Form a lush crown and fleshy caudex in adenium
Perhaps adenium is the most patient flower of all indoor plants, which not only painlessly takes away all manipulations with scissors, but also responds perfectly to them, overgrowing with new shoots. Thanks to such a responsive nature, the flower can be given any shape, which, in fact, is what flower growers use to create real masterpieces. How to form adenium to get an interesting specimen? This can be done in two ways:
- crown formation;
- the formation of caudex.
How to make a lush bushy crown?
To prevent adenium from becoming a long stick, it is necessary to stimulate its branching at the initial stages of development. This can be done in several approaches:
- when the young seedlings are about 3 weeks old, they need to pinch the growing point;
- further annually in spring to cut (shorten) by 2/3 all lateral shoots, restraining the growth of the flower in height and giving the crown the desired shape.
Old or elongated specimens can be formed and at the same time rejuvenated by cutting off the trunk completely at a short distance from the soil level. If the branching is too vigorous as a result of such pruning, some of the shoots should be removed so that they do not grow thin.
How to form a beautiful and powerful caudex?
Characteristic feature adenium is its thickened trunk called caudex, which thickens itself over time. However, there are several simple ways to make the caudex thicker and more powerful, or to give it its original shape.
Most often, they resort to the following caudex formation techniques:
- Splicing multiple plants... Put together two or three seedlings of the same age (you can from different varieties of adenium). Where the trunks touch, make cuts and fix the "pile" with tape made of film. Within a month, the plants should grow together with each other and the need for a supporting bandage will disappear.
- Plexus of adeniums... Plant three or more young seedlings in one pot and braid their trunks into a pigtail.
- Root pruning... Every year, when replanting adenium, briefly trim the entire root system and slightly raise the flower above the ground.
- Collapsing into a ring... Suitable for plants that have grown too long caudex and do not want to thicken it. Instead of trimming, the barrel must be gradually twisted into a ring.
- Shaping the roots of an octopus... For a flower up to 1 year old, cut the central root in a straight line and root it in perlite, after placing a round plastic under the plant. After about a month, roots will begin to form in a circle on the trimmed stem. Then the adenium can be planted in the nutrient soil along with the round, and the roots can be straightened and shifted with pieces of foam between themselves, if they are very tangled. In the future, with each annual transplant, the roots need to be slightly raised above the ground.
All sections, regardless of the method used, must be covered with crushed coal or filled with paraffin and dried well within 24 hours, otherwise there is a high risk of plant decay.
It is not difficult to form adenium and, most importantly, the flower allows you to do whatever you want with itself, without suffering from it at all. On the contrary, regular shaping procedures will help to grow a very ornamental plant.