Hello Gill,
So glad to hear that your plants are sprouting. A few of mine are showing signs of growth as well. Still early in the year but the daylight is increasing. I'm sure that this will be a good year for you. The new growth often seems to be "gummed up" in the very early stages, I don't know if this only happens indoors or if it affects outdoor plants as well. They soon get past this stage. I use a small paint brush to clean up the plants and remove any remains of dead leaves etc., and get into all the crevices where pests lurk. I know this sounds very fussy but it only takes a moment.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Hi Gill!!

Great news about the sign of budding!!

I get so excited to see any signs when something like that has happened.. I am so sorry this happened to you and your DR's. At least some have survived.. Thank goodness!

Please keep us posted..

Take care,

Laura

Thank you both for your replies. Now that one seems to have pulled through, I am now more hopeful for the others...we will see eh?

Yes, it certainly is a good feeling when things begin to show signs of new growth. The lighter days will soon take over and we hope for a decent growing season in 2013 as we are overdue.

I too have seen those gummed up new growths and I agree that it may well be connected to growing indoors. Those plants that grow outdoors I think would benefit from the occasional shower which would have the effect of washing away/softening this gluey substance which we see. However, knowing the UK weather, that would not be possible....they would float away!! An 'occasional' trip outdoors on a sunny afternoon may be an option, other than that we have to be content to confine them to a life indoors and deal with the problems that it causes. It's good to see that despite reading info to the contrary, they CAN indeed be flowered quite sucessfully indoors.
Gill from the UK.

Glad to hear that they are coming around, Gill.
It is a challenge growing them in our climates, but they are very forgiving, I find.
My first bloom was inside last year. Hoping to see more this year.
Rick

Thanks Rick, hope we ALL get to see some blooms in 2013!
Gill from the UK.

Everyone is eager to see their first blooms of the year, and checking my plants this morning I recorded the following - Two plants producing flower buds. I think the chance of them developing is slender but you never know. I think its a good omen. Here is the first, it is my triple red. It won a first at a local Cactus & Succulent show last June.
The buds are tiny but you can just about see them, I couldn't get closer with my Phone.

And here is a shot of one of the flowers last june, as you can see it doesn't go dormant but retains all of its leaves.

Here is the other, this plant goes dormant and its new growth is only flower buds no leaves, they are all different aren't they?

How fantastic! That surely is a sign of things to come. Strange how they behave in different ways isn't it? Your plant looks in the best of health. Do you have a favourite brand of fertiliser for them and do you have a pest spraying regime? I must apologise for questioning you again!!

I have over the years used several well known UK brands, ranging from Baby Bio, Osmacote, Tomorite and laterly Chempak for flowering plants. As these appear not to have had the desired effect, in as much as they have grown 'reasonably' well but have either failed to bud or in the case of the one plant that did form buds 2 yrs running, they have not held. It may well be a combination of cultivation errors on my part so I am hoping this year will be better. My latest 'potion' for them is Vitax African Violet soluble fert. It's formula is 15:30:15 with copper, manganese and iron trace elements and I plan to start using this when they leaf out. It will be interesing to see if I get any better results than with the other types I've tried. I generally re-pot come spring and lift them up slightly as it can often be a surprise to see what's been going on below soil level each year.
Gill from the UK.

Hello Gill,
The fertiliser I use is Miracle Gro liquid in weak doses with the frequency depending on the size and vigour of the plant. I think we sometimes poison our plants with too much fertiliser. During the summer weather permitting, I give the plant pots a very occasional flushing with plain water to avoid the build up of chemicals. I do this with other plants too not just adeniums. As for spraying I am currently using Westland Plant Rescue as I find it is the only one effective against red spider.

Hi, thanks again for your reply and the info, I appreciate your time.
I usually feed every weekend during spring/summer and less frequently in autumn, say every 2 weeks. The fourth weekend I just use water only as I have also read that salts build up in the mix over time. Have not come across the Westland spray, I currently use Bayer's 'Pravado Ultimate Bug Killer'.
Gill from the UK.

Hi Gill and all you good people out there,
Ive been reading through and catching up on how all those lovely dr's are getting on. Gill, sorry to hear about the nightmare that met you on your return from holiday and Im glad to see that your plants are reviving somewhat. My dr's are going okay. I have only lost one dwarf arabicum seedling that I planted around November time. I have had my plants in the lightbox for approx 6 hours a day, but there is a bit of sun around this last week so I am putting them onto a south facing windowsill more often now, to try and save on the electricity a little bit. Cant wait for summer to put the wee souls back into the greenhouse and see how they come on. I see we have another lady from the uk growing and what absolutely gorgeous plants they are!!! It gives me hope for a flower bud in the future ha ha
Regards to all
Averil (UK)

Gill I'm glad to hear you have some survivors. Hope you get some blooms for all your effort over the years.

Hi Averil, nice to see you around again. Glad to read your plants are doing well, they certainly do need our care and attention, just like children! They are tough guys really when you think about it, but when ill they need some TLC.
Hopefully the UK (and elsewhere of course!) will have some decent weather in 2013, as we have not done too well in the sunshine stakes lately. The longer days will start to come around again, so all we can do is wait and see.

Hey Karyn! Thanks for the good wishes. The plants are hanging in there with no more loss to date and one other big guy is pushing out a few new growths...it's the one that still held onto a few leaves. No3 is still bald however. Rightly or wrongly I re-potted the 4 small ones if only to check on the root systems for rot. The 3 obesums looked OK, but the last survivor of the arabicum gang was dodgy. Maybe the new mix will spur it on to form a stronger root system, only time will tell.
Gill from the UK.