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Problem with Hibiscus

11 years ago

I have a Hibiscus that I have had for several years. In the spring i took on the task of re-potting it as it had outgrown it's existing home. Needless to say the re-potting failed, it lost all of it's leaves and sat looking like a dried up twig for the next couple of months. In hopes that it was just in shock I continued watering it and the day before the garbage day that I was going to pitch it noticed new buds emerging from the base of the tree. Since then many more have come out and are growing quite nicely. What I now need help with is what should I do. All of the new leaves are on the bottom 12" and above that continues to be bare twigs. I need to do something but am concerned that by cutting the top part off will cause the tree to go into shock or further the damage that has been done. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (3)

RetiredFlorida
11 years ago
I would think that if there is no growth above the twelve inches, that part could be clipped off. I recently had some plants that were not planted correctly and I dug them up.
They looked as if they were unhealthy and dying. I potted them up in fresh potting soil and they were on the rebound in a couple of days, all new growth. One of mine had two older growth twigs and the leaves returned to it, so I suspect if you have no growth on the top, that part has died and/or dried out.

I'm not sure why your re-potting went so wrong. Did you maybe fertilize it when you re-potted it? The fertilizer can burn the roots. Glad you didn't give up on them. Some plants can come back from the brink of death with just a little TLC.

Good luck.

Darren
Gutzmek
11 years ago
I know this has been mentioned before, but the "scratch test" never fails. Use a thumb nail, etc to scratch away at the branch/trunk. Green/white is good. Also the plant type may help. My rose mallows are dying back for winter, and its interesting to see the trunks "retard".
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Gray spots could be powdery mildew, but you didn't say if they were on the leaves when they started to yellow or if they appeared after they yellowed. If before, the mildew would indicate too much moisture on the leaves, if after, the leaves are just decomposing. Always water from below and try to avoid getting the leaves wet in the evening. I like to water in the morning so the moisture has a chance to dry off during the day. Also, when the plant dries off during the day, the sun kills the spores that cause the mildew. The mold and mildew spores are in the soil and in the air, so you can hardly avoid getting them on the plant's leaves. The only other thing I can think of, is that leaves don't live forever and maybe your plant just needs fresh foliage. I don't really have much experience with hibiscus, but I do know that sometimes a perfectly healthy plant just drops leaves. Since your plant is putting on new growth, it's probably OK. I have one hibiscus and it dropped about 10 leaves when I transplanted it after bringing it home from the nursery. But it has been doing fine and put on many new leaves since then. I didn't look at the dead leaves closely to see if they had any sign of disease, but I did remove them from the plant and the area to avoid the possiblity of spreading diseases on them. This is a standard practice I use with my roses, which are very prone to disease, molds, mildew, fungus and pests. And I do have a lot of roses. Cheryl
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pilsner12
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm not sure what happened. The re-potting took place while was away. I know that there was no fertilizer used but my suspicion is that it didn't receive enough water immediately following being re-potted. I do see some green and white when I do the scratch test but the branches themselves do snap off really easy. I am tempted to prune some of the smaller branches to see if it doesn't help sprout some new buds higher up. Thoughts on this are appreciated.

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