Hibiscus

[beefy]

and my yeller one everybodys getting tired of seeing.

Who said that ? LOL ...no way dude, if I had that flower I would wear it in my hair!

Ron :bouquet

lmao. dont give me any idears. i already busted out my hawaiian shirt out of retirement.

 

[injunjoe]

Update on those red hibiscus cuttings!

I am happy to report they are doing so well.
Late October and going crazy!

Joe

 

[vfem]

Mine are done for this year, but here they are from last year. I have a dwarf variety so the bush only gets about 3'!

I have a 6' variety I planted as a seed last winter that I just transplanted out in the garden and hope to have my first pink blooms next summer.

Could you possibly give me some ideas on how to get some from cuttings? Doing these by seed was very hard!

 

[Greensage45]

Could you possibly give me some ideas on how to get some from cuttings? Doing these by seed was very hard!

Why did you have trouble with seed? I have always found Hibiscus (the Swamp Variety like you have) to grow very easily by seed. Here is my recipe:

The Swamp Mallow seeds are considered a hardcoat seed, so what I do is bring water to boil on the stove, and place the seeds that I want to grow in a coffee mug. Once the water boils, then pour into the mug. Let them sit for 24 hours and you should see the seeds double in size and some will begin to start to root (showing a tiny white nub) Then carefully remove and place them in moist soil and keep warm; I plant them about 1/8 inch deep. They usually are up in no time! I also get blooms from first year plants!

How were you planting them? Did you float them first to test them as viable?

Ron :coolsun

 

[beefy]

whats the purpose of boiling the water? could you just soak them in water? thats what i do with cypress tree seeds.

 

[Greensage45]

whats the purpose of boiling the water? could you just soak them in water? thats what i do with cypress tree seeds.

Hi Beefy,

Typically 'hard-coat' seeds require some form of stratification. This breaks down the hardcoat allowing moisture to penetrate and start the germinating. So you can either wait out the winter with some seeds, soak them to eternity (hardcoats are like that, they can sit for years), or nip them at the ends.

Well nipping them or scarifying them is not an option with big gorilla hands like mine! LOL, so I opt to go the easy route with the boiled water. The extreme variation in temps causes the seedcoat to expand and contract in such a way that it has no alternative but to germinate (if it is viable).

Don't get me wrong, not all seeds can take this sort of extreme handling. Some might even cook. I even found out that if a hardcoat seed has been treated with an acid dip, then the boiled water is like boiling them twice and they cook. I found this out the hard way! Most seed companies that sell hardcoat seeds usually pre-stratify by way of cold or by way of an acid dip (not sure of the product though)

But if the seeds are from your garden or a friends, chances are you would get a much better success rate with this method. I really get great results.

Morning Glory seeds are one of those, as well as Cannas and Hibiscus. I usually take my fingernail and if I am unable to cause any dent or movement to the 'coat' of the seed, then I do the boil method. If the seed seems pliable then I just use water or simply just plant them directly into soil.

Surprisingly a rose seed is a hardcoat, but because I leave mine out during the winter months they already become "cold stratified" so they sprout really well for me! Otherwise I would consider this method also for roses! It also kills bacteria too!

Ron :rose

 

[vfem]

Instead of boiling, I 'scraped' the seed so you could see the inside white.

I got 1 sprout for every 20 seeds, and I lost 2 plants to just end up with 1 strong plant!

 

[injunjoe]

I went looking aroung yesterday in the garden and I seen that my Japanese Hibiscus was in bloom.

The bloom is not the best but it gives you an idea of the color of this great plant.

Joe

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

The bloom is pretty but so is the leaf color!

 

[injunjoe]

The bloom is pretty but so is the leaf color!

Thanks, I am getting ready to make some cuttings of it.
The cold is very rough on them.
This one came up on it's own, so I will be looking for seed this year also!

Joe

I will get some pics today for your fall thread.