Adromischus trouble-shooting (23 pics)

In general, Adromischus are not difficult to grow on the windowsill. Good light is beneficial but some types enjoy a shadier spot. I have a big and beautiful Adromischus cristatus growing on my kitchen window without any direct sunlight at all (I'm watering it very rarely as a compensation). Mealy bugs like them but not more than any other succulents. And the propagation by leaf cuttings is very easy.

The one serious problem they have is spontaneous rotting. Sometimes you see it coming but usually you don't. One day the plant looks fine and the next day it's mush with nothing to save.

This one's dead.

I have not yet figured out why this happens and so the only preventive measure I know of is taking leaf cuttings for backup copies in advance, like so.

This year I've encountered a new problem - they're having troubles during summer heatwaves. Normally Adros are flowering during summer months, which weakens them a bit, then comes the heat (and maybe some additional plague like mealy bugs) and they get so stressed they drop leaves. I thought I'd lose several this summer! This drying and dropping off leaves is actually not as bad as it looks. As long as nothing's rotting, it'll be fine. I panicked and removed all remaining healthy leaves for propagation on 4 plants. This may or may not have been a right move but I figured, if the plant is going to dry them off anyway, I'll take them and grow new plants out of them first. This way nothing is lost.

But, I did keep the leafless stems! While the leaves were rooting I put the stems away and forgot about them. Come September, all the bald stems started to push new leaves! They may not grow into well-shaped plants but, with Adromischus, each new fully grown leaf potentially means a new perfectly shaped plant grown from it. Don't throw away those stems!

September

The same plant today

Backed by this experience, I recently tried to "refresh" a couple of older plants. The bushy types of Adromischus that naturally have larger spaces between leaves tend to grow too long with age and then tip over. We don't want that. In the past, on one or two occasions, I removed the lower leaves and buried the plant deeper. This year I simply cut them in two. The top with younger leaves can be rooted again while the bottom regrows. 

Three weeks later

Got some leaf cuttings from it as well. Propagating like a champion.

Here are some other rooted tips, happily growing. But these were removed because I noticed the base of the root had started rotting. If you notice these things early this is how you save the plant.

My advice to you? As soon as a new Adromischus comes into your home, make a backup copy. It not only prevents you from fear of losing a plant, growing Adros from leaf cuttings is lots of fun, too. Just look at these cuties!

Transplanting Adromischus (7 pics)

The longer I grow Adromischus the more obvious it gets that they really don't like summer heat that much. The intense light isn't beneficial to them either when it's hot. I tend to ignore them in summer because looking at them depresses me. The green types lose their color, the rest is just sitting there deflating miserably while also not taking in water. Then they drop leaves or start rotting. Of course, there are flowers, but they weaken the plants additionally leaving them in a sorry state that mealy bugs like to exploit. And then September comes and the world is new again! They inflate their leaves and new growth appears everywhere, they get plump and happy and I realize I spend most of my time at the windowsill in the Adromischus corner. Fall and spring are the two seasons Adromischus look best!

It's also the time to re-evaluate their growing conditions and transplant those needing transplanting. For example, I had some greenies growing in a shadier place and they made it though the summer retaining their color while the rest all turned yellow. So, now all the greenies have been moved to the shade. It freed up some space for bigger pots, too. Which is convenient as at least two plants have outgrown theirs. 

I couldn't decide first, which one is going to move to a bigger pot this year, my old red-ish type plant or the green one they call A. marianiae 'alviolatus'. After a month of active growth both look great and could spread even more if given the opportunity.

By the way, this is the same plant as on the below picture, taken back in March 2018.

In the end I decided to move the alveolatus and, once the top layer of pumice was removed, it was clearly the right decision. Those roots have no more room in the old pot!

One root massage later the big root beard is revealed.

I wonder if it will fill out this 9 cm pot by next year :)

PS: I've grown several cute babies from its leaves, too.

Adromischus marianiae cultivation tips (23 pics)

I have been growing several Adromischus plants since 2014 but this is the first year I can watch many different types grow and develop. It's exciting and full of discoveries. Having watched them grow for a year or so does not make me an expert but the more I see the better I understand their yearly growing pattern and their needs.

The good news is they are doing very well on a windowsill and in pure pumice substrate! They are definitely not the genus that is "best in a greenhouse", in fact they don't even need that much sunlight. Half a day of it (the sun moves on after 2 pm here) and careful watering will produce compact and healthy plants.

While the red types develop a nice tan with intense sunlight, green types tend to get "bleached", turn lighter green or yellow. Here is my oldest plant. This year it started developing a second branch from below and is overall a nice and healthy one. The next two pictures are of this same plant, taken from two opposite sides. Can you tell which side is the sun-facing side? :D

When the sunlight get less intense the darker green color returns for those types that were supposed to be dark green like the below specimen.

The babies I grew from leaves in the recent years get greener during winter months, too.

But it also means that the "Lime Drops" variety that is actually supposed to be lighter green with pink tips is now also completely green.

And the "herrei" red types turn brownish green, too. The red color will return in the spring.

The new leaves are more intensely colored anyway. The below younger "alveolatus" variety plants have been growing some new red leaves this Fall. So pretty!

Adromischus marianiae "Little Spheroid" are really prone to stretching. I have a plant that stretches  in winter every year without fail. And then gets back to looking great by the end of summer.

What I wanted to say is that shape improves with time. No need to fret about it. See the below plant? All the new leaves are narrow and pointy. As the year progresses they will get thick and round thus hiding the stems even better and contributing to the tight shape the plant is supposed to have.

Or, another example. I got these "Droedap" locality plants earlier this year with only two big leaves of an undefinable shape on each. But once they started growing all those perfectly shaped and beautifully colored leaves came out.

The coloring and pattern like the number of dots and spots varies as well. The below Adromischus trigynus barely has any dots on the new leaves. The typical pattern only develops with time as the leaves grow bigger.

There have been lots and lots of flowers, on the new plants as well as plants I've had for years (my pollination attempts have failed though). Most of the leaf cuttings have developed into proper little plants within a year and growing them from seed has turned out to be absolutely possible (although very slow). The only thing that is still standing between you and a windowsill full of Adros is their retail prices. Unfortunately the hype is not yet over. But at least if you have one plant, as it grows, you can create "backup copies" and won't need to spend money again if one of them withers. That's what I've been doing. Because boy I won't be able to re-purchase any of them.

Here are some plants I grew from leaf cuttings this year.

And here are the babies grown from seed that are now 1,5 years old. While it was fun to watch the seedlings grow if you're not as patient, growing Adros from leaf cuttings is the way for you.

I have already written about Adromischus propagation and other observations earlier this year. What I would like to address now is the yearly life cycle of these plants and how to water them.

Watering is actually quite easy. All you need to do is touch and squeeze the leaves a little. If they are soft, you may water. I have actually measured my watering can - one watering is ca. 15 ml tops, 10 ml to be on the safe side. You will notice that the leaves will be really firm the next day. From there you just leave it and water only when the leaves are getting soft again.

There are no periods of time with strict drought as with lithops. A little water all throughout the year is fine if you follow the above rule. The plants mostly rest in winter, not wasting the resources, so automatically you will water less frequently. And even if they continue growing during the winter months it's better to slow them down as much as possible since the lack of sunlight will otherwise cause etiolation. We don't want that. The growing of new leaves happens in spring and in the fall. And they will spend all summer growing inflorescences and flowering. I thought at first that if I don't allow them to flower they would grow more leaves but I now believe they would just sleep instead. So, summer is either for flowering or for resting. Note that the younger leaves increase in size over the course of several months, so if I say they would be resting it means they just won't be pushing new leaves. Existing leaves however will (ideally) continue growing in size to create the typical tight cluster.

Tight growth with hidden stems is also the shape to be maintained and supported. For example, as recent as last month my Adros were actively growing and some still seem to want to continue. However, the days got shorter and I already notice that some try to outgrow the tight shape. Time to reduce or stop watering to avoid stretching. Those succulent leaves have lots of resources to support themselves. And while the new leaves get thicker and rounder the overall "dense foliage" will be maintained.

What I wrote so far sounds quite easy but there are also some issues Adros might have. Like any succulent plants they do rot. The roots are very thick, caudex-like even, and the substrate should be appropriate. I use pure pumice. If you use something else at least in the upper half of the pot it should be just as airy. There is another thing I have seen a couple of times - some sort of white mold at the base of the leaves. No idea what the exact cause is (too damp would be my guess) but if you catch it early and remove the mold and the affected leaves the plant will be fine if kept dry for some time after.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

There are so many different types and varieties of Adromischus marianiae out there that I am completely lost. I have no idea what exterior belongs to which name or locality. At this point I'm just trying to have plants of different shapes on my windowsill and I start to think assigning them numbers would make more sense. If you know how to keep them apart or where I can get reliable data on looks vs. name, I'd really appreciate your help.

Here are some plants whose proper names I can only guess about.