Adenium obesum, desert rose

[Bonsai_madness]

Taking suggestions on what to do with these trees...

[Jason]

Put them outside and grow them for a year or two, then revist

I've got a number of these myself that I've started from seed, and am just watching them grow for the moment before looking into styling options They grow quite quickly so you'll have some good options to work with in no time

[Bonsai_madness]

im not sure if i should let the branches grow long and then cut them back or just keep cutting them back like i have been doing. Most my bonsais are older than they appear due to me constantly trimming them back every week or 2 haha

[Jason]

im not sure if i should let the branches grow long and then cut them back or just keep cutting them back like i have been doing. Most my bonsais are older than they appear due to me constantly trimming them back every week or 2 haha

I would let them grow for a while to lengthen, and thicken the branches. That will get it looking more like a tree with branching, rather then just a trunk

Here is a good example:

[Bonsai_madness]

what size pots are your's in? i might repot mine in larger pots and let them go wild for a while and i have a few branches off the main trunks now...

[Jason]

what size pots are yous in? i might repot mine in larger pots and let them go wild for a while and i have a few branches off the main trunks now...

Actually, mine are in pots much the same size as yours. I've found that adenium's don't actually need that much space to grow, they're quite comfortable in smaller pots. Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert, that is just what I've found from the few I've grown

One pointer I have is to watch how wet they are, as they are prone to rot if they are constantly wet. I move mine under the eaves of my house in winter so that they aren't always wet, but still get the sun

[Bonsai_madness]

ive been watering mine daily with the rest of my plants and they seem to be ok. The bust turkeys have had a go at the bottoms of them which have left scars and i propagated one from a branch i reduced and lost it to rot. One of mine is in a really small bonsai pot with practically no soil i dont know how long it will last like that though i really want a thick compact set of rots though. What do you feed yours? Its probably time to feed mine something soon...

[Elmar]

I've found them to like being pot bound. I water them once a day, very briefly in summer and once it twice a week in winter.
Had one in 'premium' potting mix and it rotted away the ones that seem to thrive are in Pindan soil - Hedland special with buger-all nutrients ... These don't rot, produce flowers and seeds annually, but are in no way trained!



Cheers
Elmar

[bki]

Envy, I tried a lot of times buying online just to kill them in the winter times. Melbourne weather

[Jason]

ive been watering mine daily with the rest of my plants and they seem to be ok. The bust turkeys have had a go at the bottoms of them which have left scars and i propagated one from a branch i reduced and lost it to rot. One of mine is in a really small bonsai pot with practically no soil i dont know how long it will last like that though i really want a thick compact set of rots though. What do you feed yours? Its probably time to feed mine something soon...

Once a day is fine so long as they're in a good mix, and not constantly wet. By wet, I mean soaking

To be honest... I don't feed them at all. Never have, other then the occasional seasol spray. I treat them mean, to keep them keen Joking! Perhaps someone else might be able to recommend a fertiliser, as I don't feed mine

Have one just flowering at the moment too I got all mine as seeds from ebay, back before I realised that the seeds they are selling do not turn out like the pictures I bought these really cool coloured ones... and turns out that they all ended up just being red flowers lesson learnt

[Bonsai_madness]

mine havent flowered yet so im not sure what colour they will be. Probably just red haha

[tingqueji]

To be honest... I don't feed them at all. Never have, other then the occasional seasol spray. I treat them mean, to keep them keen Joking! Perhaps someone else might be able to recommend a fertiliser, as I don't feed mine

[phillicondor]

Hi all. Complete amatuer here but the advice I was given by a friend's mother was not to feed them at all. She said she started feeding hers after about ten years of neglect and got a lot of rot. All the new growth was soft and rotted easily. I've got a few going that get the same feed as my other plants and they're growing like crazy but are pretty leggy looking and a couple in a corner that are getting a planned neglect approach and these are a lot more compact. Have to see how they go over winter.

[phillicondor]

Here's a photo of one of the desert roses I was talking about. She said she'll think about giving me one but I'm sure it won't be this one.

20150527_130153.jpg

[Elmar]

That's a nice one! Mine tend to be more 'Broom' style...


Cheers
EZ
Via Tapatalk