Hibiscus questions

18 years ago

I have two small hibiscus bushes and would like more--how do you reproduce these? With cuttings? If so, how? I am clueless about these beautiful plants.

Also, is there a difference between the bush and the tree? Or do you just have to prune the bush correctly so it grows up with one branch?

These are probably foolish questions, but I'm new to all of this.

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

garyfla_gw
18 years ago
Hi
Do you mean the tropical or temperate specie?? There are thousands of different types of these families with many different growth habits.
To my knowledge they all can be started from cuttings
though I've never tried as they are so cheap hardly worth the effort. Bushes can be pruned to become trees and vice -versa but there are also types that have weeping habits
which make spectacular shrubs.
I'm not sure about the temmperate types Rose of Sharon,Altheas and mallows but there are a whole BUNCH of different kinds lol
gary
suzannesks
18 years ago
lashawn...in Maui I watch the gardener there every year tending his tropical Hibs,and he also has a screened shadehouse. He just prunes off starts and sticks them in dirt and adds Osmacote and a drink of water to be left alone.He also prunes his bushes 2 times a year to a foot tall.He says you can shape these how ever you want. Over there they like them boxy looking.Of course they grow very fast unlike here.Here I have Rose of Sharon and Mallow bushes,and also have started both with starts from the bushes.I have found that the Rose of Sharon I can keep pruned as to how ever I like. But the Mallow like to kept more on the wild side to flower.To probagate...start with a 6 to 8 inch tip,remove leaves and dip in rooting hormone and then plant in sandy potting soil mixture.***Suzanne
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Matthews923_aol_com
17 years ago
I have a sick white hibiscus,it looked great till about 3 wks. ago and rust spots appeared.I got rid of those,then white flies. Now it looks very wilted. What do I need to do? It did the same thing last year.
birdsnblooms
17 years ago
Matt, does your hib still have whitefly? If so, go to www.gardensalive.com and purchase sticky traps..they work great. I had a battle w/whitefly 2 winters ago..no matter what I did those little creeps just continued to populate..Of course, I have to add, I do not use harsh chemcials on my plants. Everything is organic..Anyway, these traps were miraculous. Since, I haven't seen a whitefly..Toni
User
17 years ago
Lashawn87,
Many tropical hibiscus are grafted to look the way they do- the beautiful colors of the blooms.
Because of this, it is often impossible to propagate from cuttings. It depends on what type of tropical hibuscus you have. All of my plants were grafted.
My favorite place to acquire gorgeous plants is at
exotichibiscus dot com. They will also answer all of your questions.
Good Luck with your gorgeous new plants.
I just love them!

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Hibiscus questions

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garyfla_gw

suzannesks

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