My Desert Cactus has dropped most of its leaves. It spent the summer
in full sun on the deck and is now in a sunny southern window. I fed
the DC fish emulsion during the summer. I've been watering the DC
twice a month since November when I brought it indoors. Is this
typical for this plant to drop its leaves and go dormant? What needs
to be done to encourage bloom?

Desert cactus don't have leaves.

What you have is something else.

Find out what the plant really is and get back to us.


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
My Desert Cactus has dropped most of its leaves. It spent the summer
in full sun on the deck and is now in a sunny southern window. I fed
the DC fish emulsion during the summer. I've been watering the DC
twice a month since November when I brought it indoors. Is this
typical for this plant to drop its leaves and go dormant? What needs
to be done to encourage bloom?

Sorry, I was not thinking. It is a Desert Rose or Impala lily
(Adenium obesum). I'm not certain if this plant can be called a
succulent or not. It has thorns and an interesting thick trunk, but I
don't think it is a cactus. I bought it last April and I have not
seen it bloom yet. All the lower leaves have dried up and fallen off,
but there are still small green leaves at the branch tips.


On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 00:10:24 GMT, "Cereus-validus..."
wrote:

Desert cactus don't have leaves.

What you have is something else.

Find out what the plant really is and get back to us.


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
My Desert Cactus has dropped most of its leaves. It spent the summer
in full sun on the deck and is now in a sunny southern window. I fed
the DC fish emulsion during the summer. I've been watering the DC
twice a month since November when I brought it indoors. Is this
typical for this plant to drop its leaves and go dormant? What needs
to be done to encourage bloom?

Its called a caudiciform.

Adenium obesum is a member of the Periwinkle family (Apocynaceae), closely
allied to the Oleander (Nerium oleander), and has no thorns nor spines on
the stems.

The common name "Desert Rose" is a bit of a misnomer because there is
absolutely no comparison with a rose. "Desert Rhododendron" would have been
more appropriate because of the flower resemblance. One of its other common
names is "Mock Azalea".

It normally goes dormant in winter and can be expected to bloom in the
summer with the proper treatment.

http://www.cactus-mall.com/andre/index.html

http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergarde...se/adenium.htm


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
Sorry, I was not thinking. It is a Desert Rose or Impala lily
(Adenium obesum). I'm not certain if this plant can be called a
succulent or not. It has thorns and an interesting thick trunk, but I
don't think it is a cactus. I bought it last April and I have not
seen it bloom yet. All the lower leaves have dried up and fallen off,
but there are still small green leaves at the branch tips.


On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 00:10:24 GMT, "Cereus-validus..."
wrote:

Desert cactus don't have leaves.

What you have is something else.

Find out what the plant really is and get back to us.


"Phisherman" wrote in message
. ..
My Desert Cactus has dropped most of its leaves. It spent the summer
in full sun on the deck and is now in a sunny southern window. I fed
the DC fish emulsion during the summer. I've been watering the DC
twice a month since November when I brought it indoors. Is this
typical for this plant to drop its leaves and go dormant? What needs
to be done to encourage bloom?

Thanks. Good links! After a close look at the plant, it looks like
it has thorns but it actually does not.

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 02:08:00 GMT, "Cereus-validus..."
wrote:

Its called a caudiciform.

Adenium obesum is a member of the Periwinkle family (Apocynaceae), closely
allied to the Oleander (Nerium oleander), and has no thorns nor spines on
the stems.

The common name "Desert Rose" is a bit of a misnomer because there is
absolutely no comparison with a rose. "Desert Rhododendron" would have been
more appropriate because of the flower resemblance. One of its other common
names is "Mock Azalea".

It normally goes dormant in winter and can be expected to bloom in the
summer with the proper treatment.

http://www.cactus-mall.com/andre/index.html

http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergarde...se/adenium.htm