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torontonian_gw

Indoor Desert Rose blooms

torontonian
18 years ago

I live in Toronto Canada... Yeah yeah not a likely place to see a Desert Rose I know ;)

I have one that is about 2.5 - 3' high and is doing very well it appears. I have some yellowing leaves that I believe is because of over-watering from the threads I have read. I generally water it once a week. I'll water it a bit less and see what happens.

The average temperature is anywhere from 20 - 30 degrees C (68-86F)

Q: Is this ok?

The average humidity is ranges from 40-50%.

Q: Is this ok?

The plant faces a large south window and in summer receives about 8 hours of direct sunlight a day. In fall / winter about 6 hours.

Q: Is this ok?

The soil doesn't have much sand in it and has gravel / wood chips in the bottom of the pot for drainage.

Q: Any suggestions on a potting mix proportion?

I fertilize it with a water soluble 20-20-20 fertilzer about once a month.

Q: Should I switch to every other month?

Q: Should I change my fertilizer?

Leaves grow like crazy on it and branches are growing 1/2" -1" a month on average.

When leaves get too yellow or brown and dry up, I cut them off.

I have not pruned it (purposely... there was an incident with another falling plant however).

2 questions...

1. Should the foot be growing along with the branches? How fast / slow proportionately should it be growing?

2. Anyone have any tips for how to get it to bloom? I've had it for over a year now and it's been going crazy with leaves and branches, however I haven't seen a bloom out of it. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Comments (17)

  • birdsnblooms
    18 years ago

    Toronto..Yellow leaves happen for different reasons, one being overwatered. Because 'desert' rose is succulent, and holds water, it should be watered sparingly in winter..not only can leaves yellow, but plant could rot.
    1. I keep my DR on the cool side in winter..68 is okay, 86 too high..Keep plant away from heating vent.
    2. 40-50% humidity is fine for tropicals, but a bit high for a desert plant, but don't fret. I keep my humidity high because I grow numerous tropicals, yet my cactus and succulents do fine.
    3. A south or west window is perfect.
    4. Any cactus soil will work..or you can make your own by using all purpose, sand and/or Perlite. Because of the number of plants I have, I mix my own soil..As long as the soil is well-draining it'll work..If it's too heavy again the plant can rot.
    5. You should withhold fertilizer from Oct-Mar. None is necessary..Your soil could get salt build up from too much fertilizer. Any all purpose fertiilzer is fine, but when used during growing season. Maybe once proper feeding time comes, you should alternate w/an all purpose one month, and flowering the next.
    Because of the season, plant will slow down/stop growing. They need a rest/dormant period.
    If possible place plant outdoors in summer..they love a vacation outdoors in bright light. Mine starts blooming in June and continues till Aug.
    Good luck w/your DR, but if it were my plant, I'd cut down on watering, only add water when soil is dry. Stop feeding altogether. And if possible place outside in spring/summer. I too remove any marred leaves, on any plant..It looks better and prevents pests from attacking a plant. Toni

  • birdinthepalm
    18 years ago

    Seems to me after reading on a number of different sites, that though they are a succulent , some of the best come from Thailand and some other very rainy climates and also those with high humidities, In general it is true that some of those countries may have a winter dry season, but their biggest problem is with overwatering though only when they have monsoons going on and the plants can get soaked day in and day out for months. They can take extra moisture during active growth and with warmth but as recommended less water when it's cooler indoors. I see mine unfortunately after having buds a month or so ago, is losing those buds and it's most likely because of the increasingly shorter days, though last winter mine flowered in late February and March, when the daylight and amount of sun has improved considerably. Hopefully mine after the "false" start , will form new buds and flower again in a few months. One site said however, they're not so daylight dependent and may flower again after heavy prunings and regrowth more that once a year, and not just seasonally. It is normal for them to shed older leaves and with changes in the season as well, and mine did that last fall before resumming regrowth in midwinter, and producing flower buds. Unfortunately rot isn't the only problem with them and they can suffer from various insects, and numerous types of nutritional problems as well, and beware of what they call "Miracle-Gro" disease in the desert roses. Not sure how it affects them , but supposedly it does.

  • siegel2
    18 years ago

    Here's site that has lots of interesting information on Desert Rose (Adenium) plants. Unfortunately, it is located in India and it has a $500.00 minimum order requirement plus shipping.

    Here's one of my favorites, "Super Noble Concubine".

    Here is a link that might be useful: Adenium website

  • birdinthepalm
    18 years ago

    It would be nice if we had more of the new cultivars and hybrids available here, though I guess some folks are finding them somewhere here in the U.S. , but I've found no comparable sites offering the fancier varieties online for U.S. sources?? At any rate that's sure a beauty, and I guess there are some that are a very dark red to burgundy, etc. etc. I must say I wish my plant had been a "standard" but at such a low cost and since they're not easily available locally, I just stumbled on one at Lowes with is a multistemmed one , instead of having a central single stem or leader. Even were I to cut off , all but one , that one left wouldn't be centered on the caudex and that might look odd anyway. Oh well, but there are plenty that are equally full or bushy and heavily flowered even without being standards I guess, though most likely those wouldn't win prizes were you to enter them in a contest. I'm just lucky to have one doing well I guess, and I'm looking forward to more flowers in the near future.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • siegel2
    18 years ago

    I bought several Desert Rose plants on ebay from this seller in Taiwan. The plants arrived quickly and in great condition. If you buy 10 plants, shipping is about $40.00. This is not a bad price considering you can't get these Adenium cultivars in the USA. He also sells seeds, but you never know if the seeds will come "true" to their mother plant. Grafts are better because you can be sure they will be the same as the mother. Check out the link below. He really has some beauties.

    Here's another favorite.

    {{gwi:597700}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: Taiwan Desert Roses

  • Eggo
    18 years ago

    Cagary, Beautiful pic. Do you have any more pictures of your flowers? Did you planted some outside like you planned?

  • birdinthepalm
    18 years ago

    Those sure are eyedazzlers and I'll keep that place in mind , once I've got growing them down pat! So far , so good with mine, but I'm still a bit worried about it in the long run, and I'm not sure I have mastered growing them and getting them to flower reliably!

  • siegel2
    18 years ago

    Eggo,

    I don't have any photos of my Adenium plants flowering. Most of the ones I have I've only had a short time so they haven't flowered yet.

    I'm planning on building a large raised bed made of landscape blocks for my Adeniums. I'm only going to fill the bed with sand so it drains really well during our winter rainy season. I understand they rot easily if they are in wet, cool soil. I'll cover the surface with a thick layer of mulch.

    I won't do the planting until May when the soil warms up. In the meantime, the Adeniums will spend the winter in pots in my heated greenhouse. I also have two plants for each of the cultivars that I have so if I kill all or some of them that I plant in the raised bed next winter, at least I'll still have one of each cultivar growing in a pot in the greenhouse. I'm even thinking of trying to cover the raised bed somehow during the winter so the plants stay dry. I sure would like to have them survive outside.

  • birdsnblooms
    18 years ago

    Cagary, do you know what he charges for 2 grafted plants? There are two I'm interested in..
    How tall are the plants he sent? Toni

  • siegel2
    18 years ago

    Toni,

    The problem with ordering only 2 plants is that they are coming all the way from Taiwan and the shipping cost per plant is a killer. Ten plants cost $40.00 shipping, but 2 plants might be almost as much. The website does have the shipping cost in Taiwan Dollars about 30 to one $US.

    The plants are large about 8 inches of plant with roots almost as long. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with them. They also come coated with an anti fungicide powder.

  • Eggo
    18 years ago

    Cagary, I sure would like to see those pictures once your project is done. Are you growing any of the varieties with the variegated leaves?

  • birdsnblooms
    18 years ago

    Cagery, oh that's ashame..You see, I've over 400 plants already, lol, and just don't have the room to order more..I thought since 10 plants was 40.00, two might be 8-9.00 which would be fine, but I just can't pay that price right now. And I don't have the room to order more..and they are beauty's. Oh well, if he still has more next spring I'll consider..thanks, Toni

  • siegel2
    18 years ago

    Eggo,

    I have this variegated one.

  • bahia
    18 years ago

    In my experience these plants prefer it plenty hot to grow well, and really do well in the tropics as well as the desert, where they get the 90F plus temps they prefer to really put on growth and blooms. In Saudi Arabia, these are found tree sized in the mountains along the west coast, and can get 18 feet tall. I remember using them on a palace landscape job in 24 inch sqaure containers, and the shrubs were 5 feet tall with hundreds of blooms. In tropical lowland Malaysia, they are mostly grown in smaller sized bonsai pots with a fast draining mix, and can take the year round rains with fast drainage of pots, because they never go dormant due to cold,(the lowest temps are always above 65F at the equator). At these latitudes, they bloom year round, and the days/nights are almost exactly 12 hours long. In Riyadh, they would only bloom in the warmest months, and briefly stop blooming in December/January when the nights would drop down into the high 40'sF, and Riyadh is located at about the same latitude as Miami.

    Watch out for mealybug, scale and whitefly, as they are particularly prone to attack in cooler weather.

  • budsie175
    11 years ago

    Just starting with 2 plants. Growing well but some of the blooms fall off before opening.
    Any thoughts?

  • karyn1
    11 years ago

    budsie175 you might want to ask this on the Adenium Forum. There could be any number of reasons for the buds dropping. If these are newly acquired plants it might just be due to the change in environment and/or transplant shock.

  • rosieroo
    9 years ago

    Torontonian,

    Did you purchase your Desert Rose in Toronto?