Adeniums have many spectacular hybrids. The basic culture is very similar to orchids. A small pot with excellent drainage is a must. Adeniums do not like both over-watering or drying-out. There is a little 'secret' how to create a weird shape of base: just lift the plant a bit every time you re-pot the plant, so the upper parts of roots will be a little exposed. The plant will form more roots that will go down.
Adeniums like a neutral to hard water. Acidic water tends to sour the soil too fast and may cause root rot. Water plants preferably in the early morning, and allow them to drink up throughout the day. Watering can be done daily to every few days. Never allow your plants to sit in a saucer of water, neither allow them to dry out too often - this causes adeniums to go into early dormancy.
Adenium obesum even as narrowly defined here is a highly variable taxon in growth and flowering habits. It occurs nearly all the way across Africa in a broad band south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Sudan . Most plants in cultivation are of unknown origin, so it is not known how much of the natural variation of this wide-ranging taxon is represented. The few documented plants known to the authors are from southeastern Kenya, except for A.o. var. coetanum, which is reportedly from Arabia.
Adenium obesum is a shrubby plant. The thickened stems taper gradually upwards and may be rigid and upright or, less commonly, rather weak and spreading. Young plants have a small, ovoid caudex, and old specimens in habitat have large caudexes. Mature plants in cultivation, however, usually lack a distinct one.
