Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Arnaut's Adenium

Arnaut

Seedling
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Location
United Arab Emirates
USDA Zone
10b
Some people may raise an objection that an Adenium, aka Desert Rose, is a succulent. They still can make interesting bonsai, I believe, and they are one of the very few native bonsai-able plants.

So here goes:

It's still only a little hot (35C or so mid day) and dry, which I am told is the perfect time for any potting and pruning work on desert roses. They are very susceptible to fungus and mold, so the idea is to have everything healed off and hardened before the humidity rises.

I've been letting this desert rose sit with no watering for two weeks in an attempt to make it go dormant (these hardy buggers can survive up to a couple of months with no water!). I've defoliated what did not fall off yet, then pulled it out of the pot.
20210514_090747.jpg The discoloration on the right hand side worries me a little - something to keep an eye on.

Cleaning the roots and revealing the caudex I found that the nursery left a piece of their pot in the root system - interesting! I chopped the bottom of the caudex and most of the roots. Adeniums are prolific root growers, and it should be fairly simple for this guy to survive even such a dramatic chop. They're also poisonous - hence the gloves.

I like the gentle curve of the caudex - planning to turn this into the actual trunk line.

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I dusted the wounds with cinnamon powder (which is actually a great dry fungicide and does not give your plant weird colors) and hung the plant in a shaded area outside for a week or two - until the wounds heal. over. Fingers crossed!

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Arnaut

Seedling
Messages
12
Reaction score
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Location
United Arab Emirates
USDA Zone
10b
Well, an update is probably in order. The desert rose had managed to heal over successfully, I have planted it and did some very loose wiring (they're so soft and pliable that going tight is not really a good idea, but this period of dormancy between drying them out and planting is great for rough shaping thick branches) and guy wires to get the branches to follow the same graceful curve the caudex already had. Then, I had to leave on a business trip for a couple months, and completely forgot that I did wire this desert rose up!

Result is one healthy desert rose with what feels like solid roots in the pot (which it somehow ended up sharing with a chilli plant - the chilli in the next pot seems to have decided to try and expand its territory), but with rather deep scarring as the branches filled up. Lucky thing I did the wiring so loose otherwise the damage may have ended up being a lot more extensive.20211226_100518.jpg

I have taken all the wiring off and cleaned up the two dead branches.

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I will probably have to replant those pesky chillies somewhere else!
 
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