Q: Last summer, I purchased a lovely desert rose shrub. I transplanted it into a terra cotta pot and placed it in a protected location to avoid frost damage. I just realized the sturdy stem is soft and squishy now. What went wrong, and what can I do to prevent this from happening again?
A: The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) is a lovely and exotic-looking plant that needs very little care. The overall shape is akin to a well-trained bonsai tree, with an expanded trunk base and twisted limbs. Simple five-petaled flowers emerge in many shades of pink, white, red, and yellow in the summer.
In the summer, the Desert Rose thrives in full sun with regular watering. When the temperature drops to 55 degrees or below, you should drastically reduce your watering. It’s best to use a terra cotta pot because it allows water to drain fast. When repotting, use a cactus mix and avoid using a pot that is too large.
If your plant is being watered on a regular basis by seasonal rain, you may wish to relocate it to a dryer place. The plant will rot if the soil is damp for an extended period of time.
- Plant bug scales come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you discover that your plant is infested with one of these pests, a treatment with neem oil insecticides should suffice.
- Adenium may also be harmed by oleander caterpillars. If you see caterpillars on your plant, take them off by hand (use gloves) and treat the plant as soon as possible with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These caterpillars can quickly defoliate your plant, so don’t be alarmed if this happens. Once the caterpillars have been eradicated, the plant will immediately regrow fresh dark green leaves.
- Anthracnose, a fungal disease, is sometimes a concern for Adenium. Anthracnose is most likely the cause of tan lesions on your plant’s leaves, which later become yellow and fall off. Don’t become discouraged. This illness usually strikes in the early summer or autumn and goes away on its own. Reduce the amount of water you use and rake up the fallen leaves to get rid of the fungus spores. Your plant should make a full recovery.
A single specimen of one of these tough, long-lasting plants can provide a lifetime of gardening pleasure. They can be used in the landscape, in containers, as bonsai, grafted together, grafted with oleander, and even planted upside down to produce visually interesting forms and displays.
Long-lived Desert Rose is one of those plants that becomes a family member. These plants can survive and grow for decades in the wild and under optimal conditions.
The care that these fascinating plants require provides a touchstone for the change from season to season in regions with cooler climates.
The plant blooms in the spring, relaxes in the summer heat, blooms again in the autumn, and hibernates in the winter. You’ll grow to consider of this unique botanical specimen as a dear friend as you care for and appreciate it over the seasons and years.
Is desert rose an indoor plant?
The plant also likes stable warm temperatures, which is why it is widely grown as an indoor plant in the United States (except for USDA zones 11 and 12). The plant blooms in the summer and produces beautiful pink, rose, or red flowers as well as bright green leaves.
How often should you water desert roses?
- Pick a sunny location with well-drained soil. Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser can help to enrich the soil. To help enhance soil structure and drainage in regions with heavy or clay soil, add gypsum and thoroughly mix it in.
- Dig the planting hole twice as broad as the root-ball and to the same depth. Remove the plant from the container and gently tease the roots, removing any round or knotted roots.
- Backfill the hole with earth, carefully firming it down. Form a raised doughnut-shaped ring of dirt around the plant’s root zone’s perimeter. This allows water to stay where it’s required. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the dirt around the roots and keep the soil moist for several weeks as the new plant grows.
- Keep organic mulch away from the trunk by mulching around the base with bark chips, sugarcane, or pea straw.
- Feed with Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food every two weeks during their growing season, which is Spring and Summer.
Does desert rose need lots of water?
When the earth feels dry, the desert rose merely needs to be watered. It just needs water every three or four weeks in the winter. This causes it to go dormant, allowing it to bloom more abundantly in the spring. In the spring and summer, the desert rose can be fertilized once a month.
Sunlight
Desert roses require a lot of sunlight, and a lack of light could be the reason why they aren’t flowering. Place the plant where it will receive at least five to six hours of direct sunlight per day, if not more.
Fertilizer
A desert rose doesn’t need much fertilizer, but it does need to be fed on a regular basis to ensure that it gets the nutrients it needs to blossom. Using a balanced, water soluble fertilizer, feed an outdoor plant two or three times during the spring and summer. During the spring and summer, feed indoor Adeniums once a week with a half-strength water-soluble fertilizer.
It may also assist to apply a phosphorus-rich fertilizer or bone meal to induce flowering.
Why are the leaves falling off my desert rose?
Because the desert rose requires more water during the months when it is actively growing, if it does not receive adequate hydration, it will drop all of its leaves and return to dormancy. Overwatering, on the other hand, can lead to root rot. Grow your desert rose on sandy, fast-draining soil to avoid either problem. Water it whenever the soil is dry two inches below the surface during the growing season.
How do I get more leaves on my desert rose?
Because the desert rose is a sun-loving plant, place it in the brightest location possible. It looks great in landscaping beds and borders as well as containers and planters on decks, patios, and other outdoor areas.
For optimal effects, water the desert on a regular basis. The plant can survive in low-water situations, but it will lose some or all of its leaves if it dries out too severely. (Don’t worry if this happens; if it gets adequate water again, your desert rose will grow new leaves.)
If desired, fertilize desert rose with a general-purpose fertilizer in the spring and summer. Follow the directions on the fertilizer package carefully.
It should be noted that desert rose is not suitable for human or animal consumption. This plant is poisonous in all of its components.
How often should you water a desert rose indoors?
Place a desert rose in your brightest window, where it will receive at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Water the plant once a week or as needed; add water until you see water running into the saucer. When the amount of sunshine the plant receives decreases in the fall and winter, it may enter a dormant period and potentially lose its leaves. In the winter, cut back on watering and treat the plant like a cactus. It should only be watered once every two or three weeks, or when the soil is entirely dry.
How can I make my desert rose grow faster?
Improper watering is the one thing that will soon kill these plants. They are succulents, but they are accustomed to growing during rainy seasons, followed by a dormant, dry phase. For the greatest results, match your watering methods to these requirements. In the spring and summer, keep the soil moist, but in the fall and especially in the winter, when the plant is dormant, reduce watering.
When the plant is actively growing, fertilize once a month with a half-diluted 20-20-20 liquid plant food. During the winter, do not feed the desert rose.
Scale, mealybugs, and spider mites are the most common pests. Wipe away the rogue insects with cotton balls dipped in alcohol.
Adenium desert rose is a member of the Dogbane family, which means it produces a poisonous sap that can irritate skin and mucous membranes.
How do you save a dying desert rose?
Follow the stem of a yellowed leaf down to the roots. You can take a tiny section out and sprinkle cinnamon or garden lime powder on it to mend it if it’s partially or severely decayed. If you have black patches, you’ll need to pull up the entire plant and take off the rotting roots. Then, in a shady spot, hang it upside down and apply some lime paste or powder. You can try transplanting it once it has healed.