Before I reveal you the three nursery secrets on growing\nadenium, I will quickly brief you on 5 important care tips for adenium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- SOIL:<\/strong>\nThis is the most important factor for successfully growing adenium. It\u2019s a\ndesert rose and hence prefers a sandy soil. Make sure you have atleast 50\npercent sand or perlite mixed in your potting soil. For details on the perfect\npotting mix for adenium or any succulent, I have detailed episode on this\ntopic. You can check that link at the end screen of this video.<\/li>
- WATERING:<\/strong>\nIf your soil is really well draining, the frequency of watering does not matter\nmuch, like for instance if you have lot of rains in your zone, its almost like\ndaily watering. And also make sure, you have good drainage holes in your\ncontainer. Otherwise, generally watering weekly twice is the general rule for\nadenium like any other succulent.<\/li>
- SUNLIGHT:<\/strong>\nThis is a very important factor for proper flowering. Adenium needs maximum\nsunlight and good humidity for flowering and growth. Atleast 6 hours of direct\nsunlight is a must!<\/li>
- FERTILIZERS:<\/strong>\nMost recommend chemical fertilizers like water soluble NPK, but I always use\norganic ones like simple decomposed cowdung or vermicompost like a handful of\nit once a month. And during repotting mixing a table spoon of steamed bone meal\nwill do the job and induce enormous flowering in all seasons except in it\ndormant season \u2013 that\u2019s winter.<\/li>
- PEST\nCONTROL:<\/strong> Its commonly affected by sucking pests like aphids, mealy bugs and\nmites. Weekly spray of 10 ml neem oil in 1 litre of water will easily control\nthis problem. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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<\/strong> 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\u2019s the time to harvest the seeds. Separate the seeds by gently pulling this fluffy stuff as shown in this pic. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gkvks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/20190616_083558-1024x576.jpg\")
Adenium Seed Pod<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n So these are fresh adenium seeds we just harvested!
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\nNow the first secret to get a great success rate in germination? These seeds\nare very delicate and are more prone to fungus. So what you need to do\nimmediately is pour in some antifungal powder like bavistin or any antifungal\npowder like Carbendazin + mancozeb combination like the SAAF brand powder. Coat\nthe seeds with this antifungal powder whether you keep them aside for storage\nor plan to sow them immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow the second nursery secret: The growing medium. You can\nuse pure sand or some cocopeat mixed in it. What they actually do is, take fine\nsand and sterilize it by keeping in full sunlight for atleast 2 or 3 days or if\nyou are growing in small scale, you can even microwave this sand. I think if\nyou are using anti fungal powder, this step is perhaps optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now the third secret and then finally the results of this\nprocess on day 6, day 10, day 12 and day 15 in the video at the bottom of this\npost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n - WATERING:<\/strong>\nIf your soil is really well draining, the frequency of watering does not matter\nmuch, like for instance if you have lot of rains in your zone, its almost like\ndaily watering. And also make sure, you have good drainage holes in your\ncontainer. Otherwise, generally watering weekly twice is the general rule for\nadenium like any other succulent.<\/li>