Thank you, Tapla! I might just do that. I've already potted them into 10" pots, using Miracle Gro potting soil. Is this ok or should I change this to a better mix/choice? I could also use a palm/cactus mix but I was concerned that it wouldn't hold enough water. Or, I could add some perlite. I'd like to at least get them into larger pots within a month or two, before the furnace weather really hits. I've been giving them weekly kelp, would like to add some fish emulsion if that would be safe? Salt accumulation is a huge problem here as our tap water and irrigation water is incredibly high in salts and calcium. (ppm 25 or higher) I'd like to drop the pots into the ground in a partially shaded area, where I plan to plant them. This will keep the roots cooler. We flood irrigate, so they will get deeply soaked once very two weeks. My two hibiscus already in the ground ( one planted a month ago, one is 4 years old) , both seem pretty happy with the flood water. I do fertilize with some ironite every few months, when leaves seem yellow, usually when very hot or cold, and use some gypsum and sulphur a few times a year ( mainly for salt removal, loosening up clay and pH treatment). Keeping them in pots makes also sense because I can dig the pits up and bring them inside or up under the porch eaves, close to the house fr the winter. I'm sure they're much more susceptible to freezing their first winter than they will be when they get larger. Their new potential home is unfortunately, my most exposed area of the yard, so they will require frost protection once planted. The hard part is just making it through summer and learning about keeping potted plants alive, since I have no experience with potted plants. Do you think the fabric or "root type" pots used by some nurseries to allow air pruning and prevent circling would be a good idea for pots that will be buried?

Coder, Are the plants in the background suppose to have yellow leaves like that too? Just wondering. Just make sure it is well watered. They love water. You had aphids on your hibisucs, the ants are always around when you get those, I just water mine, and every other week I use Miracle Grow on my hibiscus. You have applied a fertilizer already, so I wouldn't fertilize again for a while, read on the label when you can feed again. If those plants that are in back of the hibiscus aren't suppose to be variegated, you might have a soil problem. In that case, you may want to have your soil tested right in that spot in front of your house. Most garden centers sell soil testers, or you could ask at a real nursery where you can send a sample away to be tested. Most private nurseries have knowledgable people on staff that can help you, and they know the soil problems right in your area.

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

Just some fertilizer info to help with the confusion: You might find the formulation 12-4-8, but 12-6-8 is one I've never seen. I'm not saying it's not available SOMEWHERE, but it's not readily available ....... and it's not a high-K (potassium) fertilizer. A high potassium fertilizer for Hibiscus would be something like 12-4-18 or 9-3-12. The NPK % 14-14-14 is only one of the hundreds of the CRF fertilizers offered by Osmocote, and 1:1:1 ratio fertilizers like 14-14-14 are not well suited to hibiscus in containers because you can only supply adequate amounts of N or K by significantly over-supplying P, and hibs rebel at P excesses. There is no "right" fertilizer for Hibiscus growing in the ground unless its formulation is determined by the results of a soil test and the testing facility knows you'll be growing hibiscus. W/o having your soil tested, whatever you use as fertilizer is essentially a shot in the dark. Generally though, in a very high % of the US, it's best to use phosphorous-free fertilizers that are high in K (potassium) for hibiscus growing in the landscape as opposed to pots. Al