Our Hibiscus tree is a year old and did very well last year. This year the blooms were drying up and the leave turning yellow. I fertilized it and was told probably the yellowing leaves were from too much water. We had planted verbena plants about a foot away from the tree and so we cut off the water directly to the tree and only watered the verdena plants. It looks like we have blooms coming but today we have a lot more yellow leaves. Can someone suggest what we are doing wrong?
Well hibiscus usually need lots of water (ever keep one in the house?), and as you're in CA, unless you've had really unusual deluges nonstop, I'd say the problem is likely bad soil (clay?) that doesn't drain at all, or UNderwatering, or lack of acclimatization to full sun when planted (from a duller location?). Otherwise, it's hard to say.
thanks for your quick reply. I did take a yellow leaf to a local nursery and was told we have spider mites and I have just sprayed some kind of oil on all the leaves. I do believe it is getting enough water as we had the tree in the same spot last year and it did very well. Hopefully the oil will stop the bugs and the tree will be as pretty as last year. It gets full sun and actually bloomed clear up until November last year as we had a warm winter up to then.
