Saving an Adenium

I saw some Adenium multiflorum at a local garden centre and told myself I would probably regret buying one but because this plant is a flowering size, which takes 4-5 years, and well priced for what it is, it came home with me.

Adenium multiflorum is a tall species that may make more stems from the base as it gets older

Never plant caudex plants in peaty mixtures if you want them to survive

The first problem I could see besides the terrible soil was that it was being watered while dormant because the staff didn't know better and the whole batch had suffered cold damage from being left outside in winter. Not a good start but I picked out the least damaged looking one and took it home with me for immediate root inspection and treatment. I was prepared to take a chance because Adeniums are actually quite tolerant of root pruning, some people even do it as a kind of bonsai treatment and there are many YouTube channels devoted to Adenium root pruning.

As expected: you can see the rot on the lowest tuber.
As unexpected: The plant had rotted previously but survived and the caudex was hollow inside.

I went to fetch a clean, sharp knife and roundly cursed my impulsivity

Looks ok on the outside but... dead but not particularly rotten because it was the middle of winter

This root looks better but it isn't; the dent near my finger needs investigation

You need to keep on cutting until there aren't any brown marks in the tissue

What was left of my plant after all that savage cutting. I wasn't optimistic at all but applied 3% peroxide (also sold as 10 Vol) to the cut ends with cotton wool to seal it and left it to dry out.

That was in August 2023. As spring arrived, the stem had healed but wasn't showing any signs of budding or rooting so in about October, I put it on a shaded shelf of the greenhouse where it was pretty warm. After a few weeks, I could see root buds developing so I put it in a little pot of sandy soil and started watering. Leaves formed and we made it through summer.

This is what the base of the caudex looks like and there's still a hollow in the middle. The pot seems really small but the plant doesn't have that many roots and the small amount of soil dries out quickly and that prevents rotting. I may repot it this winter while it's dormant just to put it into a container that will be stable for that long stem. After a bad start, it may flower next spring. We live in hope!