The Dimmit Pedigree

I have zero interest in sowing any more adenium seeds. Those things always turn into plants that I have to shelter in winter and no one I know wants them when I am done experimenting. But then, I somehow ended up with 20 seeds that originated from Mark Dimmit's legendary hands. 

In case you don't know, Dimmit is to growing adeniums what Steven Brack and Steven Hammer are to growing mesembs. If you do not know any of these guys, then think Henry Gray as in Gray's Anatomy.  Together with Gene Joseph and David Palzkill, Dimmit also wrote the book on adeniums called--well-- "Adenium", with a long subtitle. It's ridiculously expensive so I've never read it. But Dimmit has this site which had been my starting point when I first met adeniums.

So you can imagine when offered these seeds, you're an idiot to refuse. So here they are, no special treatment, no leaf-holding, plant whispering or any kind of woowoo. Just plain, great seeds.

Sown in February, on a heat mat, under T5HOs 14 hours a day. They were fresh seeds so they germinated quickly.

Adenium in Warm Tropical Places (Update)

I will do this again now that we have the benefit of the passage of time. A lot of things happened from the time I bought my first Adenium. It's still alive and producing beautiful flowers. 

Part V Adenium Seedlings: Merciless pruning

Part VI Adenium Seedlings: One Year Later.....

This is the 6th and final part of the series on growing adeniums from seeds. The seedlings we are looking at here are now one year old and almost ready to be treated as adult plants. 

First, a few words about growing hard. It is the easiest way to grow adeniums--all you need to do is leave it in the most killing sunny spot outdoors and forget to water it regularly. The plant's reaction to this neglect is to grow fat (to store water) and short (since it doesn't have to stretch towards the light the way it would if grown indoors).

The best thing about Adenium obesum, however, is that they can take a tremendous amount of abuse short of a flamethrower. 

In previous posts, you'd have read that these seedlings were repotted quite often, mostly because experimenting with roots is fun. These seedlings will probably stay in these pots until they outgrow them, though. They are planted in gritty mix, with two to three lava rocks underneath so that the roots will have crevices in which to curl around. The plan is to check them out at the end of spring when it is warm and sunny enough to power the seedlings through the abuse of being uprooted.  Someday, those roots will look great. We hope.

Gritty Mix and Transplant Shock

Although the adult adeniums flourished straight away in the gritty mix, transplanting the seedlings at six months was not so uneventful. In fact, they went batshit almost immediately--first turning yellow, then dropping leaf after leaf until finally, 5 of 7 seedlings had gone completely bald.

Germination in the Tropics

These were sowed April 21 and look at them now! So it is confirmed. The first batch sowed were baked. This batch was grown under bright light but no direct sun. They had a humidity dome for about two weeks. Nowadays I only cover them at night but only because some bug munched on one leaves of one seedling. It still survived which shows you how tough the little buggers are. 

I have a total of 21 seedlings from about 35 seeds. The cat toppled one tray and I couldn't dig out all the seeds. 






About a week ago I took pictures of the neighborhood adeniums. They are really common here and almost every house has one. 

These seems to be taken care of very well. They are really short but with plenty of nice flowers:

The one below is from the immediate neighbor and planted on the ground.

The one on the left I've seen with absolutely no leaves but is now coming back nicely.

And lastly, this one has actually busted out of its pot. 

Part IV: Transplanting Adenium Seedlings (with 2020 update)

Updated February 2015

So you have successfully germinated adenium seeds. What's next?

Adenium seedlings are not really delicate or sensitive. In an emergency (say, someone knocked your pot off the shelf or a cat sat on your week-old seedlings), you can repot them anytime. If sowing and germination has been uneventful; you can wait a couple of months, maybe more. Usually though, seedlings in their cribs will start demanding more nutrients and the more aggressive ones will siphon supply off of their neighbours, leaving you with runts. To avoid this, it is usually better to move the seedlings into their individual pots after two to three months.

Growing Adenium from Seeds: Damping Off Nightmare

Damping-off is a common disease that can occur in both germinating seeds and young seedlings. The disease is caused by any of a number of pathogens that can also attack cuttings.

The problem often occurs before seeds are able to germinate but it can also develop after germination and attack the emergent seedling.  If it happens before your seeds germinate, you'll know because nothing will come out. In seedlings, it starts with dark rot on the stem near the soil surface and as it progresses, the seedling falls over and dies. If the pathogen is below the soil surface, the rot may start from the tip of the roots and progress up the seedling until the stem rots and then the seedling falls over and dies.  

Part III: Adenium Seedlings Care

I think the most entertaining stage of adenium cultivation is when they are seedlings---that is the period after they germinate up to about a year, maybe even two. 

After sowing the adenium seeds, my arbitrary cut-off is two weeks--if seeds have not come up after two weeks, I consider the exercise to be over and done. At this point, you can remove the lid from your seedling container as well as the propagation mat, if you are using one.

Adenium obesum seedlings, Week 3

I have discovered that after three weeks, the seedlings are significantly more sturdy. By no means should you subject your seedlings to deliberate abuse. I'm just saying that if your cat should bat at it, it would still be fine.

Part II Adenium From Seeds: Germination

It normally takes about 3 to 4 days for the first seeds to start pushing through the soil cover. When they started doing that in my pot, I thought I had left the seeds uncovered all this time. But looking at it with my zoom lens, I saw green bits going into the soil. Aaaah. That’s what “heaving” looked like. Who knew.

First one out, 3 days after sowing

Literally within hours, the thing will start actually stretching upwards, like so---

Same seed, same day, hours later.

Now this is the part where some midwifery will be involved. That seed cover is essentially dead stuff. If this was a seed sown in the wild, that seed cover is probably useful as energy source. The natural balance of good critters and bad critters in the soil will ensure neither would overwhelm the vulnerable seedlings. But you’re not sowing in the wild, you’re sowing in what is probably fertilizer-enriched potting soil from the garden center. So take it out, your seedling doesn’t need it. If you leave it there until it drops, fungi may start partying on it and possibly take over your seedlings. 

First, spritz it with water to soften the seed cover. Then, either using a pair of tweezers or your fingertips, ease the seed cover out in the direction it is pointing, obviously. That will hopefully lessen the resistance. Don't leave it in the pot, by the way. Toss it. You can use a tweezer or even a pin. I have tried both and they work. Just don’t use your fingers if you can help it, or you might pull the whole thing out.

Carefully de-cloaked

I mention that because naturally, I actually managed to do just that. I wanted to find out whether I can slide the sheath off with my fingers. The whole plant slid out of the soil--root and all. After the mandatory 2-second panic, I grabbed a pencil, poked a shallow hole into the soil and very gently put the seedling back in. That particular plant survived the manhandling and is still alive, thank you.

Two days after the manhandling incident

Keep misting the seedlings when the surface feels dry to the touch until all seeds have germinated. My arbitrary cut-off is two weeks, by which time all successful seeds should have already germinated. I am sure there are folks out there with the patience to wait longer, maybe six more years. I dont. So I'm calling it an 87.5 percent success rate (7 seeds out of 8).

My obesums sprouted within days of each other, by Day 7, they were all out except one. My arabicums, on the other hand, were a different story. The first batch was a stunning failure---only two came out. Germinating in a sealed container without airholes, they were quickly overwhelmed by the green mat of goo so thick that they had to be transferred to another pot after only a week.

My second attempt at Adenium arabicum seeds was more interesting. Following exactly the same procedure, I got 7 sprouts out of 10 seeds.  Unlike the obesums, however, the germination process took a total of 19 days.

After two weeks, check out the differences between these seedlings, all planted at the same time. The last one germinated long after I have had to remove the lid--early sprouters were pushing it up. The first two seedlings are the same size as the seeds sowed two weeks before. Plants do what plants do. Go figure.

Day 21

Related Post: Damping Off Disaster

Next: Part III Caring for Adenium Seedlings
 

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