One of the most beautiful and vibrant desert plants is puffy adenium. It has the form of a bush or small tree with a thick base (caudex) and slowly grows in height. Despite the fact that adenium belongs to poisonous plants, it is often grown at home. Let us consider in more detail the characteristics of the flower, especially its propagation and growth, as well as diseases and methods of dealing with them.

Origin of flower

The name Adenium obese literally translates as "desert rose." The homeland of the flower is Saudi Arabia, where it grows in a hot desert and delights passers-by with its exotic thickened trunk shape and large bright flowers. In the natural habitat, adenium is also found in Senegal, Kenya, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Description and danger of indoor plants

Fat Adenium grows in hot desert conditions. Therefore, it is absolutely unpretentious in care when grown in normal room conditions. The leaves of the flower may be glossy, saturated color, or pale and down. Thanks to the efforts of breeders, there are many options for coloring his flowers. The inside of the petals is lighter than the edge. The diameter of the flowers is 7 cm.

Adenium flowering begins at the age of 18 months. Depending on the variety and growing conditions, flowering can last from 2 months to 1 year. Usually adenium pleases the owner with large inflorescences from spring to autumn.

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The main characteristics of the appearance:

Root system	Powerful and branched
Stem	Fleshy, with Caudex
Leaf shape	Oblong, round, pointed ends
Leaf color	Green, motley, white, red, yellow
Flower shape	In the form of a funnel with five petals
Flower color	White, dark red, burgundy, blue.

Fat Adenium belongs to the family of couture and is a poisonous flower. The poison is contained in the juice of the plant, so when pruning, the grower needs to wear gloves, and after interaction, wash your hands with soap. The poison of the plant causes food poisoning in humans. You can’t grow a flower in a house where pets live or small children. Did you know? African Aborigines process the tips of their arrows with juice from the stem of the adenium so that its poison acts on the prey or the enemy.

Breeding methods

Adenium can be propagated at home. Reproduction technology is simple and even an inexperienced grower can cope with the task. Consider two simple ways to propagate a flower.

Seeds

You can grow fat adenium on your own from purchased seeds. It is important to properly prepare the seeds and soil.

Process description:

1. Soak the seeds in warm water a few hours before sowing. Add store growth stimulant.
2. Prepare the soil: mix peat with coarse sand or expanded clay in a ratio of 1: 1.
3. Take a small container for landing, with small holes in the bottom for draining excess water.
4. First, a layer of drainage is laid, then - soil. Seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil and pressed slightly inward. Then they are covered with cling film or a cut part of a plastic bottle.
5. Seeds are provided with moderate watering, you can spray them with water from a sprayer.
6. The temperature in the room with seeds should not be lower than +25 ° С. Seeds should be regularly ventilated.
7. When the seeds have sprouted, the pot is placed in a warm room with good sunlight.

A flower grown from seeds begins to bloom after 2 years. During the first 12 months, it needs to be replanted about 3 times, depending on the growth rate of the seedling.

The disadvantage of this method of propagation is that it is impossible to determine how selected seeds are suitable for growing a new plant.

Cuttings

This method of reproduction is the simplest. When pruning, one of the cuttings is used to grow a new plant. Its length should be at least 10 cm. The cut of the cut should be carefully dried for two days and treated with a root growth stimulator.

Root the stem in two ways:

• in warm water (about +24 ° C);
• in the soil from a mixture of sand, perlite and charcoal, the stalk is covered in order to maintain humidity and kept at a temperature of +25 ... + 35 ° C and good lighting.

When new leaves have formed on the handle, this is a signal that the reproduction was successful. Important! The rooting process takes from 2 weeks to 2 months. The main disadvantage of this method is that the new seedling does not form caudex during growth.

Care and growing conditions

Fat Adenium does not require special conditions for growing, except for maintaining temperature and moderate watering. But the general recommendations for caring for this plant should still be followed.

It is better to plant adenium in February or March. With the onset of spring and summer, this will provide the young plant with enough sunlight and a comfortable air temperature. Flower growing tips are provided below.

Pot selection

The root system of the plant needs a lot of space. For fat adenium, you need to prepare a round and wide pot with a shallow depth. If the flower is small, then it can be planted in a wide and deep pot. The presence of drainage holes in the tank is important, the more there are, the better.

The flowerpot material does not matter, but the color of the pot should be light. Adenium needs to be kept in the sun, and dark pots are very hot in direct sunlight. All the heat is transferred to the root system, which is bad for the growth and development of adenium.

Learn how to plant indoor flowers in a pot.

Soil and fertilizer

The flower needs loose soil through which water and air freely penetrate. For growth, its roots need a nutritious soil of neutral or weak acidity.

An approximate percentage of the soil looks like this:

• coconut fiber - 50%;
• deciduous land - 20%;
• perlite - 10%;
• expanded clay - 20% (it is better to use small).

The first element of the list is not easy to find in stores, so in practice for adenium use ordinary soil for growing cacti. So that the water in such soil does not stagnate, you need to add crushed pieces of broken brick.

To stimulate the growth and flowering of adenium, you need to feed it with fertilizers. Ready-made organic and mineral compounds containing:

• nitrogen - to increase the vegetative mass;
• phosphorus - for lush and long-term flowering;
• potassium - to strengthen the stem and root system.

Did you know? The diameter of the fat adenium caudex can reach 1 meter. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied in early spring. During the period of growth and vegetation, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers can be applied up to two times a month.

Temperature and humidity

Humidity in the room does not play a big role for the flower. In summer, you can spray it with water. But you need to do this infrequently and make sure that moisture does not get on the inflorescences.

Adenium reacts to too wet soil by rotting the root system, as a result of which the flower may die.

When watering in the summer, you need to make sure that the soil in the pot is completely wet. During this period, adenium enters the active phase of growth, so you can not allow the complete drying of the soil in a flowerpot. But too zealous with frequent watering is not worth it. Even during the heat, the roots of the plants can begin to rot in too wet soil.

In winter, adenium enters a state of rest, so it is enough to water once a month if there is warm and sunny weather. You can completely stop watering in the winter, if you keep the flower at a lower temperature. In this case, in the spring, you first need to make sure that the adenium wakes up. To do this, you need to put it in a bright place and observe the awakening of the kidneys. Water the flower with small portions of water 2 weeks after leaving the dormant state. Important! If the adenium is first watered after winter before it awakens, it may die. For growth and flowering in spring and summer, adenium needs an air temperature of +24 ... + 35 ° С. With the onset of autumn, the flower gradually hibernates and can drop part of the leaves. In winter, it can be kept in a room with a temperature of +10 ° С. But watering the flower is not recommended, so as not to ruin its roots.

Lighting

The flower is used to growing under the bright sun. Therefore, for adenium, you need to highlight a brightly lit place. Thanks to direct sunlight, he will be able to gain strength for the formation of buds and flowering. Adenium is constantly drawn to sunlight. So that its branches do not bend, you can periodically turn the flower to the sun in different directions.

Often the plant on the windowsill stands so that part of its stem is constantly in the shade. In this case, turning the pot during the period of active growth of adenium is not recommended. If previously darkened areas of the stem are sharply placed under direct sunlight, then burns may occur.

Young flower bushes have a thinner stem than adult plants. Therefore, their stems must be protected from exposure to sunlight, especially in autumn and spring. For this, the base of the flower is covered with a mosquito net.

Cropping and shaping the crown

To make the crown of the fat adenium look beautiful, you need to trim it. Usually young branches begin to grow after the plant has bloomed or when the base of its stem has become thick enough. You need to pinch the flower branches in late February or early March, before the period of active growth begins. New branches appear at the cutting site after 1.5–2 months.

Do not shorten the main stem of the plant too much. This will contribute to the growth of a large number of thin branches and spoil the appearance of the crown. Adult specimens are cut at their discretion, giving the crown the desired appearance. Did you know? Under natural desert conditions, fat adenium can grow to a height of 5 meters. To give adenium exoticism, pruning is also carried out. It can be carried out only on adult copies.

One way to trim roots beautifully is to use a round plate. The seedling is placed on this plate, and the roots are arranged in a circle, cutting them to the desired length. Then they are fixed with toothpicks. In this position, the adenium root system resembles the tentacles of an octopus and looks beautiful.

Transfer

The plant needs a lot of space, and it needs to be transplanted often. The root system of adenium grows rapidly, so two transplants may be required during the year. The first transplant is recommended at the age of 3 months.

Read more about how to properly transplant indoor plants.

Plant transplant recommendations:

1. The flower needs to be replanted in the spring, when it begins the growing season.
2. It is better to transplant in the evening or in cloudy weather.
3. Having taken the roots of the plant from the old tank, you need to inspect them for rot.
4. A drainage layer and soil are laid at the bottom of the new pot, and then a seedling is placed, filling its roots with soil from above.
5. Within 2 days after transplantation, it is better to put the adenium in a dark place.
6. So that the roots do not begin to decay, after a transplant it is better not to water the flower for 2-3 days.
7. If during the transplant it was sunny or very light, then after it you need to water the flower.

Video: Adenium Transplant

Features of outdoor cultivation

Fat Adenium is used to growing in hot desert conditions. He needs a stably high air temperature and not too wet soil. Therefore, in the conditions of our climate with low temperatures in the autumn-winter period, it is impossible to grow fat adenium in open ground. Important! Even in the winter, when the adenium falls into a state of hibernation, it should not be at a temperature lower than +10 ° C. Sometimes the plant is transplanted into the open ground for the summer. In this case, it is necessary to cover the flower and part of the earth around it during rain. This will help prevent root rot in too moist soil. It is also important to monitor the night temperature.

Major diseases and pests

If the adenium is properly treated, the flower will not hurt. But sometimes pests can start in a pot with a plant. In this case, it is important to take measures in time to save the adenium from death.

Problems that arise most often:

1. Leaf fall. Adenium discards foliage at the wrong time, despite moderate watering and maintaining a comfortable temperature. The reason is poor lighting or lack of fertilizer. The lack of sunlight causes yellowing, and then falling leaves. To fix the problem, the plant is placed in a bright place and fed with nitrogen fertilizers.
2. Leaves curl around the edges or grow poorly. However, they look dried out, lethargic and weak. The reason for this phenomenon may be a lack of phosphorus in the soil. To restore strength to the leaves and make them even again, adenium is watered with phosphoric fertilizers.
3. Powdery Worm. A sign that the adenium is affected by this pest is weak growth, a white waxy coating or small black dots on the stem and leaves. At the initial stage, to control the pest, it is enough to wash the areas with a white coating with a cotton swab dipped in soapy water. After that, they are sprayed with an alcohol solution or cyclamen infusion. With a large number of pests, insecticides are used. To prevent the appearance of mealy worms, the leaves and trunk of the adenium are periodically treated with an alcohol solution or infusion of garlic.
4. Spider mite. Settles on the underside of leaves. Signs of the appearance of the pest are visible small holes on the top of the sheet and a thin web on the bottom of it. The affected leaf begins to turn yellow, then it dries and dies. An insecticide solution is used to control the pest. For prevention, you need to periodically spray the leaves of adenium with infusion of onion husks and regularly disinfect the equipment with a solution of caustic soda.

Fat Adenium is popular for growing at home due to its exotic appearance, beautiful inflorescences and unpretentiousness in care. If you adhere to the recommendations for its cultivation, it will delight the owner for a long time with large and bright colors.