Many gardening enthusiasts believe that pruning is essential for the healthy growth of a plant. * Pruning: In the wet season, the chance of getting rot in the open wounds is very high, so prune during the dry season. These are superb as container plants, and the container can even be added to an eclectic garden bed. You really only need to do one big prune of your desert rose bush once per year. Trimming and pruning your desert rose in the spring will help it grow more branches and more foliage for a fuller more lush plant. Plant your desert rose in its new pot, and back-fill with soil, leaving the caudex exposed. It is frequently referred to as adenium obesum, the plant which growth mainly depends on pruning and variety. If you do a hard pruning (taking the stems down to 4-5″ above the trunk), you probably won’t have to do it again for a few years. These cuts should be several inches below the infected spot through healthy tissue to ensure you get as much of the infection as possible. Carefully remove any damaged portions, cutting just above a node on the healthy tissue. Best Time for Cutting Back Desert Rose. Then spray the desert rose thoroughly once a week with a fungicide such as Neem oil, which is usually mixed at the rate of 2 tablespoons of oil to one gallon of water. Blooming occurs on … This is true, as long as it is done the right way. About 3 or 4 weeks ago I finally got the nerve to prune my desert rose. When trimming and pruning you want to cut back the new growth as far as you can without cutting off too much. The plant is deciduous in cooler winters, but it can be kept in leaf provided there is sufficient warmth and light water. Mar 27, 2016 - [How To] Pruning back a Desert Rose (photo tutorial) Cacti / Succulents Roses are grafted onto rootstocks in order to provide the plant with a root system supe-rior to their own natural roots and to speed up the process of producing mature rose plants. Trim taller stems back to the same height as lower stems for more uniform growth. By entering your email address you agree to receive a daily email newsletter from Plant Care Today. Contact with the juice may result in an allergic reaction in some folk. Tips on Desert Rose Plant Pruning Sometimes referred to as mock azalea or Adenium obesum, this wonderful plant is extremely low-maintenance. Plant spacing. It is usually best to prune back any crossed branches. Adenium obesum - the desert rose plant is an indoor succulent that comes with 2 - 3 inch flowers. This plant is a type of caudiciform or “fat plant” because of its thick bulbous base. Remove cold-damaged growth as soon as new growth emerges in late winter or early spring. Although desert rose is a beautiful, low-maintenance plant, it can become long and leggy in time. Before bringing it inside, cut back any excessive shaggy growth, damaged branches, and dry leaves, as it will also make the resting period more effective while making it easier to handle the plant. How To Prune A Desert Rose – Tips For Cutting Back Desert Rose Plants. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to do desert rose pruning well before blooming, as desert rose blooms on new growth. Although desert rose is a beautiful, low-maintenance plant, it can become long and leggy in time. If a Desert Rose is grown in overly wet conditions, it might develop fungal stem rot, which usually starts at a stem tip and could also affect leaves on that stem, causing them to turn yellow, then brown. When you remove older growth, you also risk removing buds and blooms. Over time, the plant can become leggy and produce a decreasing amount of blooms. The desert rose plant is part of the dogbane family where members contain natural latex in their sap. Adenium plants do not need to be cropped l Desert rose plants are cropped to make it grow a certain way either bonsai, to increase the number of branches or fatten the caudex of the desert rose plant. native to the semi-arid regions of Arabia and the eastern and western parts of Africa. These plants will have a lot more details displayed including an image. Mike. Hard Pruning / Light Pruning. Monitor your plant closely throughout the season, especially during periods of warmth and high humidity. How much you trim back depends on how small you want your desert rose to remain. Avoid pruning in late autumn, as the tender new growth will be vulnerable to temperature changes and frost. Cut back only in the dry season to avoid infections entering cuts. Adenium obesum, commonly known as Desert Rose, is widespread and variable in its natural habitat.It occurs in broadband across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Mauritania in the west eastward to Sudan and Kenya.Its variability in nature is reflected by its variability in cultivation. The latter one looks rather ugly, it prevents a new apex from growing at a decent angle off the cut and last but not least it never heals quite well. The winter pruning involves cutting the plants back hard as well as removing all leaves, which brings on a showy spring bloom. Related: Getting Rid Of Aphids on Desert Roses. When grown indoors, a desert rose can be 2ft-5ft tall and 1ft-3 ft wide. It’s generally a good idea to keep a container of isopropyl alcohol on-hand as well as a sealable plastic bag in case you run into a mealybug infestation, spider mites, or an infection. 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