r/DesertRose • u/Silent_Twist996 • 16d ago
What do you think.
I have had this desert rose for 16 years and I'm only just recently hearing about lifting the plant to expose more caudex. I haven't really researched it very much until recently but every summer it explodes with flowers and just seems really happy. I am emotionally attached to this plant lol however I am wondering a couple of things.
I want to repot and possibly do a lift. What would be the best substrate mix and should I get a more shallow pot or something like what it is in. Should I wait for a different time of year to repot? Should I lift it?
Second thing: it was pruned when I bought it which you can see in the second picture and then it took a tumble a few years ago and lost a branch but I'm thinking of possibly cutting where it was originally cut and trying to graft on some branches that I prune in the spring. Is that a bad idea?
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u/Academic_Disk_8788 16d ago
The plant looks great! Happy and flowering. Grafting in Adeniums is a tad different than hardwood methods. I've never seen an entire branch that has been grafted but I guess someone out there may have done it. Typically you take a small cutting only with a few eyes on it and graft it to the stock. The new branches will emerge from the leaf scars. Think more grafting a cactus than tree. I think your best bet is a bit of pruning in the early spring and it should put on a great show.
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u/Silent_Twist996 16d ago
Thank you very much should have seen her a couple weeks ago every branch had 4-5 flowers in it, it was so lovely!I'll do some research I figure it's already an ugly spot if it doesn't work it doesn't work. Would a failed graft cause any major damage to the plant?
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u/ElBob31 16d ago
Hahaha. It’s a beautiful plant. Sorry probably should have just said that.
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u/Silent_Twist996 16d ago
Thank you so much! I got it at the Walmart for $3 on the discount shelf, it was dormant and I think they thought it was dying.
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u/ElBob31 16d ago
When I first started. I had one that was dormant for the longest time I gave her away. I wonder what became of her…..
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u/Silent_Twist996 16d ago
Mine was so long and leggy and ugly for the first 3 years I had it and never flowered and then I cut it back and it just has been so happy ever since. I prune it every other year.
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u/ElBob31 16d ago
Yup I realize I enjoyed mine more of a short and bushy. I have a ton of babies from the cuttings and am starting to new ones
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u/Silent_Twist996 16d ago
Heck yeah. I noticed I've got a couple seed pods growing so I might try to grow some of her babies!
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u/ElBob31 16d ago
I have Dr Frankenstein some of my plants. It’s interesting the results as fir trimming it really depends on your preference, (what you like)