I figured thats just from being in the soil. This next picture shows the cutting a few minutes after...but after cutting, the entire thing was cream colored except the dark markings from the razor blade.



Here's the whole plant, with a dollar bill for reference of its size.



Thanks for all the help, I will try to keep yall posted on its progress.

If it does survive, can you guys give me a schedule for how to take care of it, especially my local Houstonian, how do you care for yours? When to prune? I bring it in during the winter to protect it from any possible freezes, though we don't usually have many. When should I move it back out? How often should I water it? When should I fertilize and with what? When do I stop using fertilizer. Just a basic schedule for our Houston climate, so that I can properly take care of this guy if he makes it.

@Tedbow00, it looks really good. Great news that the roots look healthy! Since the roots are ok and you did no cutting on them, you can repot it right away in well draining soil like I described before. Water it in once it's potted, but then don't water it again until it's either completely dry. At this point while it has no active growth, over watering will certainly be a death sentence.

Once you see new growth again, before watering, feel the caudex. If it feels spongy, and the soil is kinda dry, water it. If the caudex feels very taught or hard, it's not ready for water yet. Right now it will probably feel spongy for a little while since you just pruned and repotted it - may take several weeks or more to tighten back up, so don't worry and just be careful and limit the water. I received several new ones this spring. Most of them tightened up after about a week or so, but one stayed spongy for probably over a month. I just knew I was going to lose it, but I just stayed careful with watering that one - only when very dry - and eventually it perked up and took off.

You can prune any time it's actively growing. Pruning while dormant can be done, but I wouldn't do it. It invites greater opportunity for disease as well as may delay blooming. I would prune in summer after the spring flush of blooms. You won't need to worry about pruning for a while, though. Since you had to cut back so drastically, you probably need to let it grow for at least a year before really starting to work on branch structure. The up side is that since you had to prune so drastically, you should get several new branches from the neck of the caudex and can be more active in achieving whatever shape you prefer for it.

You can leave it out until we really start getting cold at night (well, cold for us, that is) - like maybe below 50F. It will survive lower than that, but any soil moisture will intensify potential for rot at that point. You can move it back out once lows are consistently back in the 60s, but again just beware of early spring rains. Once you see active growth, you can worry less about rain unless we are having the weird daily downpours that don't allow it time to dry a little.

I think the easiest way to fertilize is to use the time release fertilizer like osmocote. You can fertilize up thru August, maybe even September, but I wouldn't after that.

At this point I would leave it outside in a semi-shady spot since we are still pretty hot right now. Once you see a few buds popping out on the stem, move it to maybe 50% or more sun. Ultimately, it can be placed in nearly full sun once you have it back to good health.

Ted, It looks great (well, maybe not to you, as you had to walk it down). You did a wonderful job and they are so resilient. Where it is cut to, should allow for some nice branching above main caudex.
Carter gives you sound advice and it is always nice to find someone close by for added confidence in caring for them. He has a great deal of knowledge.
Good going.
Rick

Yes, it is very nice to know an adenium collector in your immediate area with the same climate, and who is knowledgeable and has experience growing the wonderful adenium.

RCanada said:Ted, It looks great (well, maybe not to you, as you had to walk it down). You did a wonderful job and they are so resilient. Where it is cut to, should allow for some nice branching above main caudex.
Carter gives you sound advice and it is always nice to find someone close by for added confidence in caring for them. He has a great deal of knowledge.
Good going.
Rick

Awww, now Rick you're gonna make me blush. My "knowledge" comes from a good mix of trial and error and learning from info posted by knowledgeable like you and others here on NGA. And believe me there has been a LOT of error mixed in with the trial!!

But I do like sharing any knowledge or experience I have when it can help others - paying it forward, so to speak. I have easily over 1,000 plants and when friends ask me how I have time to do all this "work", my response is, "Work?! This is my therapy!"

Therapy is exactly what it is. A place you can go and get lost, sorta speak. When I am tending to my plants. I do not think about much or anything other than what is at hand.

When I used to compete in Equestrian events, my instructor would always say " when you stop learning or willing to listen, this is when all stops. You can learn from anyone, at any age."
I really do believe this.
Enough of that.

Rick