Sowing Adenium Seeds

Some of you may be interested in sowing adenium seeds and the best time to do it is in the summer. This is my second time in doing so, the first time was not a success either because I over watered and caused the seed to rot or because it's been baked in the sun. Either way, we all learn from our mistakes. On May 5, 2014 I sowed in sixteen adenium seeds, each four pairs are different species that I've gotten online. I do not know if they will all sprout like their parent plants, but that's what I'm going to find out when they start to bloom in the future (if they survive). From what I've researched, good seeds should be able to germinate from 4-7 days if not 10. Usually seeds that do not sprout within the range of days will not germinate into a seedling. If they do, they will likely be weak plants.

Sowed Adenium seeds, labeled and wrapped in saran wrap.

For this experience, I used a wide container, maybe 2-3 inches deep. I drilled three holes on the bottom for drainage. Then placed a screen at the bottom so that when I pour media into the container, nothing will fall out. For the first lower layer, I placed perlite for good drainage. The second layer is a mix of 50% Miracle-Gro cactus soil and 50% perlite. The seeds are sowed into the soil, barely covered but just enough to not be seen. They are spritz daily during the day when out in the sun. Do not let the surface of the soil dry out but make sure it isn't soaked either. You just need enough water to keep it moist.

Adenium container within an experimental greenhouse

Adenium is currently held within an experimental greenhouse I created from an old fish tank. The saran wrap you saw in the previous picture is removed so that they can get some fresh air and not be steamed while outside. I read that they aren't suppose to be out in direct sunlight so I went ahead and brought a mesh curtain as you can see from the picture above since I do not have any bright shade during the early afternoons. The rose plants you see in the picture behind the tank are used as bright shades during the mornings. Once it's night time I place them back into my garage with the container re-wrapped in saran wrap to keep humidity in during the night. The light fixture that I have does not emit enough heat into the tank but enough to keep it in the low 80's F if anything. Which I guess is fine considering that people have stated adenium seeds should be sowed and kept in temperature of 75-85 F. 

Adenium under light fixture during the night (Side experiment - Bonsai seeds)

If you are like me and always want to see the seeds to see if they are growing, I use a tooth pick to lightly dig around in the soil to look for the seeds. If you are doing this though, I would suggest you to be careful to not move the seed itself since some may be germinating already underneath the lightly covered soil. I really do not think this is suggested, but I don't think the to-be seedlings mind...

May 7, 2014  Root germinating and doing downward into the soil.

May 7, 2014  Different adenium seed's root poking out of the seed.

I have to admit while sowing the seeds I did water two seeds of each species into water to re-hydrate them to see if there was a difference from the ones that weren't soaked and I've noticed that two out of the four species that were soaked are starting to germinate while the rest are probably getting there.


Adenium Germination
Adenium Seedlings
Adenium Seedlings One Year
Miniature Greenhouse (Experimental)