wildlifegarden, those of us in colder zones, I'm in zone 5 New England, don't have a long growing season like you do in Florida. We would have to buy a plant to start with and they run $25 in my area so that we could take a cutting. I'm not sure how well it would work up here and how large a cutting would get before the cold ended it's growth for the season. It's 41 degrees outside right now where I live. By sowing the seeds and I WS them, I have a plant that is at least 2-4 feet tall by August and if a perennial, may or may not bloom the first year. The second year it's the size of those $25 ones and blooming away. I've never seen annual ones sold up here, so starting those from seed will give me the blooms the same year.

I kept meaning to summarize my results but life was just too busy. I ended up getting some unexpected results; however the overall take-home for the experiment was that germination seemed to be pretty high regardless of the method (other than nicking). Update to my latest baobabery: To reiterate the setup-- 7 seeds nicked at the crest, soaked in boiling water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in boiling water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in epsom salt cold water 6 seeds not nicked, soaked in cold water All the seeds were placed between wet paper towels in plastic baggies and put near a light (my heat mat broke so this was my best source of heat). A nicked/boiled seed was the first to sprout (day 5); however the remaining nicked/boiled seeds were rotten by three weeks into the experiment. The germination rates were: Nicked/boiled: 1/7 Boiled: 5/6 Salt/Cold: 4/6 Cold: 4/6 So overall (not including the nicked seeds) I got 72% to germinate. I should note that by two months into the experiment the boiled (5) and the cold (4) seeds had finished their sprouting, however only 1 of the salt/cold seeds had germinated. I assumed the salt/cold seeds were dead at this point and tossed the baggie into a pile of trash. Earlier this week I was cleaning up stuff and noticed that 3 more of the seeds in the salt/cold bag had sprouted (4 months!) so I removed them and planted those as well. The bag hadn't been sealed to the paper towel was almost totally dry. Other things to note: When the seeds sprouted I found that the best method was to remove about half of the seed coat manually (without damaging the embryo). Total removal worked but was difficult and probably didn't help the little guy too much. In almost every case where I didn't remove the seed coat, the leaves got stuck in the coat and I had to chop them in half to free them otherwise they tore and began to rot. Chopping the leaves had no ill effect on the plants. After a few of the seeds got moldy from I tried peeling them (they had not germinated at this point) and shockingly two of them grew although one died after a few days so I didn't count that as a successful germination. Many more of the seeds sprouted than I had anticipated so I quickly ran out of space and small pots. Initially I was using these biodegradable pulp pots and shockingly all of these seedlings eventually wilted and (without intervention) died. The seedlings placed in plastic pots (even 3 oz plastic shot glasses w/o drainage holes) all thrived. i was able to save two of the wilted guys by replanting them but I ended up losing many of them. All in all I have 8 healthy plants at the end. I still have a ton of seeds left so if anyone wants to trade or just wants some let me know. I didn't count them, but my bag of seeds is about 9oz so there are several hundred and I have no space for a forest. Maybe I'll go Johnny-Appleseeding around the city :) I'll attach some photos in another...

Is it sitting in water? How often do you water it? Prop the inside pot on a brick, or something like that so that it does not sit in water. Hibiscus do not like to be wet. They will shed leaves due to humidity changes, over watering . Did you repot it? Most often in winter, a good washing of leaves is enough. I have them in small pots, so it is easy for me. Cover the soil and pot with plastic( put them in a plastic bag ) & then use a hose or hand shower to give the leaves a good spray. keep us posted on its condition. Good luck.

Only two cups of water? How big is the pot then? I usually had to water a gallon or so (but mine were not hibiscus trees). For potted plants, you can check your watering results by tipping a few plants out of their pots after watering. If not enough water was absorbed by the rootball, you will see a definite line where the water penetrated to and stopped. The soil will be darker above the line where it is wet and lighter below the line where it is dry. When potted plants are watered correctly the entire root ball will appear dark and wet, with no visible line between wet and dry areas. What seems like enough water is usually not enough to soak the entire root ball. Try this until you are sure that the amount of water that you are applying is sufficient to wet the entire root zone.