Hibiscus Tips

[chickensandagarden]

I recently bought a Hibiscus from the clearance rack at Lowe's. Normally I would have passed up a Hibiscus unless it was a hardy one, but this one looked a bit rough and I just couldn't pass it by without at least trying to help it a bit. I repotted it and placed it on my porch where it gets about partial sun. I was watering it quite a bit, but I think I may have been overwatering so I backed off. It does have more green leaves popping up on it, but it has been slow. This summer has been extremely mild for us so I don't think it has been too hot for it.

Does anyone have any tips for caring for Hibiscuses?

 

[baymule]

The only hibiscus I am growing is Roselle from Baker Creek. They are close to 5' tall and haven't bloomed yet. They are for their seed pods. The seed pods are used in South and Central America to make a cranberry like drink. These seeds came from Asia, where it is a popular drink too. My care for these is water when dry and ignore.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Wish I could help, Bit I haven't had or grown a hibiscus for at least a decade, since I came home with that one from my college grafting class (which promptly died). Except for that the only Hibiscus I've grown is Kenaf (which technically is a hibiscus)

And I don't recall that needing any special treatment apart from being kept in a pot (not for critter protection this time, because of it's day length requirements, Kenaf up here starts blooming around Thanksgiving, and hits it's prime blooming time around January, so I needed it inside to hand pollinate and try and get seeds. I actually did, though not many (Kenaf is self incompatible and I only had two plants, so I had to wait for days when BOTH the plants had open flowers, which were rare.) Still it was nice to have big hibiscus flowers in our living room in the middle of winter. The next year I wound up doing the same thing with Sunn hemp, though that didn't work as well (bloomed beautifully, but it's a lot harder to hand pollinate so none of them took .

Your probably alright. My personal experience not withstanding, Hibiscuses (Hibiscii?) are pretty tough plants.Around here, the hardy hibiscus (aka rose of Sharon) is almost a weed once it get established. My grandparents had a HUGE one that crossed over to the neighbors property, and there is a large white one I see from the train in the summer that must be fully wild grown as it is actually growing in the middle of a swampy pond.)

 

[canesisters]

I grew one last summer (also from Lowes or somewhere similar). I wasn't hardy for my zone and died shortly after the first frost. Can't recall doing anything special other than planting it in a sunny location and watering often. It was near the elepahant ears so it got watered a couple times a week. Grew and bloomed beautifully.

 

[ninnymary]

I've only grown it once. It grew too big for it's space, almost a small tree, so I pulled it out. It was very pretty and easy to grow. It didn't take much water. If I overwatered it, the leaves would turn yellow and I would quickly back off. I would worry more about your zone. It's a tropical plant so I don't know if it would overwinter in your area. At the price you paid, it's certainly worth it to try growing it. Good luck with it

Mary

 

[canesisters]

Am I looking at this right? The yellow part is a flower??? It LOOKS like the face on the wall is wearing a funny little yellow hat.

 

[Smart Red]

I have grown several hibiscus plants. My only suggestion for proper growth is for you not to let it dry out. I brought mine in every winter to a low minimum of 40 degrees (F)where it lost all its leaves and went dormant. With the warmer spring temps and longer daylight they leafed out and did well back outside for three summers. Unfortunately, one winter I didn't water them and they never came back in the spring.

I would water the plants in well-drained soil by watering from the top into a bucket. I let it sit in the bucket until the plant was soaked, then I let it drain and returned it to the porch. I usually had the hibiscus pots inside another, larger pot to protect them from over-heating and drying out too quickly.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Yep canesisters, you are seeing exactly that. If you look carefully you'll see a dozen or so unopened buds to the right (it was early in the flowering). To the left are the leaves (Crotalaria juncea is odd in legumes in that,like Alyce clover (Alysicarpus vaginalis) it has simple instead of compound leaves) with the stem curving down outside of the picture to the pot on the ground (the plant was probably eleven or twelve feet tall by this time. We had to lift the flower stalk out of the way every time we entered of left the sunroom). Honestly, I never noticed how it crossed the "face" (actually a wooden moon god mask from the Upper Haute Volta) until now.

 

[catjac1975]

I recently bought a Hibiscus from the clearance rack at Lowe's. Normally I would have passed up a Hibiscus unless it was a hardy one, but this one looked a bit rough and I just couldn't pass it by without at least trying to help it a bit. I repotted it and placed it on my porch where it gets about partial sun. I was watering it quite a bit, but I think I may have been overwatering so I backed off. It does have more green leaves popping up on it, but it has been slow. This summer has been extremely mild for us so I don't think it has been too hot for it.

Does anyone have any tips for caring for Hibiscuses?

Likely is is potbound. Repot it, slice through the roots, and loosen them. Pruning will stimulate growth. Why not plant it in the ground?

 

[catjac1975]

I grew one last summer (also from Lowes or somewhere similar). I wasn't hardy for my zone and died shortly after the first frost. Can't recall doing anything special other than planting it in a sunny location and watering often. It was near the elepahant ears so it got watered a couple times a week. Grew and bloomed beautifully.

That was my first thought-that it probably was not hardy.