Whenever you see minimal growth on top, that means that it's doing major growth underground - ie., roots. As soon as the roots reach a critical mass, it'll take off. I'm sure you're aware they are not hardy in the ground in winter where you are so if you want them to survive for next year, you might want to consider some options fairly soon. Many people will pot them and then sink the pots in the ground, covering the whole thing with some mulch to hide the pot. Then the pot can be dug and brought into a frost-free spot to overwinter.

Bob, I have also been overwintering a tropical hibiscus for the first time this year. It wasn't very happy at first, but then I started misting 2-3 times daily with purified water that has a couple drops of liquid fertilizer in it. My hib is in a large clay pot, so I have to water 3-4 times a week with the same mix of 1 quart of water with about 3-4 drops of liquid fertilizer. I have it near a large north window so it gets full light all day, although the northern exposure doesn't give it any really strong sunlight. It has been blooming and the leaves are deep green, and so far it has lost only about 5-6 leaves. I also rotate the pot every two weeks for even exposure. Personally I've never had much luck with plants in the tub, but I never misted before either. I have observed that all of my houseplants have gotten healthier from the daily misting with fert/water mix. I really think that it's the misting that makes the most difference, but plants indoors aren't going dormant so their needs for nutrients wouldn't change from the rest of the year. So that was my rationale for winter feeding. Cheryl

We have a tropical hibiscus that we have now successfully overwintered for 3 years (assuming it survives til spring LOL). It does lose almost all of it's leaves when it comes inside but some grow back and there are occasional blooms. This morning it had 4 lovely red flowers! This year I also brought in 2 red mandevilla, and one white one. The white died pretty quickly but both reds are growing like crazy, I really hope they make it. Also overwintering inside a Escargot begonia and a gorgeous red geranium that I just couldn't give up, both are currently blooming too! We have almost 25 houseplants (some go out in the summer but are tropicals) and have never had a problem with bugs or disease...of course, we also have an almost indecent amount of really good light (heated sunporch plus a spare room with big south and west windows). Hope your plants are doing well and live til it's safe to take them back out! Ziya

I have a tropical hibiscus and it actually looked better during the winter in the house than it has outside this year all summer. Course I paid a lot more attention to it when it was inside and underfoot all the time. To start with, yes, bring it in. Put it in a nice sunny window where it will get as much direct sunlight as possible. Make sure it has good soil and good drainage. A lot of gift plants are in pots that are too small for them, by crowding the roots they force the plant to bloom. I transplanted mine into a large terra cotta pot and used a good potting mix. During the winter your house will be very dry due to the heating system. I spritzed my hibiscus every day, morning and night with purified water. Because hibs are such heavy feeders, I also added liquid indoor plant food to the water for foliar feeding. I kept the soil fairly damp all the time. My hib bloomed with blooms as big as dinner plates. Once she went outside this Spring, she bloomed a couple more times, and then she has pouted and dropped leaves til about two weeks ago. With this rain lately she's started to perk up a bit. A friend walking through my garden a month ago looked closely at her in all her bedraggled state and asked me if it was some kind of science experiment. Maybe I should keep her in all year, huh? Anyway, just feed and water and your hib should do fine. There's a forum just for hibs on the GW that has a lot of good advice. Some folks put theirs in the shower every couple weeks to wash the minerals and salts out of the potting soil. Using purified water eliminated the need to do that, but it's not a bad idea. I just found the misting really helped all my indoor plants during the winter except the angel wing begonias. The AWB's developed scale when misted and I had to get rid of them. Yeah, yeah, I know, more info than you really wanted, but I ramble when I talk too, and there's no one here to interupt me and say, OK, that's enough now, shut up, Cheryl. So I'll just shut up. :o Cheryl