Caudiciforms are plants of the succulent persuasion that store water in their caudex for prolonged periods of dry weather. If you have an adenium, commonly known as a desert rose, then you have one of these plants, sometimes called fat plants because of their water-storing caudex, which is the fat part of the roots that tend to stay above ground. And if you do have one, yours may be losing leaves about now.
I have five adeniums, and they all seem to have a mind of their own with regards to what to do with their leaves during the winter. My oldest one, which I think is a Harry Potter hybrid that I have had since 2009, always loses its leaves in the fall as it goes into the greenhouse. Then, around January, buds begin to show up on its bare limbs and it blooms! After the blooming is done, leaves come back, all is well and green. And then the process starts again. I have shown you its flowers in previous blogs, and they are always spectacular. Flowers are a bit smaller this year, but they are still impressive.
The yellow-blooming adenium seedling I brought home in 2024 as a door prize from the Mid-States Conference and the Adenium socotranum I bought in 2021 have kept most of their leaves, but as you can see, don’t look great right now.
The Adenium multiflorum I’ve had since 2022 has bloomed more than once this summer and fall and has kept most of its leaves, but looks a bit scruffy. It has also made seed pods, but they have just sat there and done nothing.
The Adenium arabicam I’ve had since 2018 looks the best and has kept almost all of its leaves and looks good, even though it loses one every now and then. It also has an impressive caudex, which is what caudiciforms are prized for, an interestingly shaped fat caudex. As the plants grow and are repotted, the caudex is lifted higher out of the dirt to show off more of it. Smaller roots can be trimmed to make whatever shape is wanted.
Another caudiciform in my collection is a Pachypodium succulentum x. bispinosum. It, too, is losing leaves and is looking a mess.
The Ficus Petiolaris has lost all its leaves!
So, why share all these puny-looking plants with you? Because I rotted one of the first adeniums I had because when it lost its leaves, I panicked and watered it too much, thinking water was what it needed. Quite the opposite. In the winter, which is not their growing season, they need less water.
And by the way, don’t be afraid to cut back on watering on most cactus and succulents in the fall. Most cactus are going to go dormant in the winter, but some succulents do grow in the winter, so do your research. This Quiabentia verticillata from Bolivia,which is a cactus but has fleshy leaves attached to its spines, dropped all its leaves last year, its first year with me, and they came back nice and green in the spring. It looks sad now, but the leaves will come back again when things warm up.
If the caudex is nice and firm, all is well. Cut back on the water, continue to provide as much light as possible, be patient, and when it warms up, the leaves will come back, and eventually it will bloom again.
They really will. But, alas, sometimes you lose one in spite of your best efforts.. So, if that happens, buy another and try again. And cut back on the watering in the winter.
If you would like to know more about fat plants and see pictures of all kinds of caudiciforms, I recommend going to davesgarden.com and search Caudiciforms.
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