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https://www.gkvks.com/wp-content/plugins/dmca-badge/libraries/sidecar/classes/ adenium – GKVKs – Gardening Tips and Store https://www.gkvks.com Gardening Tips and Store Sun, 22 Aug 2021 07:41:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://www.gkvks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-icon-512-32x32.png adenium – GKVKs – Gardening Tips and Store https://www.gkvks.com 32 32 10 TIPS & TRICKS TO SUCCULENTS AND CACTII CARE – A COMPLETE GUIDE https://www.gkvks.com/10-tips-tricks-to-succulents-and-cactii-care-a-complete-guide/ https://www.gkvks.com/10-tips-tricks-to-succulents-and-cactii-care-a-complete-guide/#respond Sun, 22 Aug 2021 07:41:15 +0000 https://www.gkvks.com/?p=14328 In Today’s post, let’s look into 10 tips and tricks on successfully growing healthy looking succulents & cacti and learn 4 different methods of propagating succulents easily.

Whether you are growing succulents & cacti indoors or outdoors, it’s really important to learn how to care for succulents and some very important Do’s and Don’ts.  Let us find out how not to kill your succulents and how to keep them healthy and happy.

  1. MEANING OF SUCCULENT: Succulent means full of juice : juicy. So these are plants with fleshy tissues adapted to water storage. Some random examples of succulents are: Echeverias, Haworthias, Aeoniums, Gasteria, Sedums, donkey’s tail, All varieties of Kalanchoes, Jades and Crassulas, Aloe vera, All types of cactus like fairy castle cactus, Bunny ears cactus, Pincushion cactus, christmas cactus, and, the most beautiful Adeniums or Desert roses.
  2. SUNLIGHT: Most people think succulents are indoor plants. No doubt they can be grown indoors with proper care or that extra or special care. But succulents love full sunlight and do well with at least five or six hours of direct sun per day. This again depends on the type of succulent. And also, immature succulents or seedlings need lesser sun and have to be gradually introduced to sunlight like the Hardening Off procedure we follow for vegetable seedlings like 1-hour sun exposure for day 1, 2 hours for day, 3 hours for day 3 and so on.   We will discuss more useful tips and tricks like how to avoid elongating and ugly growing succulents in the later part of this episode.
  3. WATERING: This is another very important factor for successful and healthy growth of succulents and cacti. The watering frequency depends on the season of the year. In spring to summer, the succulents grow to their full potential, like any other plant. And in winter season the growth is slowed down and many succulents go into a state of dormancy or inactivity, just like other plants. So, the watering requirement is drastically reduced in winter season. Now, lets talk about how to water, how much to water and how frequently to water. This is very important because overwatering can result in mold and rot and can kill the plant.  Succulent and cacti are different from other plants with thick fleshy tissues like leaves or stems are adapted to water storage. So, a lot of water is already stored in these tissues and hence, the water requirement of these plants is very less compared to other plants.
    While watering a succulent or a cactus, you need to stick to two rules to prevent over watering and rot. The first rule to follow is the Finger Dip method: Insert your finger to at least one inch into the soil to check the moisture. Water them only if soil is completely dry. You can also dip a moisture meter if you have. And second rule is to avoid water spillage over the fleshy leaves to prevent rot. For this you can use a watering can with a long nozzle to water over the soil and avoid water spillage over the leaves. Then thirdly water it thoroughly and deeply till the water flows out of the drain holes. Generally, in most tropical climates, watering weekly once or max twice a week is sufficient if kept in direct sun.
  4. POTTING SOIL: This is another important factor for healthy succulent growth. Succulents and cacti need a soil mix that drains very quickly, so regular potting soil is not recommended to grow succulents.  So, you need to add stuff that helps drain out water very quickly. One such succulent potting mix formula is:

30 to 40% of Garden Soil, 30 to 40% Sand, 10% to 20% pebbles or some small coarse rocks or pumice or perlite if available, 10 to 20% Compost like cowdung or vermicompost, Optionally you can add some 10% Charcoal – small pieces. Do not use cocopeat for succulents especially if you grow them indoors or keep them under indirect sunlight, because it can retain water and might result in mold and rot due to water retention.

  • POT SIZE: Choosing the right sized container is also important for healthy growth of succuelnts and again this depends on the type of succulents you are growing. Most succulents have a shallow and delicate root system which do not need too deep containers and it can increase the risk of rot. For most succulents we recommend a wider shallow container for best results, because a wider container with enough space will help in propagation of succulents which produce offsets or babies from sides, which can be separated and grown as independent plants. Also make sure there are multiple drainage holes in the container you choose.  You can also grow multiple succulents in a wide container. Make sure you give some spacing between each plant.
  • FERTILIZERS: Succulents do not need much fertilizers, but you can give them light feedings like a teaspoon of vermicompost or decomposed cowdung once in 3 months and increase this during the active season – that’s the spring and summer season.
  • PEST CONTROL: Mostly affected by mealybugs and the soil by the fungus gnats. You can spray neem oil once in about 15 days as preventive measure or weekly once to get rid of these if already infested. You can even water the succulent once with the same neem oil solution to get rid of fungus gnats. The dose os 5 to 10 ml neem oil per litre of water. The best alternative to kill fungus gnats is 250 ml hydrogen peroxide 3% per litre of water and water the soil.
  • CLEANING SUCCULENTS: Wipe off the leaves and spines gently with a damp cloth to get rid of dust and this helps in better photosynthesis.
  • REPOTTING: You have to take special care while repotting a succulent, because they are more prone to mold and rot after repotting. To avoid problems, always mix some antifungal powder or some neem cake powder into the potting mix during repotting.
  • PROPAGATION: There are several, simple ways to propagate succulents. First method is: Growing from Cuttings: This is best applied in case the succulents have grown too leggy with elongated stems. This elongation of stem happens when there is little sunlight or if kept in indirect light. They elongate their stems for seeking sunlight. As a result they look ugly and take bad bends and turns. So, as discussed – keep them in full direct sun and make it a habit to rotate the containers once in a while to avoid bends and provide uniform sunlight.  Well, coming back to propagation, Take the cuttings and leave it in air to dry for 2 days for callous formation – that’s something like wound healing and sealing to prevent rot. Then insert the cutting into a loose draining soil. Just keep the soil moist, do not water it too much. It should start rooting in 2 weeks.

The Second method is Propagating from Leaves: Yes, you can grow succulents from a single leaf. Just remove an actively growing healthy leaf from a mature succulent plant. Make sure you strip from the base, taking out the entire leaf. Leave this to air dry for 2 days and then just place it superficially over the soil. You should see a tiny plant popping out of this leaf with formation of tiny roots.

The Third Method is from Offsets or Babies, which are produced from the mother plant like aloe versa, haworthias and echeverias. Most of the succulents produce these babies which can be separated from the mother plant and planted independently.

The Fourth Method is growing from seeds: This is the slowest method to grow succulents. But if you have the time and patience, give it a try! Seeds of mature plants are located in the seed pod produced after flowering. The seeds can be collected from the pods and planted in a clean seed sowing mix or sand.

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COMPLETE GUIDE TO GROWING ADENIUM – THE DESERT ROSE https://www.gkvks.com/complete-guide-to-growing-adenium-the-desert-rose/ https://www.gkvks.com/complete-guide-to-growing-adenium-the-desert-rose/#respond Wed, 28 Oct 2020 14:53:37 +0000 http://www.gkvks.com/?p=14136 Today’s post is a complete guide on Adenium or the Desert Rose plant, including Important Topics like it’s General Care tips, Nursery secrets of Growing Adeniums from Seeds, How to get the seeds, 5 Tricks to make the caudex grow thicker, How to save a dying Adenium or dealing with adenium rot, and lot more.   

Adenium obesum, also known as desert rose, is a succulent plant with red, pink, white, and many varieties of flowers. Adenium is an extremely beautiful plant and sometime called Natural Bonsai, because of its thick stems and the modified fat lower stem called as Caudex.

Let’s Start with:

How to grow Adenium from Seeds: The most important criteria to grow from seeds – the Seeds must be fresh and healthy or from a reliable source. The ones you get online may be old and may not germinate. If you have one adenium and you take proper care of it, you should good flowering and then seed pod formation soon. It’s best to grow from fresh seeds or buy a plant from a nursery or even online. You can purchase adenium online because it’s a drought tolerant plant and easily survives without water even for 7 days.
Well, When you are growing adenium from seeds, you need to apply some tricks and hacks for successful germination.
First thing you need to do when you notice an adenium seed pod is tie some thread around the pod to prevent spillage of seeds before the seed pod matures and releases seeds. It has a special seed dispersal mechanism by wind, where each seed had this fluffy stuff which is easily carried away by wind. Here you can see, I have protected the seed pod from its natural dispersal mechanism. When the seed pod starts drying and cracks open, it’s the time to harvest the seeds. Separate the seeds by gently pulling this fluffy stuff……. So these are fresh adenium seeds we just harvested!

Now the first secret to get a great success rate in germination? These seeds are very delicate and are more prone to fungus. So what you need to do immediately is pour in some antifungal powder like bavistin or SAAF or any antifungal powder like Carbendazin + mancozeb combination. You can also add a mixture of cinnamon and turmeric powder if you don’t have antifungal. Coat the seeds with this antifungal powder whether you keep them aside for storage or plan to sow them immediately.

Now the next important step: The growing medium. You can use sand or some cocopeat mixed in it or soil plus sand plus cocopeat. If you have perlite, this is another great stuff. The idea is to have a loose well draining light weight soil mix for the seeds to sprout.  You can mix small amount of anti fungal powder into this mix which combats the fungal rot.
Plant the seeds and cover with a thin layer of potting mix and do not plant too deep, they may not sprout. Then finally, you also mix some antifungal into the water or spray can and use the same solution to spray or gently sprinkle some water once every two days.

You can see they should start germinating within a week. On third or fourth week, you should see the beautiful tiny caudex of these babies. When they are about two months old, you repot these into independent containers. During transplant, you need to remember few important points during the process of repotting as well as post transplant care, like:

  • Choosing clean containers or if using old containers, you can clean them using baking soda.
  • Then comes the Potting mix: You can use any succulent potting mix. Or make your own using a simple recipe: like 50 percent sand, 40 percent Garden soil and 10% compost like cowdung or vermicompost. You can also mix perlite and other stuff if you have. You can find a detailed episode on succulent potting mix recipe from a link in description.
  • Then comes Repotting: Have a look at the structure and the markings. The first mark is to demarcate the level above and below the soil. Make sure you insert the plant’s future caudex above the level of soil. If its too below the soil level, it can lead to rot and death.
  • Then finally, water this once preferably mixing some antifungal in water and leave it in indirect sunlight for the first week. Water them occasionally like once a week or so depending on the climate.

General Care Tips for Growing Adeniums:

  1. SOIL: This is the most important factor for successfully growing adenium. It’s a desert rose and hence prefers a sandy soil. Make sure you have at least 50 percent sand or perlite mixed in your potting soil. You can check my detailed episode on making the best succulent potting mix recipe from a link in description.
  2. WATERING: If your soil is really well draining, the frequency of watering does not matter much, like for instance if you have lot of rains in your zone, its almost like daily watering. And also make sure, you have good drainage holes in your container. Otherwise, generally watering weekly twice or even once is the general rule for adenium like any other succulent depending on the climate of the zone you live in.
  3. SUNLIGHT: This is a very important factor for proper flowering. Adenium needs maximum sunlight and good humidity for flowering and growth. Atleast 6 hours of direct sunlight is a must! Also encourage pollinator insects like honey bees and butterflies to encourage seed pod formation.
  4. FERTILIZERS: Most recommend chemical fertilizers like water soluble NPK, but I always use organic ones like simple decomposed cowdung or vermicompost like a handful of it once a month. And during repotting mixing a table spoon of steamed bone meal or Organic rock phosphate for vegans. This much is sufficient to make the roots stronger and induce enormous flowering in all seasons except in it dormant season – that’s winter.
  5. PEST CONTROL: Its commonly affected by sucking pests like aphids, mealy bugs and mites. Weekly spray of 5 to 10 ml neem oil in 1 litre of water will easily control this problem.

5 Tricks to make caudex grow thicker:

Some Adeniums develop a thicker caudex themselves, perhaps determined by the genetic characteristics of the plant, but others may require human interventions. Apply these 5 Tricks and hacks to make the adenium caudex powerful and thicker.

  1. POT SIZE & SHAPE SELECTION: Select a pot that is wider than deep. This forces the root system to become exposed to air as it grows and we call it Training your Adenium or Adenium Bonsai Training or adenium root training.  Depending on the size of your plant, take a wider container, roughly about 2-3 inches extra space around the existing caudex. And the depth of the pot of about 4 to 6 inches should be fine.
  2. WATERING TRICK – ONLY water it when it’s starving and very thirsty. That is when your soil is fully dry like using the finger dip method.  1 OR 2 INCH inches of your finger. And whenever you water it GIVE FULL WATERING. This frequency depends on the climate. Like in summer, the frequency increases where as in winter, this can be weekly once.  Make sure the soil is well draining as discussed already.
  3. CUTTING THE CENTRAL ROOT –  the tap root of adenium. The caudex is actually the storage organ of adenium – This is an adaptation from mainly the stem and also partly the root. This cutting helps to make the caudex wider and thicker. But perform this step at your own risk very carefully, because there is a risk of rot and death of the plant. Before carrying out cutting, try to wash or spray the root with Hydrogen peroxide solution, about 1 teaspoon in 1 liter or water. Or first wash the dirt in running water and then spray some h2o2 solution on the roots. Make sure when you perform cutting, disinfect the cutting tool with a hydrogen peroxide solution or any disinfectant. You can cut it carefully without cutting or damaging some side roots. After cutting apply a Fungicide powder like SAAF. SAAF is a brand name for combination fungicide with Carbendazim  and Mancozeb. You leave this in air for 2 days to form a callous wound. Then you can repot by placing some flat object like a plastic lid below this root flat and then repot.
  4. PRUNING: PRUNING of branches helps to increase caudex.  This is because most of the plant energy is diverted to growing thicker caudex rather than leaf and flower development. You can leave few branches or leaves for photosynthesis. The pruning will not only increase caudex size, but also increase branching and flowering.  Remember to seal the cut end with candle wax or a fungicide powder to protect your plant from rot. If it’s a grafted adenium, you should always cut above the graft. IF its seed grown plant, you can hard prune or  cut at the level of caudex, so that more branches emerge out from the caudex itself. The best time to prune adeniums as recommended by many experts is after the spring or when temperatures are high. You can check my episode on some Important Pruning Tips and precautions from a link in description below.
  5. REPOTTING and RAISING THE CAUDEX to Half to One Inch,  every 3 to 6 months. This trick will not only increase the caudex size but also give a beautiful bonsai look to the plant.

How to save a Dying Adenium or How to treat Adenium Rot:

There are two problems to diagnose. One is root rot which can lead to stem rot and death of the plant. The second problem to differentiate from the first one is soft caudex or soft stems which may or may not destroy the plant.
You can carefully look for Some signs of root rot or impending danger like:
a. Leaves becoming yellow and dropping,
b. Caudex pimples – like If you see some pimple like spots popping up on the caudez, this may indicate too much water inside the caudex and the plant is trying to creat exit pathways for this excess water.
c. Softening of the caudex or branches is another sign. Normally the caudex and branches are firm when you press with fingers. But if its getting soft, then there is a danger.
d. Inspect of any Injury. Generally injured stems or caudex can start to rot from the injury point. This is called Focal rot and is easy to treat when diagnosed in early stages.

Well, The Treatment steps vary depending on the signs and symptoms.

If it’s a focal rot, you need to cut off that portion using a clean knife and then apply antifungal powder over the wound and just leave it to heal and keep it in full sunlight. Do not pour water over this wound.

If the caudex is becoming soft, you can remove the plant and inspect its roots. Then soak this in a strong fungicide solution for few minutes and then hang it in air in sunlight for 2 to 4 days. It should start shrinking and possibly start healing. If its getting firm, then you can repot in a fresh potting soil and then water with antifungal mixed and leave it undisturbed for a week.

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Adenium Obesum Seedlings Transplantation (repotting) https://www.gkvks.com/adenium-obesum-seedlings-transplantation-repotting/ https://www.gkvks.com/adenium-obesum-seedlings-transplantation-repotting/#respond Mon, 02 Sep 2019 15:28:21 +0000 http://www.gkvks.com/?p=2983 In our previous post, we showed you the nursery secrets to successfully grow adenium from seeds. Today we will show you some basics of transplanting adenium seedlings after 2 months of growth.

Well, Now these beautiful little adenium seedlings  are about 2 months old.

2 month old adenium seedlings

This is the best time to repot them into independent containers, because the nutrient requirement will increase as they grow and also increased chances of overcrowding and due to this the more aggressive ones will siphon supply off the nutrients from their neighbours affecting the weaker ones.  

At about 2 months, they are about 2 to 3 inches in length and remember they are not so delicate or sensitive as you might think. You can transplant or repot them easily. But you need to remember few important points during the process of repotting and post transplant care.

Here are some 10 useful points to remember:

  1. Choosing Containers: You can use 4 to 6 inch clean new containers or clean up existing containers with baking soda or any mild disinfectant and make sure they have good number of drainage holes.
  2. Potting Mix: You can use any succulent potting mix with about 50 percent sand, Garden soil and perlite and other optional stuff as mentioned in one of my post on Potting mix for succulents and cacti.
  3. Taking out Seedlings: You can use the spoon method to carefully dig out the little ones by holding a leaf and gently digging and pulling out. This should be easy because we have germinated the seeds in sand and cocopeat.
  4. Inspect the seedlings and discard any rotting or rotten ones.
  5. Repotting: Have a look at the structure and the markings. The first mark is to demarcate the level above and below the soil. Make sure you insert the plant’s future caudex above the level of soil. If its too below the soil level, it can lead to rot and death.
  6. Optional Tap Root Cutting: This step can be performed after 6 months or 1 year to make the caudex more fatter. This time it may be little risky to cut the tap root at the mark shown here. I have shown all steps to make the caudex thicker in one my older episodes last year.
  7. After Repotting: Its always safe to either spray and antifungal solution like bavistin or water these with dilute antifungal mixed in water.
  8. Water Requirement: Check the soil for moisture before watering. Over watering can kill these little ones. Roughly you can water once in 3 to 5 days.
  9. Fertilizer: If you have added some compost into the potting mix, they don’t require any feeding for atleast 2 or 3 months.  If you use NPK water soluble feed, water them with a 50 percent dilute solution of this once in 15 days for faster growth.
  10. Sunlight: This is very important. After repotting keep them in indirect light or even shade for 3 to 4 days and then shift to full sunlight once they are out of transplant shock.
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3 SECRETS TO GROWING ADENIUM FROM SEEDS – THE ADENIUM STORY! https://www.gkvks.com/3-secrets-to-growing-adenium-from-seeds-the-adenium-story/ https://www.gkvks.com/3-secrets-to-growing-adenium-from-seeds-the-adenium-story/#respond Sun, 30 Jun 2019 02:54:07 +0000 http://www.gkvks.com/?p=2948 Today I am going to reveal you an interesting story on my 5 adeniums or desert rose plants. I will share my complete experience on growing adenium plants and reveal three nursery gardening secrets to grow adenium from seeds with 100 % success results. I will also show you the comparison between adenium seeds purchased from amazon vs the fresh seeds harvested from adenium seed pods.  

To begin! I received these 5 bare rooted baby adenium plants about an year back, gifted by my dearest gardener friend Ram. These travelled over a 1000 miles to reach the destination in a great condition, This is because these are excellent drought tolerant plants and rightly called desert rose. So, you can safely purchase adenium plants online if it’s not available at your local nursery.

For beginners, Adenium Obesum is a succulent plant which stores lot of water in its stem and also the modified part of the stem called the Caudex.  We have discussed these in detail in my other adenium videos.

Before I reveal you the three nursery secrets on growing adenium, I will quickly brief you on 5 important care tips for adenium.

  1. SOIL: This is the most important factor for successfully growing adenium. It’s a desert rose and hence prefers a sandy soil. Make sure you have atleast 50 percent sand or perlite mixed in your potting soil. For details on the perfect potting mix for adenium or any succulent, I have detailed episode on this topic. You can check that link at the end screen of this video.
  2. WATERING: If your soil is really well draining, the frequency of watering does not matter much, like for instance if you have lot of rains in your zone, its almost like daily watering. And also make sure, you have good drainage holes in your container. Otherwise, generally watering weekly twice is the general rule for adenium like any other succulent.
  3. SUNLIGHT: This is a very important factor for proper flowering. Adenium needs maximum sunlight and good humidity for flowering and growth. Atleast 6 hours of direct sunlight is a must!
  4. FERTILIZERS: Most recommend chemical fertilizers like water soluble NPK, but I always use organic ones like simple decomposed cowdung or vermicompost like a handful of it once a month. And during repotting mixing a table spoon of steamed bone meal will do the job and induce enormous flowering in all seasons except in it dormant season – that’s winter.
  5. PEST CONTROL: Its commonly affected by sucking pests like aphids, mealy bugs and mites. Weekly spray of 10 ml neem oil in 1 litre of water will easily control this problem.

Now, lets look into the three Nursery secrets on how to grow adenium from seeds.

To start this story, I purchased adenium seeds from amazon and followed all tips perfectly to germinate adenium seeds. I have shown this in a detailed video some time ago. You can check a link to that episode in the description below. But the result of these amazon seeds was really bad, not even a single seed germinated.

Then recently, one of my adeniums started developing a seed pod. First thing you need to do when you notice adenium seed pod is tie some thread around the pod to prevent spillage of seeds before the seed pod matures and releases seeds. It has a special seed dispersal mechanism by wind, where each seed had this fluffy stuff which is easily carried away by wind. Here you can see, I have protected the seed pod from its natural dispersal mechanism. When the seed pod starts drying and cracks open, it’s the time to harvest the seeds. Separate the seeds by gently pulling this fluffy stuff as shown in this pic.   

Adenium Seed Pod

So these are fresh adenium seeds we just harvested!

Now the first secret to get a great success rate in germination? These seeds are very delicate and are more prone to fungus. So what you need to do immediately is pour in some antifungal powder like bavistin or any antifungal powder like Carbendazin + mancozeb combination like the SAAF brand powder. Coat the seeds with this antifungal powder whether you keep them aside for storage or plan to sow them immediately.

Now the second nursery secret: The growing medium. You can use pure sand or some cocopeat mixed in it. What they actually do is, take fine sand and sterilize it by keeping in full sunlight for atleast 2 or 3 days or if you are growing in small scale, you can even microwave this sand. I think if you are using anti fungal powder, this step is perhaps optional.

Now the third secret and then finally the results of this process on day 6, day 10, day 12 and day 15 in the video at the bottom of this post.

And one more thing: You also mix some antifungal powder into this sand or cocopeat. And while sowing the seeds try to maintain a space of atleast an inch to avoid overcrowding. You can do this better, here I have not done this perfectly.

Then finally, you also mix some antifungal into the water or spray can and use the same solution to spray or gently sprinkle some water once every two days. Do not flood the seeds with water, this can damage the seeds.

Please Watch the RESULTS on Day 5 till Day 15 in the Video below.

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ADENIUM Care Tips in Rain – How to Protect Adenium in monsoon https://www.gkvks.com/adenium-care-tips-in-rain-how-to-protect-adenium-in-monsoon/ https://www.gkvks.com/adenium-care-tips-in-rain-how-to-protect-adenium-in-monsoon/#respond Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:17:03 +0000 http://www.gkvks.com/?p=2334 Today we will look into top 5 Adenium Tips and Hacks to apply during rainy season in order to protect it from rot and fungus.

Generally, for most plants, rain water has lot of benefits that ordinary bore or tap water. And growth of plants is accelerated in rains and they appear lusher, greener and cleaner in rainy season.

Please do not skip these few important scientific reasons, am gonna discuss before listing out the top 5 hacks and tips. It will hardly take a minute.

Well, There are many reasons why rainwater is more suitable for plants than tap water or bore water, but the most important is simple chemistry – The  rain water is free of chlorine and fluoride which is a cause for leaf burning specially at edges.  And more over it has extra oxygen in form of h2o2 – that is hydrogen peroxide in small amounts, which is so beneficial for plants. I have separate videos on H2O2 in gardening and also leaf browning and leaf yellowing topics – you can check that later from my channel.

Another important concept to remember is: Since air is 78 percent nitrogen and nitrogen during rain, is available for immediate uptake for leaves and roots, and this makes the plant more green and lushy.

THE BAD NEWS IS ADENIUMS AND SUCCULENT PLANTS MUST BE PROTECTED IN RAINY SEASON TO PREVENT THEM FROM ROTTING. The problem of death in adenium during the rainy season is NOT from rain. Just like how other plants benefit from rain, Adenium  too can derive these benefits of rain, but we need to protect it from rot in rainy season by following some simple practical tips to help Adenium.

Now we will look into top 5 important tips and hacks to protect adenium in rainy season.

  1. SHIFTING Adeniums  to  Shelter from Rains: This is the First thing you think about to protect adeniums from rotting in rains, specially if its raining heavily and almost daily.  But this is not always practical for many of us. One reason because it also requires sunlight for proper growth and flowering and also for practical reasons like lack of space and stuff like that. You can also consider building a temporary shelter by tying a waterproof plastic sheet or any other similar solution specially if the rain drops are too big and can hit the soft flowers and buds and damage them. But if you have strong winds blowing, this might fail.
  2. SOIL check: Recheck the soil drainage system. Firstly check the drainage holes and secondly, the soil quality for draining out water immediately. You can consider changing the potting mix and choose a much more well draining type of soil. You can mix something like orchid mix or cactus mix into the soil or lots of perlite, piece of pine bark, more sand and pebbles and things like that. Also do not add any fertilizer into this mix – Because as I already said, during the rainy season Nitrogen in the air is already high.
  3. USE OF A FUNGICIDE:  You have to use fungicide in many situations in rainy season. Firstly spray a fungicide at the beginning of rains and if it raining more frequently, spray every 3-5 days, then atleast weekly once. Then also if you are repotting adenium, you can water your adenium plant with a very dilute solution of fungicide.  What I use is a fungicide powder called SAAF – tahts its brand name. Its actually Carbendazim 12% + Mancozeb 63% WP. SO it’s a Double action fungicide – systemic as well as contact fungicide. For beginners, Contact fungicide effect is from spraying on the plant and systemic effect by getting absorbed from the roots into the water conducting tissues of the plant – like how we use systemic antibiotic injections intravenously  and topical or contact creams or ointments on our skin – that’s similar to contact fungicide.

The Dosage of this fungicide: You can use a quarter teaspoon per liter of water to spray this fungicide and little more diluted if you are watering your plant.

  1. PROTECTING YOUR BABY ADENIUMS OR SMALL ADENIUMS, Better shift them to shelter and do not expose them to Rains, because the roots are young and not strong and can rot easily.
  2. Then Coming to a Simple Adenium Hack in rainy season:  Take a polythene sheet. You can also cut this sheet from your shopping bag. Then cover it around the plant and container like this and tie a twist tie or any wire tightly around the stem. This hack can be used if you are not following any of the tips I mentioned in the video, but still want to protect it from rain.

What you can do is – use this hack plus spray a fungicide once a week over the plant. I think this should be the minimum effort to save adenium from rains.

RELATED VIDEOS:

1. ADENIUM HACKS TO MAKE FAT CAUDEX

2. PLANT CARE IN RAINY SEASON

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