Excited!

[Cleopatra]

My seeds arrived yesterday! Hurry up and germinate little ones! Does anyone have any good tips for growing these?

 

[Beverly]

Maybe you could tell us what exactly you are wanting to germinate in a hurry? And what climate you have currently. Welcome to the forums

 

[Cleopatra]

Oh of course! Adenium obesum ( desert rose ).

I live in a fairly cold climate - Dunedin, New Zealand.

Thanks for the reply and welcome

 

[Beverly]

Okay, so you want to grow more desert rose plants? It looks like you already have quite a few plants of them. Every one here grows desert rose in their gardens, except me. But you have seed packets and do the seed packets say how many days to germination? I expect you are wanting to start them in the house or greenhouse? And let me see, you must be moving into Spring where you are. Here are instructions i found on the internet. I do not have personal experience growing them.

Begin starting adenium seeds by preparing a container with a well-draining growing medium, like a perlite or sand and soil mix. Place the seed in the growing medium, just covering them with the growing medium. Water from below daily and from above once every three days until the seedlings appear.

 

[Cleopatra]

Thanks Beverly.
The ones in the picture aren't mine, I've never grown them before. They didn't come in a seed packet, I bought them online. I plan on leaving them indoors permanently I think, we have a nice warm sunny lounge room.
The person I bought them from really just said how to germinate them (container with wet tissues) and it could take 3 days - I think 3 weeks. How big to they grow in your friends gardens? I've just seen pictures of them in pots.

 

[Beverly]

The ones in the picture aren't mine, I've never grown them before.

yes that occurred to me. These plants do very well in pots if the soil is well draining. They would love a warm sunny lounge. The plants will grow to 1.2 m (4 ft) but they are slow growing and would take a very long time to become that large. Here is a fact sheet
https://garden.org/plants/view/79717/Desert-Rose-Adenium-obesum/
They are beautiful plants and make excellent house plants given good drainage and a sunny warm location. Good luck with the seeds

 

[Cleopatra]

Interesting fact sheet. It says "Will not come true from seed". I take it that means they don't do well when grown from seed?

 

[Tjohn]

Interesting fact sheet. It says "Will not come true from seed". I take it that means they don't do well when grown from seed?

It only means that they will not necessarily look like the parent plant.

 

[Beverly]

Ah no, it means that the seeds you plant will not necessarily look like the parent plant. But since you don't know the parent plant (unless there is a photo at the site where you purchased the seeds). I am a little bit skeptical of this little bit of information though and would research this at a few more sites. Usually plants that don't come true to seed are hybrids or cultivars. It also means the seeds you grow might not look exactly like each other. Evidently the variations are in the flowers and most particularly the color of the flowers.

 

[Cleopatra]

Thanks guys. I'm new to gardening and have a lot to learn! It will be interesting to see how they turn out ( if I manage to grow them )

 

[Larisa]

Hello, @Cleopatra !

I'm a fan Adeniums and grow them for a long time.
I take light and slightly moist soil (as Beverley said) and just put the seeds on top. Then I put in a mini greenhouse with ventilation and put it in a warm place. As soon as the seeds germinate, the greenhouse must be removed. Otherwise the sprouting will rot.
Seeds can convey varietal qualities, but may not do so. This is a lottery. For example, seeds from double flowers can produce a plant with simple flowers.
Therefore, if I want a specific variety, I buy the plant.
But I prefer growing adenomas from seeds.
I like to form a beautiful (for me ) caudex. To do this, I cut off the main root during the transplant, but I leave the lateral roots.
Later every year I place a plant higher above the soil and cut off the lateral roots on the caudex.

These are some of my adeniums.
These adeniums I have for many years.

Front view (well, I think so)

Back view

Similarly

Lazy adenium.

Blooming Adenium.

It will soon bloom.

I sowed these Adeniums about a year and a half ago. They are different.

Spoiler: Adenium

mini

I cut off the trunk.

 

[Cleopatra]

Hi @Larisa ! Thank you. They really are beautiful aren't they. I can see myself becoming addicted to them. Once they germinate and you pop them in soil, roughly how deep do you sow them?

 

[Larisa]

I do not immediately transplant them. I give them time to grow up a little. They themselves sprout into the soil. The root is to be in the soil, and the caudex is from above. You will immediately see the border. It's shallow. Sometimes a small adenium is difficult to get rid of the seed. Then I moisten the shell with water.

 

[Cleopatra]

Ok. I'll give it a go. Thanks so much for your advice

 

[Larisa]

Do not forget to share photos with us!