Modern floriculture provides ample opportunities for creating an original interior. Beautiful plants can become a real highlight of the design. One of the most spectacular indoor flowers is adenium obese. This is a type of dwarf tree. The plant has beautiful flowers. The rules for growing adenium will be discussed further.
What is this plant?
Adenium obese (photo below) is also called the desert rose. This is a type of shrubs or small trees that are distinguished by the presence of a fleshy trunk. It thickens at the base and can grow to a height of up to 2 m. It grows naturally in the tropics or the desert.
This plant is a succulent and belongs to the Kutrovye family. The flower grows in Africa. Flower growers learned about this plant relatively recently. Today it is one of the most sought-after, desired flowers. At the same time, care is not a big deal. There are no special skills for this.required.
Today, about 50 species of the presented plant grow in the natural environment. At home, adenium obese is cultivated. Externally, the plant resembles a man-made bonsai. But it's not. It is a natural beauty created by nature.
Houseplant adenium obese in its beauty is not inferior to lilies and roses. Definitely, the flowers blooming on the branches of this bonsai have a unique beauty and charm. For the sake of this luxurious flowering, gardeners breed this plant.
Description
Adenium obese (photo below) is an unpretentious, early flowering plant. The flower has oblong green leaves. They can be pointed or slightly rounded at the ends. There are varieties in which the leaves can be white, yellow, red or even variegated. They are both glossy and pubescent, both shiny and dull. The variety of shapes and colors is amazing.
Beautiful flowers blooming on the branches of the plant can also be painted in different shades. The great interest of breeders in adenium has led to the emergence of varieties with buds from white to dark red. The size of the inflorescences is up to 7 cm in diameter.
The first time the plant blooms at the age of 2 years. This spectacular action lasts from 2 months to a year. It depends not only on the variety of obese adenium. Home care (plant photo above) also plays an important role.
Another feature of thisplants is its poisonousness. The flower belongs to kurt cultures. The natives soaked the tips of their arrows with adenium juice. Therefore, the flower is forbidden to be grown where there are small children or pets.
One of the most beautiful indoor plants is the adenium obese shown in the photo. Its description and the danger of serious poisoning will not be able to stop true connoisseurs from growing this plant. In the process of cultivating adenium, all work must be done with gloves. After that, be sure to wash your hands. Adenium is the most beautiful and most poisonous houseplant.
Ground
Growing adenium obese at home is not difficult. It is necessary to create a comfortable environment for the plant so that it looks he althy and blooms longer. Adenium develops well in nutritious, permeable soil. The substrate should be loose and have a neutral to slightly acidic acidity.
Crushed charcoal can be added to the soil. If the substrate was not purchased from a specialized store, it must be thoroughly sterilized and treated with a fungicide. Purchased soils for adenium consist of leafy humus, coconut fiber, perlite, fine expanded clay and charcoal. This is a quality substrate that creates optimal conditions for the plant to grow.
You can get by with any substrate designed for succulents. This soil also contains components that prevent stagnant moisture. This, for example, could becrushed polystyrene foam crumb, broken brick. Stagnation of water in the pot leads to rotting of the roots. In this case, the plant quickly dies.
The plant in question is a representative of a hot tropical climate, so the adenium flower requires the creation of such conditions. The soil should be loose, light, and a high-quality drainage system should be provided in the pot.
Water and lighting
Considering the features of a plant such as adenium obese, home care must be studied carefully. This will give you amazing results. Adenium needs a lot of sunlight. The more of it, the better. If in the store the adenium stood in an insufficiently lit place, you need to accustom it to the sun gradually. It is not worth bringing it out into the light for a long time at once.
Only being on a lighted windowsill for a sufficient time, the plant will be able to accumulate strength for flowering. The position of the adenium should not be changed. Otherwise, those parts of the plant that were in the shade, falling into the bright sun, can get burned. Therefore, you need to accustom the plant to the sun's rays gradually.
When growing adenium obese at home, it is worth protecting its stem in the spring. Young plants do not yet have good protection from the sun, which is low during this period. Its rays can burn the stem at the base. Therefore, it is necessary to shade it in the spring, protecting the adenium from the sun with tulle or other similar fabric. The same procedure is performed in the fall, if the thickness of the stem is notexceeds 8 cm.
Water the plant should be plentiful. The earth ball should be well moistened. However, between waterings, you need to allow the substrate to dry thoroughly. In summer, you will need to irrigate the soil more often. During this period, do not allow the earth to dry out completely in a pot. This can cause adenium growth to stop. However, it is impossible to allow the soil to be constantly wet. Even in summer, roots can start to rot.
Therefore, before watering, you need to assess the condition of the soil. If it is almost dry, you can water the flower. If the temperature has dropped to 20 ºС, and the daylight hours have decreased, the number of waterings is reduced. It will be necessary to irrigate the soil much less frequently compared to the warm period.
Baits
Adenium obese responds well to bait. Fertilizers should be slowly soluble in the soil. It is regularly recommended to feed the flower with compounds that contain equal proportions of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.
During the flowering and growing season, the soil is fertilized once a month. During this period, compositions with a sufficient nitrogen content are required. They are used at the beginning of the growing season. Then, for better flowering, phosphorus-potassium compounds are used. They give the adenium strength for development, blooming a sufficient number of buds.
Microfertilizers are applied to the soil in autumn and spring. Too often fertilize the soil is not worth it. This procedure is carried out only occasionally. In this case, the adenium will grow he althy, strong, delighting with its flowering.
Transfer
In the process of growing adenium, it may be necessary to transplant it. The roots of this plant develop quickly. They require enough space for the plant to feel good. If the adenium is still young, it will have to be transplanted at least once a year. Sometimes the procedure has to be done every six months.
The pot can be made from any material. But the choice of form must be taken responsibly. The container should be shallow and wide. Round pots work best for this. They should have many drainage holes. If the flower is still small, the pot may be a little deeper.
Even the color of the transplant container matters. The plant will spend a lot of time in the sun. Therefore, a dark pot is not suitable for these purposes. In such a container, the roots will overheat. This will negatively affect the state of the adenium.
During the growing season, which begins in spring, you can transplant a flower. By autumn, the roots will be able to develop well, filling the substrate with themselves. So that the roots do not rot, after transplanting, adenium is watered no earlier than 2-3 days later.
Reproduction
Some gardeners call the cultivation of adenium a difficult procedure. You just need to remember some of the nuances of this process. Reproduction can be carried out by seeds, cuttings or air layering. Each technique has a number of features.
During the cultivation of adenium obese from seeds, they are properly preparedquality seed. It must be fresh, as germination decreases significantly over time. The best time to sow seeds is the end of February.
For 6 hours, the seeds are kept in a solution of epin. After that, they are planted in prepared soil. It should be a mixture of sand and vermiculite. The first sprouts will appear in a week.
You can also propagate this plant with top cuttings. This method is suitable for use in spring or summer. At this time, you can prepare high-quality planting material. The cuttings are planted in a mixture of sand and vermiculite.
You need to properly prepare the shoots. The cuttings are cut 10-15 cm long. The slices are treated with charcoal. They need to be dried a little, which will prevent the cuttings from rotting.
If the moisture level of the substrate is normal, the flower will take root in the first month. If watering is excessive or insufficient, adenium dies. Therefore, the issue of irrigation is key in this case. Cuttings germinate at a temperature of 25 to 30 ºС. You also need to provide good lighting, but avoid direct sunlight on a fragile plant.
Propagation by layering
Adenium obese is easiest to breed with air layering. This is the most efficient technique. It is suitable for both young and adult plants. This technique is applied in late spring. You can breed adenium in this way in early summer. During this period, the flower begins to actively develop after a period of winter dormancy. With this method of reproduction, a new plant will bloom the very nextyear.
It is necessary to make a circular shallow incision on the shoot, which has a minimum thickness of 2 cm. It must be dried. Next, the incision site is treated with a growth stimulator for the root system. This area must be wrapped with sphagnum moss, and on top with an opaque film. You can fix the material with wire or thread.
Moss is moistened periodically. The first shoots usually appear after 3-4 weeks. Layers are separated and planted in a prepared nutrient substrate.
Only it is worth considering that with this method of cultivation, the new plant will not have the same high decorative effect. The trunk of adenium grown by air layering will not be so thick. However, this is a small drawback, so this technique is used quite often.
Winter care
For adenium, one of the most difficult periods is winter. At this time, the leaves may partially or completely fall off. Adenium obese during this period requires rest. Watering should be significantly reduced. Then it is completely stopped.
The ideal temperature for keeping adenium in winter varies from +10 ºС to +15 ºС. But it shouldn't go any lower. If the plant is an adult, it can withstand temperatures as low as +4 ºС. But at the same time, the earthen lump must be completely dry. But it's better not to risk it by ensuring containment conditions are not so extreme.
The first watering should be done very carefully. After a dormant period, all processes slowed down, the plant fell asleep. If the adenium has not yet woken up, even a smallthe amount of water can kill it. It is necessary to move the plant to a bright place with the onset of spring. Next, you need to monitor the appearance of the kidneys. The first watering will need to be done 2-3 weeks after the plant is placed in the sun. Very little water is needed. It is better to choose a very sunny, warm day for the first watering.
Crown formation
At a young age, adenium may begin to branch. Most often this happens after the flowering period. To increase the decorative qualities of the plant, you can pinch the seedlings before the start of the growing season. This period begins in early spring.
Don't overdo it when trimming. If the main trunk is cut too far, numerous thin branches will start to emerge from the low cut. So the crown will become ugly.
Pruning is carried out for both young and adult plants. You can delete extra branches. Requirements for the decorative qualities of a plant are different for everyone. Therefore, it is up to the owner of the adenium to decide how much to prune the plant.
Some issues
It is worth remembering that adenium leaves turn yellow in the autumn. Then they partially or completely fall off. This is fine. In other seasons, yellowing of the leaves may indicate improper plant conditions.
Among the pests that can damage adenium are the mealy worm and scale insect.
