How to Grow Adenium from Seeds: 5 Tips to Successful Germination

Adenium, or desert rose, is a succulent flowering plant with a strong and elaborate caudex. Because of its shape and beauty, you might think that growing adenium from seeds is a difficult task. However, it is a fairly simple and uncomplicated process that only requires some time and care.

Let’s take a look at how to grow adenium from seeds along with some germination tips.

How to Grow Adenium from Seeds

Finding the Seeds

For growing adenium, you must find and use fresh seeds for the best results. This is because fresh seeds quicken the germination process.

You can either obtain these seeds by looking for a good dealer or asking in your local botanical gardens or nurseries. They can either sell you the seeds directly or point you to someone who sells them. They can also provide you with some additional information about growing adenium if you ask them for it.

Alternately, you can also extract or harvest these seeds from mature adenium plants that you or someone you know may own. Before you do this, make sure you are well aware of this process. Do not use young plants to harvest seeds and ensure that you know how to catch the seeds.

If you are confused, you can ask a gardener or any other expert for help.

Once you obtain these seeds, make sure you do not preserve them for too long. Try to sow them immediately so that they can germinate faster. Storing them may make the process much slower and may not yield favorable results.

Preparing the Medium

For sowing the seeds, you need to prepare the medium first. Mix and prepare this medium well such that it is consistent, uniform and not too wet or dry. You can then shift it to a good container that will serve your purpose.

The medium should be one that drains well, retains enough moisture and allows the roots to penetrate and grow freely. For this, you can use a combination of good amounts of perlite or soil and sand. You can also add organic compost or fertilizer which will keep the plant healthy and prevent the growth of fungi.

In fact, you can decide what you want to combine in your medium as long as you are confident of its success. Different kinds of mediums may lead to different results.

Pour this mixture into a container. For the germination process, you can use any kind of container as long as the drainage is good. A plastic pot will also serve your purpose for this. All you need to do is make some holes at the bottom for drainage.

Make sure this container is completely clean to prevent fungus growth at later stages.

Sowing the seeds

Now that you have prepared the medium, it is time for you to sow the seeds in it. Moisten the medium and then place the seeds carefully in the medium that you have placed in a container. Make sure you leave a gap of an inch between two seeds.

Cover these seeds with a layer of the medium. Place the container on a heat source that will maintain a warm enough temperature for germination and root growth. You can later remove this heat source once you place the container under natural warmth after germination.

During this process, you can cover the container with a plastic bag. However, if your medium is non-sterile, you should avoid covering it at all as this will otherwise lead to the growth of fungi which could hinder the healthy growth of the plant.

Watering the Medium

After sowing the seeds, you must ensure that you water the medium sufficiently. Water it from under the seedlings on a daily basis to prevent damping off.

If this occurs (usually due to the growth of fungi), your plant might get infected which could cause it to wilt and die. At the same time, watering from below will ensure that it is retaining enough moisture.

Once in three days, you must also water the medium from above. Do this until the seeds begin to sprout into seedlings. This should take approximately five to seven days if you used fresh seeds. If the seeds weren’t fresh, this process might take longer or it might be unsuccessful.

It might also take a longer time in winter than in summer.

After the seedlings appear, water them only from below.

Transplanting the Seedlings

In a month or so, the seedlings will be big and leafy enough. Once you observe this milestone, you can transplant these seedlings into a pot. Ensure that the pot is clean and then place enough of the medium in the pot before you plant the seedling.

Once the pot has enough of the soil medium, scoop out the seedling from the container and place it into the pot. Place each seedling in a separate pot to ensure healthy growth.

After this process, give the plant enough time and space to grow well. Water it regularly. However, make sure you do not overwhelm the plant with too much water. During winter, you can reduce the number of times you water the plant. Try to ensure that it gets enough warmth.

Blooming On

You are now aware of all the steps you need to follow and the things you need to successfully grow adenium from seeds.

While it might sound like a long process because of the nature of the plant, it is actually something that is pretty simple. You only need to keep caring for your plant regularly. It will definitely be a satisfying experience for you.

Remember, try to keep all conditions favorable for the germination and growth of the seedling. This includes giving it just the right amount of water and heat.

Additionally, it is easy to neglect the plant and miss out on the growth of fungi. Make sure you keep track of this to prevent the growth of fungi by keeping your containers and pots clean. This will ensure that your plant grows healthy and does not wither away.

Record your plant’s growth on a regular basis. In a few months, your seedlings will begin to bloom flowers and the caudex will grow sturdier and more shapely.

Enjoy the process of watching your seedlings bloom into beautiful plants.