Adenium arabicum - Desert Rose

At least its got a flower Andy lets hope more will come this year.

Very nice.

For some reason I killed both of my Desert Roses.
I can't explain.
In both cases the roots became soft and rotted.
Any suggestions?

Penny,

It may flower later. Typically, it's a summer-bloomer, though.

Aleyna:

I killed two really unusual varieties about 4 years ago. It was during a very hot winter. I gave it too much water thinking it needed it during the hot winter weather. WRONG! LOL!

Adenium is truly a desert plant, when it's dormant during winter, it prefers not to have any water at all. It stores all its food and water (needed in winter) in its caudex. Even during summer it must remain on the dry side.

Perhaps next year then Andy.

Yes, or it still can flower. If we receive exceptionally warm weather during the next couple of months it still can bloom. :>))

Thats grest it can still flower cant wait fo see how it does.

Me too. The flower is still on the plant.

That good perhaps it might surprise you and get more flowers.

Yes, maybe. :>))

This is the time of the year so many of the tropical trees start flowering here in San Diego.

Thats great more pictures then.?

Yes, maybe. I'm very busy at work these days. :>))

I gave up on them. I do like the Pachypodiums,kinda similiar. Even the Uncarina has that vibe.
That Adenium Andy is about the same size my A.obesum was pre GOY posting. It did like my A.arabica did. Got size,then collapsed one fall day.
I can never figure how young ones are hard to kill. Once the get a fat base? They are MUCH MORE prone to rot under the same routine. For me!

Yes, it can be a challenge to grow Adenium. It needs the sunniest, hottest spot you can find. It also needs so very little water, especially in winter (actually no water in winter is best). When young they seem to tolerate a lot of water. My oldest plant was purchased in 2004 (we had 25 inches of rain in winter of 04, 05. It was one of the wettest winter ever recorded in San Diego). My Adenium was in the back yard and I was surprised it didn't rot and die!

I killed two very unusual Adeniums varieties about 4 years ago during a really warm to hot winter. I gave them too much water, thinking the hot and dry weather would kill it. Well, the water killed them.

I went back to the Cactus Nursery sotre the last wdnesday and bough two desert roses again. The gardener said I shall water it a lot, but just once a week and let it dry under the sun.
My balcony only has afternoon sun, from noon to 6pm.

I'll post a picture of this new challenge.

Aleyna:

I really would recommend not watering it very much. Desert Rose is truly a desert plant. It really needs to dry out a lot before being watered. When it's a seedling it can tolerate a lot of water, when they grow more than 6" or 15 cm tall it should be kept very dry. The caudex will store most of the food and water for the plant as it grows older and larger.

My large plant only receives water every two or three weeks in summer. In winter, it receives no water at all (when it's semi-dormant, tropicals never go completely dormant).