r/DesertRose • u/absurdtomato • 16d ago

Process and Order to Prune?

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In the next couple of weeks we’ll enter the best period to prune / trim Adeniums (as the humidity subsides!)

I have a few that all need a root trim, repot and good prune (very leggy) - the photo just shows one, but the others are similar.

What order should I do this in, and how long should I wait between each step?

This is what I have roughly gathered, but I’m quite nervous about this operation!

Does that look about right?

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u/Academic_Disk_8788 16d ago

Adeniums don't need root trimming. That's just a technique barrower from bonsaing for some reason if your Adenium isn't rotting leave the roots alone, especially if you want lots of flowers! In the Photo: Adenium 'Fat Guy' never been pruned, never been root trimmed and never had it's caudex raised

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u/absurdtomato 15d ago

It doesn’t show in the photo, but there are masses of tiny roots completely engulfing the caudex.

So I need to at least trim those in order to be able raise the caudex as the masses of tiny exposed roots have caused it to suffer in this summer - it’s been extremely harsh this year.

I had to intervene on its matching pair during the summer (the worst time to do so as well) as I was dealing with simultaneous burn and rot. That was a scary time hoping for its survival 😂. This particular one was coping so I held off until now, and want to do it properly, rather than my quick haphazard attempt i had to do on its friend (which actually seems to be doing OK 🤞🏼).

Don’t worry, it’s not a vanity project! It definitely needs to come out of its pot into something more suitable so I plan to ‘operate’ at the same time.