Nota, how big is your new hibiscus?

Ok, I'm sure leaves are yellowing because of different environment..I KNOW this for fact.

It's a good idea to check for pests, especially mites, scale and white fly. They should be easy to spot..and it never hurts to check

Hibs do need 1. fresh air 2 humidity and 3. sun. \
Many of my tree hibs leaves are yellowing..it's too large for me to place in the sink or carry upstairs to the shower so the best I can do is mist.

Remove yellow leave..if you leave them on and they fall in the soil this WILL attract bugs.

I'm sure the leaves are yellowing becaues of the change. You want to duplicate the area in which it was shipped. If easy to carry to sink, do so once a wk..
I also really advise buying hib food at either www.stokestropical.com or www.plumeriapeople.com This food is only u sed on hibs..Since I've been using I've been able to keep a hib longer than a yr..my tree was bought in the mid-90's, so you see what I mean..Just sprinkle food on soil then water..it lasts 3 months. I divide mine in thirds so it needs feeding once a month. A little goes a long way. You apply food by size of pot..so say my 12" pot requires 2 teaspoons of food..they also give u a little measuering spoon.
My hib is in south and east windows.. They only get watered when soil is dry. Misted daily. summer outdoors..this is important..you wouldn't believe the difference when they're growing outside in full sun. Even iin summer I let soil dry a bit, and after a rain shower flowers burst out.
I feed my hib (one of two types of plants) yr round..Hibiscus do not go dormant, but becuase of lack of sun, etc, it does seem to slow down..in leaf growth and floweirng, but if you have sunny days they will bloom all yr..One thing about winter is, flowers do not grow as large as they do in summer when outdoors.
Flowers last 1-2 days so this is normal. But w/good care there should always be flowers on a hib. Enclosed is a pic of my hib..didn't shoot the whole tree, but what you see is the middle and top. Good luck, Toni

Here is a link that might be useful: RE: Got a new Hibiscus and I need some help

Toni,

Yeah, I knew you had hibs for sure. Thanks for that all that information- it was really useful reading it.

I've already given it a good wash in the tub when I got it. The one from the club is quite big and established- maybe 1.5 ft- in a 5" pot perhaps. I will post pic soon- when I get around to it. I suppose I better do so fast before that one lonely flower dries up.

It does have one of my sunniest spot in the house- I remember discussing this months ago- I had a 'problem spot' where nothing could stay- you had suggested hibs at that time.

I haven't noticed any bugs yet- and yes, did a thorough check. I've been scarred badly with spider mite attacks on 2 plants so far- so now I'm very meticulous about checking. I give most plants weekly showers and mist, spray with neem oil. Is all of that okay for hibs too?

At first I thought it may have been protesting against the neem. But I think stress seems likely to me too.

I wonder how the two new ones I got today will react. They are from Logees- and much much smaller- in 2.5" pots. I need to pot them up to a 4"- is there a special soil mix I should use? So far I use either farfard or for my succs-c/s mix. Should I be getting something diff for the hibs?

Nota, you know me, I make my own mixes. Sorry, never heard of farfard, or the other. I use all purpose, sand, peat and perlite..in fact this yr my 11 yr old hib needs a bigger pot..it's been in the same 12", I think it's a 12 for yrs.
I'm not sure about the Neem either. I've heard ppl talk about problems after use. Leaves dry up. I don't use the stuff so I really feel I shouldn't comment about Neem.

MIst, (I don't know how long water shouldn't get on leaves after using Neem) but whatever the time frame is, mist after.
How big are the flowers? Are they double or single? Yep, take that pic fast cause flowers only last 1-2 days..LOL..hurry hurry.
We haven't had sone in 3 wks, then finally today we got 1/2 hour of sun..it was a miracle..LOL. It's bad enough homes are dry, but to top it off w/o light..
I really suggest buying the Hib food..go to the sites and check it out..Toni

My mother has a hibiscus indoors in Minnesota that blooms all winter with no direct sun. I suspect that whether a hibiscus thrives indoors has more to do with the variety than how you're caring for it.

Hibiscus do pretty well out here and I have grown them for quite a while. In my experience the number one source of rapid yellowing/leaf drop is insufficient water. They don't like to dry out completely so keep up with the watering. The good news is they will grow new leaves from any old node so the plant recovers quickly.

aaah, too late- I fell asleep last night - early (still a bit jet lagged) and this morning, the flower has already closed. darn- sorry!

I need to take a lot of pics- got my new gardenia yesterday as well!! It's just such a project- take pics, figure out how to put them online again (always forget), then post them here (always forget that too)- that I procrastinate till I just HAVE to do it.

I guess I should wait for another bloom though- if it has any!!

I think with the 2 that need to be potted up- I'll use farfard mixed with some perlite.

When I spray neem- it's already in a water solution (few drops of neem in water)- so then, I won't mist again later. Perhaps for now, best not to use the neem spray on it till someone tells me it's okay.

Did some browsing on the Hib Forum, and seems that quite a few users use neem spray- so I think it should be ok. I just use couple drops pure neem oil in some water and spray.

Light is a key factor. They are heavy feeders & will need fertilizer all year in proportion to the light they receive and how well your soil drains. If the light is good where you are (it's not, unless you are growing under good lights) feed monthly in the winter & every two weeks in summer. If you aren't growing under lights, feeding in winter will cause extremely long internodes, so maybe one dose of fertilizer half way through winter. Watering is nothing special. They don't tolerate being very dry anytime. Evenly moist, but never wet in winter & when they're growing well, they enjoy being watered frequently so they remain evenly moist.
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Here's a dwarf I'm working on. Photo today, last pruned New Years Day. Note the soil.

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Here's another plant, photo taken today.

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And now, same plant after pruning. You can see the start of a little tree. Only three or 4 years to go before it gets interesting. ;o)

Al

I purchased a tropical hibiscus from Sam's Club in the spring here in Minneapolis, MN. Now it's freezing out and I've brought it indoors, but need advice on how to care for it over the winter. How much light does it need? I heard somewhere that I could put it in the basement where there is little light. Agree? How much water and fertilizer does it need through the winter. And when in the spring can I move it outdoors. Any and all advice is very appreciated.