Adenium or the the “Desert Rose”. Keeping Adenium in our garden was something I wanted to do and had many doubts about. Mostly I started with obesium and then got a few arabicum over time. I had some issues with rot, learned some substrate lesons, modified my gardening actions and now my Adenium do much better. They are stable and growing well enough for me.
The Desert Rose is not a tropical plant, they are more desert survivalists. Can I really keep them here in the Philippines? I wondered about that, but I began to see them in many places around the area. So, what the heck, if others can keep them so can I.
Adenium Conditions
A big facet that makes it easy to grow here is the amount of sunshine we get. We get a lot of sun. Sure we get some overcast periods, but unless it is a major low pressure system or Typhoon we mainly get thunderstorms, which do not block out the sun for the entire day.
Next, tailor the pot and soil choices. The pot should NOT be overly large when compared to the existing roots. Think about keeping the plant a bit pot constrained. Be aware there are many substrate choices depending on the phase your plant is in.
- For seed propagation a mix of cocopeat, pumice, vermicast. This seems to allow growth of the seed. I have also mixed in small amounts of 7in1 soil mix and been successful growing seeds.
- For growth of the roots and caudex, cocopeat, coco chips and coco cubes, pumice, lava, and vermicast. So this mix provides more for growth but can cause root rot issues if over watered or heavy sustained rainfall. This is almost like an orchid mix really.
- For mature or standard maintenance of the plants we try to ensure we dont retain water and rot the roots of our plants. We live in the Philippines and water management is essential for healthy plants. I use a lot of pumice, lava, gravel, coarse sand and ensure good drainage holes.
Adenium issues?
Well, pests are another thing here. We have an abundance of the Green Swallowtail Moths and also Hornworms. They love to eat Adenium it seems, and they lay eggs EVERYWHERE. One infestation on a plant can deliver 20+ catepillars and they can eat every leaf from a mature plant in a matter of hours to just a day or two. When they begin to hatch, pick them off your plants. Send them on an aerial journey to see if they can already fly.
Plant links and our adenium blogs
| Scientific | Notes |
|---|---|
| A. arabicum | Bonsai, Elephant’s foot, Adanah Bush |
| A. boehmianum | Bushman Poison, (POISONOUS) |
| A. dhofarense | |
| A. multiflorum | Impala Lily |
| A. obesum | Desert Rose, Sabi Star, Kudu, Mock Azalea, Impala Lily |
| A. oliefolium | Bitter kambro |
| A. socotranum | Socotra Desert Rose |
| A. somalense | |
| A. swazicum | Swaziland Desert Rose |
- New Adenium keeper
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