Growing succulents from seeds
I had to cut some of the Adenium seedlings again to make them grow more than the one branch. This seedling had to be pinched twice before it finally happened.
The trunk is nice and thick now, but they’re not growing as fast as I wanted them to do. They’re cute, though. Maybe the last few days of heavy sunshine and extremely warm weather will make them grow a bit faster.
My Adenium obesum seedlings are now 5 months old and look like little trees! They’re doing awesome right now, rocking their new branches like pros. Look how fat they’ve gotten too.
I included a picture of my adult Adenium arabicum, which is doing great as well. I had to loosen its korok mask a couple of times since I put it on him, which is a good sign that it’s growing, even though it’s hard to see when you just look at it.
My tiny 3 months old Adenium obesum seedlings needed new pots because I wanted to make sure they didn’t have too much room for root growth. If you leave these in a tall pot, chances are that the plant will put too much energy into vertical root growth and it will end up tall and lanky. I’m experimenting a bit, too. Some people cut off the tap root and train the remaining roots to grow near the surface of the soil. There so many cool pictures of bonsai-like Adenium with roots growing in all directions around the base of the plant and I want one of those! So I removed the tap roots from some of my seedlings, making sure to leave a few feeder roots behind. My plants are still very small and wouldn’t last long without water.
My Sinningia leucotricha decided to bloom! There are so many flowers compared to last year as well. I did give it a good dose of my new fertilizer that supposedly encourages flowering, so maybe that’s why.
The Adenium seedlings have started to show a bit of texture around the tiny trunk. They’re still very red from the direct sunlight they’ve been exposed to, but some have started to brown a bit. And look how many leaves they’ve grown, too! They’re so shiny.
The new leaf sprouts on a Sinningia leucotricha bulb are always absolutely adorable. They’re so white and fluffy I want to give the plant a hug!
The bulb itself is now just around 10 cm in diameter.
Care guide
If anyone finds one, but haven’t bought it because they’re afraid of killing it, just know that this is the most hardy caudiciform I’ve ever owned. It stays outside (protected from frost) both in winter and in summer and it loves whatever I do to it. Forget to water? Don’t worry, the bulb is made of water and will pull from its reserves whenever it needs to. Afraid you’ll overwater? This thing LOVES water (in summer). I had to repot mine and add more regular potting soil because the soil was drying out too fast.
The only rules are:
Water it regularly in spring and summer, whenever the soil looks dry.
No water in winter. Keep it completely dry and protected from frost.
Give it as much sun as possible.
My Adenium seedlings have so many leaves now! They started to grow really fast when I put them in my window with strong sunlight. They seem to be able to handle the sun and heat, even though they’re still pretty young.
I’m currently keeping the “soil“ lightly moist at all times. I’ve fertilized once already, using a weak slow release fertilizer for young plants.
The Adenium obesum seedlings are blushing in the sunlight! Most of them are staying pretty compact after I placed them in my window with full sun. They’re growing fatter at a nice pace, too.
Some of the seedlings have started to grow their second set of leaves already.
The Adenium obesum seedlings are now 2 weeks old. 6 seedlings have sprouted so far. Two of the seeds ended up having some sort of mold on them and unfortunately they died off before they germinated.
I have now moved them from the grow lights to my south facing window to avoid any etiolation. I want fat little seedlings, not lanky ones.
4 seeds out of 10 have now germinated (two weeks after sowing) and more is on the way. I can see little roots popping out of some of the other seeds. This is the oldest Adenium seedling one week after germination. It’s so adorable and it’s getting fatter every day. It straightened out perfectly, too.
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