How to propagate desert rose

Adenium can be propagated from leafy young branches, older leafless branches, larger branches by air-layering, fresh seed or grafting. Stem cuttings are the route that keeps a named cultivar true.

Use a stem cutting for a clone, air-layer a larger branch until roots are visible, or sow fresh seed in the warm season. Grafting is a separate route joining a scion to a selected rootstock.

For leafy cuttings, do not let the fresh cut callus or dry: dip it in rooting hormone, use very well-draining medium, and keep the environment evenly damp, very warm and moderately illuminated. Older stems need less moisture and humidity.

Take leafy or mature material early in the growing season, apply rooting hormone to the fresh base and insert it into very well-drained medium. For an air-layer, notch the branch, apply hormone, wrap the notch in damp sphagnum or coir, and sever below visible roots before potting.

A successful air-layer has a visible root system through the wrap. Fresh seed can germinate in damp soil within days when warm, but that does not tell you how fast a cutting will root.

A leafy cutting that dries out or is left to callus, or a setup that stays cold and wet, is less likely to root. Cold wet soil raises root-rot risk.

Once an air-layer has visible roots, sever below the rooted region, remove the moss or coir and treat the stem as a rooted cutting. Keep the new plant warm, bright and well drained.