Hibiscus Leaves yellowing and falling off from bottom up
My Hibiscus was beautiful when I bought it-and it stayed beautiful for almost a month. After some heavy rain/cold weather, and then suddenly hot/dry weather, it's gotten sickly and not been producing blooms.
Now it's looking awfully bare, and still some of the new leaves are yellowing, along with bud drop. I've been trying to be good about the watering, and thought it might be getting over watered so I let it dry out a bit-and it looked much worse for it. I have given it fertilizer(MG bloom booster and MG miracid), and I've also sprayed with neem oil due to an outbreak of spider mites(I looked around and didn't see any signs of them, nor any other bugs). I've scraped on the branches here and there and it's still healthy and green underneath.
The roots don't seem too bad, although the ones under the plant at the bottom are darker then I'd like(but they aren't mushy). When I repotted it, I used what was left of my C&S MG mix(was half perlite).
Is there any saving it? Should I prune it? I've never owned a tropical hibiscus, so my knowledge here is a bit limited.
Comments (14)
Becky
8 years ago
Gail Stevens-Cryer
8 years agoOH JUST HOLD ON N WAIT... TRANSPLANTED A TREE HIBICUS THEN WE HARD SEVERE WEATHER CHANGE N LOST EVERY SINGLE LEAF... WHILE THAT ONE WAS LOSING LEAVES MY SECOND ONE STARTED YELLOWING ALSO N LOST ALL IT'S LEAVES... I SPRAYED BOTH WITH EPSOM SALT/WATER... BEFORE THE SECOND ONE LOST ALL IT'S LEAVES THE FIRST ONE WAS GROWING NEW LEAVES ALL OVER... AFTER 2 WKS THEY WERE FULLER N GREENER THAN BEFORE... MY SMALLER ONES HAVE DONE THE SAME THING... LOSE LEAVES/GROW BACK BETTER...I HEARD THE DO THIS TWICE A YEAR... GOOD LUCK N HOPE IT CONES BACK BETTER THAN BEFORE... BY THE WAY... HERE'S MY MEDIUM ONE... CROSSING MY FINGERS FOR A COME BACK TOO.
FROM BALD TO BUSHY....MY MEDIUM ONE...
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Comments (3)It is normal. I actually cut all the bottom leaves that touch the ground soon enough after transplanting, when new grows started and bottom leaves start to turn yellow. They do not get enough sun when new leaves open up, so plant stop feeding them. And as soon as you cut them plant starts grow more new leaves....See MoreYellow Leaves start from Bottom of Plant and Gradually Move Up
Comments (10)"The bottom most leaves of my tomato plants start to yellow and eventually wilt and die." As said by others, that's natural progression. It can be slowed considerably by adequate and appropriately timed fertilization ... at planting time in the planting hole, and then side dressings at first fruit set and subsequently timed applications throughout the season based on whether the plant is determinate or indeterminate. In my opinion, manure tea is not a complete or sufficiently potent fertilizer to prevent nutrient deficiencies that lead to defoliation. "It seems like nothing at first, but as time goes on, it gradually goes higher and higher, usually the leaves turn yellow atleast half way up the plant. So I go from awesome tomato plants to half dead ones in a couple months." First of all, they're probably not "half dead" only half defoliated. If there are no lesions showing on the leaves ... just evenly progressing yellowing ... and no lesions on the stems, then it's probably nitrogen deficiency and the plant is robbing nitrogen from the lower leaves and transfering it to the new growth. "While this only seems to kill one or two plants out of the bunch, it does stop production on atleast half to 2/3rds of the plant." One of two plants in any garden may die and for a variety of reasons. Are you sure the dead plants died from defoliation or maybe from overall failure due to lack of proper nutrition. If the plants are defoliated 2/3 the way up the plant but still put out new growth and set new fruit, then I again surmise the plants are robbing nitrogen from the lower foliage, transfering it to new growth, and dropping the spent leaves. But then again, you haven't said the yellowing is evenly progressing without lesions or blotchy dark spots or speckles. "I will continue to get fruit the whole season, but it does cut my crop down A LOT." Well, once fruit sets and ripens, there will be no more fruit produced BELOW that point on the vine anyway. If you're growing indeterminates, it would pay you to go to a greenhouse and see how the grower manually defoliates the vines below the highest fruit set. I bet his vines will look like a cleaned up version of yours ... nude from the fruitset down in other words. If you're really concerned about maintaining your vines with as much green foliage as possible throughout the growing season: 1) Prepare the planting hole as described in "Earl's Hole Method" or similar. 2) Prune off all lower leaves below the first fruit set and do some maintenance pruning of damaged or deficient leaves throughout the season. 3) Fertilize with a good balanced tomato food worked into the ground 3 - 4 inches deep in the original bed and side dressed atop the ground at first fruit set and again at second fruit set if determinate or about every 4 - 6 weeks throughout the season for indeterminates. 4) Give your plants a booster shot of foliar feed (good balanced professional stuff) whenever you see some paling or yellowing of leaves....See MoreWhy are the bottom leaves turning yellow and falling off
Comments (9)the plant is about 10 feet away from an east facing window. I have not felt it for dryness but I water it when the top leaves look droopy. The plant has drainage. I have not given it fertilizer. The plant is fairly new to me. I bought it a few months ago from lowes. Based on your comments, I can try to move it closer to the window. Thank you....See MoreLeaves turning yellow, turning brown, crunching and falling off
Comments (1)That could be drought stress or fertilizer burn. skuiiy: We bought the plant with the shown plastic pot and kept it in there since it seemed to be doing well & producing flowers and fruit. A plant from the nursery producing fruit is often doing so because it's stressed. When tomatoes are stressed, they fruit because the plant rushes to reproduce before it dies. So assuming it's happy because it's fruiting could be incorrect. Even if the pot is OK now, it won't be much longer unless that plant is a dwarf or small determinate. skuiiy: -Gave it liquid fertilizer. -Added about a spoonful of epsom salt to the soil/mulch mix it's in and mixed it in a bit. Epsom salt is really only necessary if the plant has a magnesium deficiency. If not, it could cause problems. Also, it's possible you've given the plant too much fertilizer, which can manifest as leaf burn skuiiy: now I'm watering(about 2 cups of tap water, instead of just 1)every other day starting today to see how that goes. First: Pot it in a much larger container. Gently knock off as much of the current potting mix as possible so that almost all of the mix is fresh, as this will help correct the problem if nitrogen burn is the problem. Use a normal, fluffy, well-draining potting mix, not a mix advertised as moisture-retaining, and not anything labeled as "garden soil". Mix water into the mix well before putting it in the pot, as peat-based mixes can initially repel water if they're dry. Second: Don't measure your water or water on a set schedule. To determine when to water, stick your finger down into the mix a couple inches. If it's dry, water and water very deeply, until the water is running freely out of the bottom of the pot. If it's still wet a couple inches down under the surface, hold off. In your climate, when it gets hot, don't be surprised if you have to water daily. As for fertilizer, you can give the plant a dose according to instructions once a week or every two weeks (depends on how frequently you have to water), or you can water at very dilute strength with every watering (dilute more the more frequently you have to water)....See More
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBecky
8 years agoBecky
8 years agoBecky
8 years agoBecky
8 years agoGail Stevens-Cryer
8 years agoSO SRY TO HEAR BECKY... DON'T KNOW BOUT ALL THAT STUFF AL WAS TALKING ABOUT N DIDN'T CARE TO READ IT... I STICK TO KISS ... Keep It Simply Stupid...... A SPRITZ OF EPSOM SALT/ WATER N MY BABIES R EVEN BLOOMING !!!...
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
8 years agoBecky
8 years agoWhile the main Hibiscus is rather skeletal looking, there is some green at the tips, and the stems still have life to them. I'm gonna leave it in a corner to rest-it might come back, it might not, but lessons have been well learned. I've definitely learned a lot in the past month, and there is still plenty more to learn, with and without trial and error(and the well-being of some plants!)
On the plus side, I had taken some cuttings from a different Hibiscus plant-and it has some new growth on it. I'd had it trying to root for a while, and nothing seemed to come of it, so I scraped some bark back and lathered on my rooting gel rather heavy-and here is the result. I want to say it's been a week and a half, maybe two weeks since then.
There are actually two cuttings there, one hasn't put out new growth yet(it had been rooting it water beforehand, and had some root to it), but you can see the buds forming on the other. The big leaves are some of the old ones, which mostly had fallen off, making way for new growth. So not all is lost! There is still hope! (And there may be more hope, as I may get some more cuttings at the end of the month. Do I have room for them? No. Do I want to try anyway? Yes!)
Thank you two so much for your input, I've taken away a lot of things from this experience. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with better news!-Becky
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)