Chuan chom (Desert Rose) soil

[zlodnick]

Ive been raising Chuan chom (desert rose aka, adenium) for years. The flowers are beautiful and what I like best is that no two plants are alike.

I started out knowing nothing about them, and getting information from other growers is like pulling teeth. They really dont want to share thier expertise.

Anyway, slow but sure, I have been able to grow them from seed to beautiful, mature plants. I am not at all an expert, but Im very satisfied with what I have.

The last piece of the puzzle for me was the right soil. I knew they needed well drained soil, but I think "soil" might be the wrong word to use because the mixture I use has very little "dirt" or "soil".

The roots of the chuan chom cant handle any prolonged exposure to water or they will rot. I was using a mixture with too much dirt and much of the soil here in Thailand has clay in it and clay holds water, not good.

The mixture that I use now, and have been having great success with, is as follows. I start with about 25% raw dirt. I dig it up from the garden or get it from a pile I have delivered.( just dirt dug from the ricefields, 200 baht a truckload.). I make sure there is no clay in it. Some places the soil is all clay.

The rest, I dont really have a formula, I just go by what looks good. I add some potting soil. The black stuff that comes in bags, about 15 baht a bag. Then some sand, the kind for making concrete. Chopped up coconut husks and rice hulls. I pour it back and forth between two buckets to mix it well and thats it.

I repot them about every two years. First I remove the plant from the pot, and wash off all the soil. Then I hang the plant in the shed away from the sun for about a week. To repot them, I first put about 1 1/2 inches of chopped coconut hulls in the bottom of the pot. Then, I add some soil mixture and the plant, so that the plant will be sticking up about 2 inches higher than it was in the old pot.

Then I water it really well. I pick the pot up a couple inches and drop it to the ground a few times to settle the soil. I like to round the soil up above the top of the pot. (just my preference).

I have been watering my plants once a week. I really soak them, but after a couple of days, they are as dry as a bone. This seems to do the trick. They are loaded with flowers and look very healthy.

I hope this helps someone out, so they wont have to go through years of trial and error like I did.

Good luck, Z

[cooked]

My point of view: it doesn't really matter about drainage as the average pot will dry out in one day in Thailand. Anyway, and you won't like this, my mixture: 50% rice land clay, sieved. Builders sand about 20%. Coconut coir about 10% and mature cow poo about 20%. Works very well although the potting up does result in less flowers for a bit. I water every two days and give liquid fertiliser once a week. As long as they don't go thirsty they will bloom. I have seen broken pots lying on their sided that obviously haven't been looked after for years that are still blooming.

Have a look at http://www.tropicanursery.com/adenium/cultivation.htm

[zlodnick]

cooked,

Very good website, thanks for that.

Glad you're having success with the clay mixture, but Im sure that was causing my plants roots to rot. The plants above ground looked great, but when I would repot them, there were often rotted roots.

I have two large plants that I just planted in the ground in the garden. Its been about 10 years, I havent done a thing to them, no water, no fert., they havent grown a bit, but they always have lots of flowers!

Anyway, its a fun hobby and keeps me out of trouble. Dont know how anyone can say they are bored in Thailand.