| Life form | Succulent |
| The family | Passifloraceae |
| Origin and Distribution | Africa, Madagascar, the south of the Arabian Peninsula, Southeast Asia. There are about 100 species. |
| Easy growing | Quite easy, but there are certain nuances in the care. |
| Size | In nature – up to 3 m in height, about 60 cm at home. |
| Growth rate | Low |
| Lifetime | Perennial plant |
| Temperature | The optimum temperature in summer is 75,2-78,8 ° F, although the plant is sufficiently resistant to heat. In winter, it requires a cool temperature of 59 ° F, but not below 44,6 ° F. |
| Humidity | No high humidity required |
| Lighting | The plant requires bright or bright scattered light, it can be grown on the southern, western and south-western windows, but it is necessary that the caudex be in the shade. Special shading is required for green caudex in the spring, it should not get wet, as a result of sun burns in the form of brown spots. |
| Soil | A loose permeable substrate is suitable with the addition of sand or perlite, preferably acid soil. You can use a mixture of equal parts of sod, leaf land, peat, coarse sand with the addition of charcoal. |
| Watering | In summer, water is moderated as the top layer of the soil dries up, in winter, watering is reduced. With the onset of autumn, the leaves turn yellow and fall off. If the plant has thrown off the leaves, then it is not watered in the winter. In this case, the bare branches can be trimmed. |
| How to fertilize | During the growth period, fertilizers for succulents are applied approximately once every 2-3 weeks, supplementary fertilizers with a high content of phosphorus and potassium are applied (N: P: K – 5:10:10). In autumn and winter, no fertilizing is used. |
| Reproduction | It is spread by seeds. They should be sowed in a substrate of peat, perlite and sand. Seeds should be pre-soaked for 12 hours. Sometimes fungicides are used to prevent the appearance of fungal infections. Germinate at a temperature of + 71,6-75,2 ° F, covering the dish with polyethylene. Germination lasts 2-3 weeks. Further, the seedlings are dived into separate pots. Adenia propagates vegetatively, by sprouting cuttings in a mixture of sphagnum and sand under polyethylene. Pre-cut the cuttings are treated with corn root, the cuttings are placed on a soft light. In plants obtained vegetatively, the caudex is not formed. |
| Flowering | Blossoms in June-August. Flowers are poorly decorative, pale yellow, creamy, greenish. |
| Transplant and care | Transplanted in spring in pots of a larger diameter as the roots fill the substrate: young plants every year, adults – every 2-3 years. Formed under the ground, the caudex during the transplantation is gradually cleared from the soil and carefully raised. The characteristic feature of adenia is the thickening of the trunk – caudex, which can be either underground or aboveground. Long shoots are cut, giving the plant a certain shape. Can be grown in a bonsai culture. The most common species are glauca adenia, A. spinosa, A. digitata. |
| Difficulties | The plant is resistant to pests. Be careful with watering. With excessive moisture, especially when watering in the winter, the caudex can decay. |
| Useful Properties | Some species are used in folk medicine in African countries (A.cissampeloides) for the treatment of infectious and parasitic bowel diseases, for poison for poisoned arrows and as paralyzing agents for fishing. |
| Toxicity | Many species are very toxic (A.venenata). When working with the plant, cutting and transplanting requires gloves. |
