I finally purchased a Desert rose plant (Adenium Nerium variety) while out of town. Can anyone offer information on the plant? I also purchased a pot for it but now I'm not sure it needs such a large pot. What would be best soil to use? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Hi Joclyn, I found this one out of town. I've not seen any Desert rose plants in my own area. I went to HD and purchased Miracle Grow potting mix today. Someone told me that would work along with perlite. HD did not have perlite, instead, I purchased spagnum peat moss. Do you think the combination of the two would work? Haven't seen the root ball but hoping it will work for the size pot I have.
the moss would not be a good idea. if the soil has fertilizer premixed, that wouldn't be good either.
best bet is cactus soil or plain potting soil mixed with cactus soil. you could even mix in some sand (get the stuff specifically for potting plants, not the stuff for use in a kids play area).
the pot should be unglazed clay, preferably. if glazed, then only on the outside. definitely should NOT be plastic. and wide rather than deep as this will form a caudex as it grows - the caudex should not be completely covered by the soil either.
Thanks Joclyn, good info. I'll go to Lowe's tomorrow and look for cactus soil and special sand. The pot I have for it is glazed outside, has an attached saucer. Do you think I can use the same kind of mixture for my plumeria I need to transplant? Here's a pic of my DR plant.
that looks healthy! and the caudex looks like a nice size, also! it's already in cactus soil, so, yes, definitely get a fresh bag of it for when you repot.
as long as the pot isn't glazed on the inside it should be okay. the connected dish makes me wonder if it's going to have proper drainage? the desert roses really need good drainage - if they sit in too moist a soil, the caudex will rot. make sure there are decent drainholes where the dish is connected to the pot. at least three of fairly decent size. if not, i'd really recommend using another pot for it.
sorry, i'm no help with plumies...i don't know a thing about them!
Thanks Joclyn. I'll head out today for Lowe's for the cactus soil and perlite. I'm not sure about that pot either. I'll need to check the holes and drainage on it.
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