Abutilons tolerate drought and they are on a sunny windowsill indoors, i water it every other day or every other two days. But i now noticed that a lot of the leaves are starting to turn yellow and/or pale. I've read it would be either it's pot bound or needs a good feeding. I recieved this plant small in a 2" pot and moved it in february to a 4" would it be pot bound already? I really don't want to loose this plant, please help.

I'm currently growing abuliton. I purchased seeds from Pinetree. 5 seeds for $1.95. I sowed the seeds without soaking on January 14th in Jiffy Mix, just barely covering the seeds.I covered the container with a plastic bag and placed it in my fairly warm kitchen. I didn't use any bottom heat or supplemental lighting. Four seeds sprouted within one week. I lost one seedling due to allowing the potting mix to dry out excessively. I am now growing my three remaining seedling in yogurt cups in a west window that has light reducing glass. The seedlings are about 3" high and have 3-4 sets of true leaves. I'll probably start growing the plants under my shop lights soon and hopefully that will accelerate their growth. Most abutilon that is sold through cataloges are hybrids so I don't know if that might of effected the viability of your collected seed.

A plant's negative reaction to root disturbance can be due to a number of reasons. For some plants, root disturbance lays the plant's roots open to infection by soil borne pathogens that can kill the plant. (Proteas!) For others, a change in soil level can do it. This is because the oxygen level in the soil changes. Too much deeper and the roots don't get enough oxygen and they fail. For Abutilon which is a relatively thirsty plant it could be that the roots stop taking up moisture, or the top growth needs considerably more moisture than the disturbed roots can provide. In addition, the Abutilon root system is relatively large, so losing some of it is very stressful to the plant. What I do when transplanting just about anything is to provide temporary shade via a shade cloth covering a cylinder of wire fencing until the plant can once again take the level of hot California sunshine that it could previously handle. I try to get as much of the root ball as is physically possible. I keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. If the plant fails, well then...garden center retail therapy for the plant owner is advised. ;^)

Scale insects secrete honeydew, which ants are attracted to (just as they're attracted to the honeydew secreted by aphids). And abutilon are apparently subject to infestations of two types of scale insects: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/abutilon.html