I have two tropical hibiscus plants that are about 2.5 years old. They were originally planted outside, then I learned that they could not survive the winters here. I transplanted them in pots, too quickly and almost lost them both. They dropped all their leaves and then I pruned them way back and saved them - even getting blooms in the winter in front of my east-facing window. This past summer they were back outside and happy as a lark. I had to replant the larger one in a bigger pot as its base had almost become a giant root mass! I did that replacing the soil, rocks on bottom, some sand and then some soil/potting soil mixture. It kept right on growing and doing well - which I was surprised with because so much of the root mass came off! Anyway, they have been inside for probably 2 months now, and I have a plant light that comes on both of them for about 4 hours a day, and I mist them every couple of days. The smaller one has red blooms (rarely-indoors or out), really big leaves, that stay full and shiny as long as the water level stays up. The big one has little baby leaves that aren't nearly as full, and I consistently have some that yellow and fall. During the last week I was gone for the holidays and my friend came by to water all my plants. He sent me a note, and I saw when I got home - the big one has had EVERY leaf turn yellow (or yellowing) and they have started to fall off. I removed almost all of them last night. It hasn't bloomed in a while either. I pruned it a little before bringing it in. But the conditions and where it is haven't changed at all in two months. What has caused this drastic change?? The way things are, I will lose all the leaves before this week is over. There seems to be small shoot growth at the end of many of the branches, but what has happened to the leaves?? Any help would be appreciated!! Also, any way to make the suckers bloom more regularly?? Thanks, Eric
I am thinking it is your soil/plant's roots. Too much water? Drainage problems? Roots in trouble? My hibiscus drop leaves periodically and it is generally a water problem...either too much or not enough...but they bounce back when stabilized. Hope this helps.
Tropical hibiscus are exactly that, tropical. if theey don't get enough light in winter (intensity and duration) you can excpet a reaction, usually yellowing and dropping leaves. Cold can play a factor too, is it (are they) close to a window? near a door that gets opened? near a heat register? Watering should be reduced in winter from normal summer methods, less activity and less warmth should mean the moisture needs are lower. During the active season hibiscus tend to like their fertilizer, I would suggest a water soluble type that is complete with a good range of macro and micro (iron is very important) nutrients. I think in your case, let them get a bit dry, let them lose a few leaves and warm them up in spring, most likely they will come out blazing when the sun warms them up. All that being said, check closely for vagrnts on the plants, mealybug, spider mites and sometimes aphids are culprits, if you find them let us know and we can suggest some control methods or practices.
Further info... The yellowing one is in front of a window, the smaller one (non--yellowing) is in front of the sliding glass door. NEITHER of them get direct sunlight because in the back of the house there is none due to tree cover. This is where they were last winter though. It is why I added the lights. I have the plant lights on a 3-light stand (only two used, each one with a plant light bulb). It stands in the middle of the two, and one bulb shines on each. Every 3-5 days I rotate each plant so that they are getting even amounts of light from the window and the bulb. I haven't seen any kinds of varmits around any of my plants. Would I certainly be able to tell if they were there? Outside, every spring I always get these clusters of some kind of bug on the limbs, and I have to spray them. They look like little winged ants or something. One spray and they are gone. Anyway, those are obvious to me, maybe others are not? Only the door gets opened periodically, but neither are in direct line of the doorway. Basically, they don't get any blasts of outside air on them. The one that is yellowing was in under a register (in the ceiling), but the vast majority of the air from that is directed to the sides b/c of the angled louvers. I did move it out from there, but I just don't think that was it since it was in the same location last year. And, I don't have it come on too much as it is - but it isn't cold in the house (so I don't think that is it). Can I trim back the branches at this time, would that hurt or help? If all of the leaves drop, will it die? How can I tell the health of it if they do all drop? Any way to encourage blooming (at least on the one that is robust?). On that one, I know when it needs water because the leaves will be a little droopy. With water, they get "full" and perky again. I have figured out about how much water it takes consistently to keep it happy. The one with dropping leaves has never been consistent in that way. Thanks for the info so far, and any more that may be forthcoming. Eric
On the larger one check that the soil is not consistantly moist. for any lenght of time if it is you may want to try leaching the pot/soil. as the problems may be a highbuild up of salts. any info on your fertilizer schedule may be of help. The second (robust one) you may want to let it dry out abit in oder to get it to bloom a common problem is that the plant is to happy and will produce a poor showing.
Answers to questions... NOT consistently moist? Let it dry out some? Okay, how to I leach the pot/soil? How can I tell if it is a buildup of salts? Fertilizer: I got some "all-around" blooming plant fertilizer. I have basically been following the directions on the box, the same with each plant. Let the robust one dry out? If it gets dry, then the leaves wilt and will begin to drop off? The tree is very leafy - it likes to grow leaves on its trunk and all over the place. I periodically go in a pull the small leaves off of the trunk and where they are really crowded. Thanks, eric ------
Re: Reply to Yellowing leaves etc. Hi guys Just came across this website. Boy I actually think that maybe you are killing your Hibiscus with too much love. Don't know what your temperatures are where you live but where I am in Sydney Australia - winter is sometimes below zero, more often than not in the 4degree up to approx 15degree area. We get FROSTS. Summer is anywhere from 25degrees to 40degrees, humid and very HOT. All my hibiscus are outside - never move them. They get burnt with the FROST in winter but I just chop them back after the frost and they are fine. Summer doesn't worry them. Over here our leaves go yellow and the buds fall off due to an infernal pest called HIBISCUS BEETLE. Little black thing. I work in a nursery and what they do to kill everything is: 1. spray with measural (need a licence) - this prevents the bug supposedly and kills anything else as well. 2. spray with CONFIDOR - this is what I have just done to my entire garden (i.e. spray with Confidor), as they were infested with HIBISCUS BEETLE. You can see the beetle run out from inside the buds immediately and the confidor kills them. It also gets into the system of the Hibiscus and they don't like the taste. I also make a weak solution and water the roots and ground around the hibiscus plus get rid of all the dropped buds etc. I have just given them a dose of CHICKEN POO (processed) - they LOVE chicken poo. I have also given them a little POTASH. Within 24hours they sat up very straight happy and beautiful AND the buds almost immediately began to OPEN. So there you go guys - don't know if you have access to CONFIDOR over there but you could do a search on it and I am sure you would have something similar and no doubt CHICKEN POO and POTASH aren't too hard to get hold of. WATERING: We have water restrictions here and can only water twice a week and ONLY with a hand-held hose. At present they are lucky to get watered ONCE a week and we are desperate for rain so you can work out how much water they are getting. Basically, in summer they are getting watered ONCE A WEEK - a fairly good water. In winter they are lucky to get watered AT ALL. Bye from Oz
Re: Reply to Yellowing leaves etc. At the very least, the first technique doesn't seem to align with the principles of Integrated Pest Management. "Kills anything else as well" is particularly distasteful to me.
Re: Reply to Yellowing leaves etc. OOh is that what this is? Anyway I said THAT'S WHAT THE NURSERY DOES prior to sending out plants. I used CONFIDOR, CHICKEN POO & POTASH. If you know of anything else that can KILL the Hibiscus BEETLE please let me know. The point to the reply was that everything I have seen on this site and a number of others, about sick Hibiscus - the responses have all been around the area of WATERING or MOVING plants inside and outside. As I said and you chose not to refer to it, I don't know your temperatures where you live thus gave you an idea of what my Hibiscus are living in. THEY DON'T GET MOVED winter or summer, are watered WELL ONCE a week in summer and VERY LITTLE at all in winter. They are fed with CHICKEN POO and once a little POTASH and yes, are sprayed with Confidor for Hibiscus beetle AND THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL. I saw nothing about integrated Pest Management in ANY repsonse, in fact NO PEST MANAGEMENT WHATSOEVER - it wasn't even considered a possibility that there might even BE A PEST causing the problem and I KNOW the beetle does as above.
Re: Reply to Yellowing leaves etc. Basically, the two HATES of Hibiscus are 1. Wet Feet & 2. Hibiscus Flower Beetle The Confidor "immunises" them against the beetle. If mine were in a pot I would add a little sand to the mix as they like sandy soil. I have added a little around the base of mine in the garden. You will be AMAZED at the colour of the flowers once they get a little potash with the chicken poo - they are absolutely VIBRANT. Mine being outside also have a thick sugar cane mulch around them - this also helps protect the roots outside in winter as well as protection against the heat in summer. It absolutely astounds me when they have been sprayed for that darn beetle as above - they respond immediately and blossom- it's as though they can't help themselves and stand up and say THANK YOU. Happy gardening - we are moving into autumn around April and they absolutely LOVE autumn here. Bye for now.
Those hibiscus beetles sound like a nasty bug, but I don't know if they are a problem outside of Australia and New Zealand. I have not heard of them. Ozziesunshine, you are right about the need for potassium. It is also important to limit phosphorous. See this page: http://web.wt.net/~strhibs/growtips.htm Like most gardeners, I try to avoid harsh chemicals. Hibiscus have always been easy to treat for pests with natural methods for me. For people in areas that have the hibiscus beetle, it is very important to remove the dropped blossoms to reduce the buggers.
Hibiscus Beetle Hi Eric I can't find the original thread now for some reason - anyway, yes, the Hibiscus beetle is a jolly nuisance and as you say getting rid of the dropped buds important. It is also why I pour Confidor on the root system and surrounding ground. Unfortunately, I have tried all the natural methods and Pest Oil (Australian) but on this beetle it simply does not work. The plant doesnt die you just never have blooms and without blooms what's the point of having a Hibiscus. Apparently it was introduced into NZ from Australia. PS by the way it's 6pm on 27th Feb. here, I suppose the time is reflecting Your time. Am I a "seedling" - not sure what that means.
The beetles harbour themselves in the spent blossoms, which is why it is important to remove them. Sounds like a nasty pest. Ozziesunshine, Seedling is your member status - New Memeber 0-19 posts. See these threads: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=9938 http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=10143 Members can set the time display on the forums to match their own location. Go to My Settings (green bar at top), then to Edit Options. The fourth box allows you to set your time display. There is a link to your own posts on the right sidebar.
Our tropical hibicus is now ten years old. We leave it outside in a container in the summer, where, given full sun and warm days, it is lush and blooms in abundance. We take it into the house every fall, where, within 4 weeks, the leaves would yellow, curl up and drop off. By December, it is all but twigs. It is brought into an unheated greenhouse in the spring, where it starts to shoot and leave out, ready for another few months of summer display. It seems "normal" for our particular specimen to go "dormant" when the lighting conditions change drastically.
I have several tropical habicus which stay outside on my large patio area all summer in large pots. (I even have one that has the varigated leaves of pink, cream and green - blooms bright red flowers.) As soon as the weather threatens in the late fall, I move them to unheated garage area separate from my house. When temp drops into the 30s or lower I drape them in the miniature Christmas tree lights and plug them in. Even tho' the plants lose most of their leaves, as soon as I prune them in the spring and put them outside, they put back on the foliage and start to bloom. The small lights give off just enough heat to protect them and not enough to hurt them. Inside my house, the humidity seemed to really affect them