Propagation of adeniums by cuttings: what you need to know about pruning the desired branch, how to root the top of the plant at home, what care will be needed next?

Adenium belongs to the genus of shrubbery and woody plants, the Kutrovy family. This succulent in nature grows in the tropics of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula. Hybrid varieties adapted to home conditions. Experienced flower growers prefer to propagate this exotic cuttings.

From this article you will learn about how to propagate Adenium correctly with cuttings, how to prepare a plant and choose the soil. And also find the answer to the question, for what reason, planting material may not take root and what to do in such cases.

Pros and cons of this method of growing and propagating

Adenium propagation occurs mainly due to apical cuttings after pruning.

Reference! The method of grafting is quite simple, affordable, requires a little time, compared with sowing and growing seedlings. Cuttings take only 3 to 4 weeks.

An important advantage of the Cherenkov method:

Self-grafting allows you to save the features of the selected variety of adenium unchanged. Buying cuttings in the store, you can not get the desired result.
In addition, the cultivation of adenium by cuttings involves early lush flowering in the same year of planting.

Rooting takes place in a special substrate or in water, but most often the effectiveness of this method is very low, the cuttings can sit for a long time in water or a substrate and not let the roots.

Growing adenium cuttings, it is necessary to know the features of the method, take into account the conditions of rooting:

temperature;
shine;
sufficient hydration;
comply with the rules of cutting and preparation of cuttings.

The complexity of the method is when air humidity is disturbed, the cuttings are quickly affected by fungal infections, pathogenic bacteria, and begin to rot.

The adenium grown by the cuttings most often does not develop a strong, decorative caudex.

We also offer you to learn how to grow adenium from seeds, in this article.

When should you start?

The main condition for adenium cuttings is that the flower should be in the phase of active growth and development. The procedure is usually recommended in the spring or at the very beginning of summer.

Important! Before the procedure, watering should be reduced 2 to 2.5 weeks before cutting the cuttings.

Soil preparation

Composition of the soil Adenium prefers moist, loose, light, fertilized soil. The composition of the soil for cuttings:

Sand - 2 hours
Vermiculite - 1 hour
Perlite - 0.5 hours
Charcoal - 1 hour.

Many gardeners use a simplified version of the soil mixture to root adenium:

Perlite - 1 hour
Peat - 1 hour
Coconut fiber - 1 hour.

In the planting pot or container, a drainage layer is necessarily laid out - large expanded clay. Drainage holes are made in the tank. Drainage prevents rotting of cuttings.

Experienced gardeners root cuttings simply in moistened perlite, covering the cuttings with a bag - greenhouse conditions for germination are created.

Material selection, trimming and preparation

Cuttings should be cut only from adult adenium. The flower must be at least 3 years old.

The pruning branch should be strong, healthy, with uniform leaf plates. Patients affected by a fungal infection of the cuttings usually do not root, as they are prone to decay.
The diameter of the branch for cutting cuttings is at least 10 - 11 mm.

The procedure for preparing adenium cuttings:

Before cutting in 2 days, the adenium is well moistened.
The knife or scalpel for cutting is treated with alcohol.
Cuttings are cut with a length of 10 - 13 cm, at an angle of 45 °.
The slice is fast, in one motion.
Shallow cruciform incisions are made on the lower cut - the area for the formation of new roots increases.
A special substrate is treated with a fungicide solution.
Cuttings for 4 - 5 hours are placed in a solution of epin for better rooting.
Before planting, cuttings must be dried for at least 3 to 4 days.

Attention! Adenium is considered a poisonous flower, all manipulations are carried out with gloves.

Step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the procedure at home

How to root the top?

The prepared substrate is laid out in a special container with a layer of 4-5 cm.
The soil is well moistened.
Prepared cuttings are buried in the ground by 2 - 2.5 cm.
The container is covered with a film.
It requires daily ventilation of the greenhouse, condensation is wiped.
The temperature of the content of cuttings in the soil is up to 25 - 28 ° C.
The required air humidity is 70 - 75%.
The substrate should be moistened sparingly for 4 to 5 weeks.
When young leaves appear, the film is removed - the cuttings are rooted.

Some gardeners root cuttings in water:

Cuttings are dried for at least 24 hours.
Boiled water is collected in the container.
Activated carbon is added to the water - 2 tablets per 1 liter of water.
The container is installed in a warm place without direct sunlight.
Water is added to the tank as it evaporates.
The rooting process takes place within 4 weeks.

You can root adenium cuttings in peat tablets. Care and watering is the same as when rooting in perlite or soil mixture.

Seedlings in the open ground

Young adenium seedlings are transplanted every year in neutral or slightly acidic soil. Adult bushes are often not replanted, it is enough 1 time in 3 to 4 years.

To update the bush of adult adenium, timely trimming of branches and replacing the old substrate with a new one enriched with mineral fertilizers should be carried out.

Adeniums can be planted in open ground only in dry and hot climates. In temperate and northern latitudes, adenium is not recommended to be planted in open ground. The flower does not tolerate a sharp drop in temperature, does not winter in harsh conditions.

How to propagate a plant? The procedure is simple, requires a sequence of actions:

A sunny area is selected, dug up, fertilized with mineral fertilizers.
Rather deep holes are dug - 30-40 cm deep and 40 - 50 cm in length.
A drainage layer is laid at the bottom - broken brick, expanded clay.
Peat, sand, humus, perlite, charcoal are added to the garden soil in a ratio of 2: 1: 0.5: 1 h.
The substrate is moistened.
Young seedlings fall into the holes, sprinkled with soil.
The substrate is slightly compacted.
Watering should be resumed after 3 to 4 days.

Important! When transplanting into open ground, an earthen lump of a young seedling should be preserved. Rooting will be faster and more painless. Typically, a landing method is used during landing.

Often gardeners use the weaving method to better decorate the adenium bush.:

After trimming, use 3 to 4 cuttings for 1 pot.
Cuttings are cut up to 20 cm in length.
Cuttings are planted in one pot, the lower part is tied with twine or tape.
Watering stops for 4 - 5 days.
Branches are woven manually, simulating a braid.
The top of the weave is fixed.
Such braids after rooting are planted in the ground or a more spacious pot.
Next, the fixing tape is removed.

For weaving, you can use cuttings of different varieties of adenium - the flower will look more exotic.

Follow-up care

Lighting

Adenium prefers well-lit areas, is not afraid of direct rays of the sun, does not require shading.

Only young seedlings should be covered from the sun. In winter, additional lighting is required for several hours a day.

Permissible winter content of adenium in partial shady places. Since during this period the flower is at rest. But with the advent of spring, the plant, without fail, must be rearranged in a sufficiently lit place.

Watering

Attention! The main thing is to prevent the substrate from dampness, even in hot weather the constantly wet soil provokes rot formation.

Between watering, the soil should dry slightly. But the earthen lump should not be dried out - the adenium stops growing and slows down flowering. In autumn and winter, watering is reduced. Water for irrigation is used soft, clean, settled for at least 2 to 3 days, slightly acidified with a solution of citric acid or peat.

Temperature

Adenium, as an African resident, can tolerate temperatures up to 30 - 35 ° C. In the hot season, you can moisten the air by spraying the bushes. Spraying is carried out in the morning, water should not fall on the flowers themselves. In winter and autumn, the permissible temperature is 13 - 15 ° C. The flower does not tolerate a strong difference and a decrease in temperature.

Top dressing

The best feeding for adenium is slowly soluble solutions of mineral fertilizers of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in a ratio of 1: 1: 1. During the ripening period of buds and during flowering, it is recommended to loosen the fertilizing, it is enough to apply fertilizer through watering 1 - 2 times a month.

Nitrogen fertilizers contribute to the growth of green mass, they should be applied before flowering. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers help the stems to develop, contribute to full flowering, they are usually applied in spring and autumn once every 2 weeks.

You can feed the adenium with ready-made fertilizers for flowering succulents.

Pinch

To obtain a beautifully shaped adenium, you should pinch young seedlings before the start of the activity phase - in early spring or at the very end of the winter period.

Do not cut many branches from the main trunkThen Adenium releases many fragile thin shoots.

Usually lateral, too sprouted branches are cut by a third. They can be used for further cuttings. The procedure is preferably carried out in the spring after transplanting the flower, after 20 - 26 days.

What to do if they do not take root?

Cuttings do not take root and begin to rot if the main conditions are not met:

Improper soil composition - heavy, moist, acidic soil.Reference! In this case, transplantation or treatment with disinfectants is required.
It is important to properly handle the cuttings before rooting, to hold phytosporin or other fungicide in a solution, and to treat them with a rooting agent or growth hormone.
Dry the planting stalk well to avoid decay in the substrate or water.
Air temperature is reduced - the rooting process slows down or stops. Requires additional lighting, air heating.
When the substrate is dry, the earthen lump dries up, the stalk does not root, dries up.
It is necessary to use the correct landing tanks - adenium prefers spacious, shallow pots, preferably made of ceramic, plastic material is quickly heated in the sun, which is undesirable for the root system.

In order for the cuttings to take root, the procedure should not be carried out at rest of the adenium, for cuttings need a period of activity of the flower.

It is not easy to grow adenium by cuttings, special care is required. It must be remembered that the exotic loves heat, light and moisture. But the most important thing is the diligence and desire to grow a unique, lushly blooming tropical flower.