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Growing hibiscus

15 years ago

Hi all,

I had two tropical hibiscus in pots from last year. I did not take them into the house during the frost. As a result both died, I assumed. But as I had mulched it heavily (almost to 4 inches) they started to grow back from the roots again in mid May or so. But till date they have not grown more than 4 inches in ht. and also the leaves are very small, not their original size. I fertilise it like I do normally ( once evey 2-3 weeks) but still there is no remarkable growth and i haven't got any buds yet. Any suggestions or ideas about why this is so and what I can do?

Shanti.

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Comments (2)

tsmith2579
15 years ago
I've grown tropical hibs for 15-20 years. When traveling in Florida I would buy the uncommon, non-WalMart, non-Home Depot types. I've cut them down to a stump and restarted them. I suggest you give it a dose of SuperThrive and fertilize with Osmocote. Osmocote fertilizes every time you water but won't burn the plant. Put it in full sun and let the soil get really warm. Have you transplanted them into REAL soil or are they still in the soiless mix they came in. I always transplant them into a well draining loamy soil with lots of sand. At this point, I would let them grow some before transplanting. Out of curiosity, why did you leave them outside over the winter?
shanti_1972
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks you for your follow up, I will try SuperThrive and Osmocote. I replanted my plants after I bought them last year into pots..not garden soil. I replanted them again a couple of weeks ago as it was not growing well again into pots as they did not survive the winter last year. I did not get my pots into for the frost last winter because, well, I had 10-12 pots, and some of them were very heavy and moving them back and forth evertime there was a frost warning was tiresome. I mulched them well, as it had worked out in the previous years with other plants..like jasmine and roses and even this time the other plants are doing well.
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