Prarie, you can cut back now..I just pruned mine, too..Ab's go dormant, but not entirely. Especially if given good light.
One thing about Ab's is they are big feeders. So, feeding reguraly during growing season helps growth and flowering. Some ppl cut their Ab's down to the base of the plant and swear they come in 5 times as many leaves before cutting. Toni

That may be a reason it didn't perform better over the summer, I never fertilized once. When you say fertilize during the growing season, is that spring through fall? Should I still be fertilizing since I brought it in the house for the winter?

I will try cutting it back. My variety is Huntington Pink. I thought when I was looking up varieties, that some are more vigorous than others. If anyone else has a HPink, I would like to hear how it does for you.

Thank you Toni. :-)

You need to feed your plant now. I would cut it back somewhat to force branching but not so severly that there are no leaves on the plant. Give it good bright light, keep moist and feed it regularly or use a slow release fertilizer. It will flower in winter indoors if given sufficient light. If you cut it back severely it will be OK, as it will resprout from the trunk and stems. But, it will need some feeding to put out good new growth.

Jon

Thanks Jon. :-)

I noticed there are some new leaves forming along the branches. I think I will give it a trim. But if I only take each branch back by a 1/3, will I then get new branching just below the cuts? Not sure that would look very good. I wonder if I could do it like they do lilacs, and just take out a third of the stems all the way to the ground and leave the others alone. Until I get new growth from the base? Thanks..

Jon, you are daring..(S) To think of cutting my entire Abutilon to the base is scary.

Prarie, if you do decide to prune back to the base, root the cuttings. They're fairly easy rooting. One problem is they root a lot faster in summer than this time of yr.
Also, if you cut, try trimming evenly..

If you don't cut back, by spring you should see baby leaves growing where previous foliage grew. But it takes time..As far as feeding, I'd give one more feeding this year w/an all purpose fertilizer or something high in nitrogen, whether you cut back or not.
Jon lives in CA where he can get away w/fertilizing all yr, but you're in MA so there's a lot of difference fertilizing plants during dreary winter months. If days are sunny then feed w/half strenght fertilzier. Toni

Toni,

Thanks for that additional information. I have had that experience with other plants that are usually easy to root in the spring/summer, but not so much in the fall. So since I have spotted new leaves forming, I have decided to just wait and see what I get. I still think the bottom of the branches are going to be sparse, but I might get enough leaves to satisfy me for the winter and save the heavy pruning for the spring.

Definitely will give it one more fertilizing for the season.
I usually only use seaweed/fish fertilizer half strength anyway. Yes, I think it is different here than CA. I hadn't noticed Jon was in CA, thanks for pointing that out.
If I could just get a new camera, I would take a before and after photo.

:-)

Prarie, you'll notice a big difference in spring..that's when they really go into action..Will you be able to summer it outdoors? What color are its flowers? Toni

Toni, they are a two tone pink with a dark leaf. It would be very pretty if it were more vigorous and bloomed more. It is my first abutilon, and I would like to get one of the cream colored variegated ones. I haven't seen many abutilon in the nurseries here. Yes, I did have it outdoors this summer and wondered why it didn't perform better for me. I hope next year it will do better. I didn't fertilize it at all, and I am going to try that next year. Do you have many?

Here is a link that might be useful: Abutilon 'Huntington Pink'

Hi there, I just ran across this thread, I cut all my abutilons back to the main stems, cut off all the leaves, rinse off all the old soil then repot in fresh potting soil. I get rid of any unwanted insects this way. I let them settle in their new medium in the garage for a month or so and then bring them in the house and grow them under lights for the winter. I frequently prune them back during winter to keep them 'in bounds'. They do grow and bloom beautifully under the lights although that isn't my focus. I'm just trying to keep my plants going over the winter. I've got some mature specimens of A. 'Pictum thompsonnii' that are over four feet tall right now. These plants are four years old and have been wintered over in this manner since I purchased them. Breaks my heart to cut all that lovely growth back but I can't keep them that size in the house.

During the summer months I feed twice a week or so with a liquid fertilizer like Miracle Grow or Peters.

Deanne

Speaking of abutilons, how big should a rootling be before you start feeding? I have a two-month old rootling that's doing well, but not putting out a lot of growth yet. I've been holding off on feeding because it's so newly rooted - should I start now?

Thank you Deanne for sharing your success story. I wish I could do lights in the house. You never know, at some point I may be able to. Where do you set up your lights? I can see that I need to be fertilizing more than I do for sure. I am an organic grower though and would use some kind of organic fertilizer though.

pageysgirl...sorry I can't answer for you, but maybe someone else will?

prariemoon, how did your abutilon do? I see the thread was from last year....did it overwinter well? Did you see it bloom?

nova...my abutilon did fine over the winter. It grew back better after cutting it back to one stem, but I had more stems sprout from the base and I am back to four again and all shorter than the one I had that was taller. It bloomed fine. It never did get bushy and to my surprise when I took it outside for the summer it never did anything all season. Didn't grow, didn't bloom, nothing. I admit I didn't fertilize it but it did get watered regularly and it was in about 3-4hrs of sun a day which I thought was a good amount.

So now it is back in for the winter and still doing nothing. So I am debating about waiting until February/March to start fertilizing and just let it alone for the winter. As long as it keeps going, when I have the time to pay more attention to it, maybe it will respond better.

Wish I had better news to report on it. Not the most responsive plant I have ever had. [g]

Ortho's complete guide to Houseplants (a recommended text for school) gives this info for Abutilon:
Light: Medium to Bright
Water: Keep evenly moist, slightly drier in winter
Humidity: Average to High
Temperature: Average; cooler in winter if possible
Fertilizer: Rich in phosphorous
Repotting: Annually
Problems: Low light causes spindly growth and poor bloom. Excess mineral salts cause leaf-tip burn and stem die-back, so repot or leach frequently. Susceptible to whiteflies, mealybugs and scale.
Tips: Prune occasionally to prevent legginess, either throughout the year or severely in mid-winter. Grow cultivars with white variegation as foliage plants, they rarely bloom.

Also mentions that it will bloom year round but is most intense in spring and summer.

Maybe that will help? Info is based on being indoors, so I wonder if it would do better with some more humidity outside? Does it stand alone or clustered with other plants?