Hibiscus

Here is the Hibiscus I bought last Sunday ....



It was covered in buds but since this photo was taken only one more bud opened and the rest have dropped off! :( This happens to me all the time with Hibiscus. In the past couple of years I've had three with the same problem and the one I planted in the ground in 1998 never amounted to anything and continually had yellowing of leaves and leaf drop (although I fed it iron) so a few months ago I gave up, dug it up and replaced it with a Myrtus!

Any suggestions or clues? :confused:

 

I just spent ten minutes giving you an answer about tropical and hardy hibiscus' then I noticed you're in Portugal. D'oh

OK then I guess it is either the fact that you moved it or put it in direct sunlight when it was used to being under shade at the garden centre.

My tropical hibiscuses go through spells when the leaves change to yellow and drop off, to be replaced with new ones, this isn't a problem.

 

Thanks, Rich ... I thought you knew where I was / am! It's the bud drop thing I can't understand ... be it in a pot or in the ground, and obviously these are the evergreen glossy ones and I keep tryig with them (as I said, in ground and in pot) but nada! It's very frustrating because I love this plant but it goes nowhere with me! :(

 

LOL ..I have Hibiscus both in the garden and in pots ....the potted ones are the same as you show in your photo (tropical) ..... I find that they like to be in dappled sunlight, as with you, our full sun (just at the moment especially) is a bit too much ....I keep the pots on their 'saucers' filled with gravel and water from the saucer not into the top of the plant .... they don't like a lot of watering, but they do like a fine spray on their leaves now and again... they also don't like being put in different environments, so the move from the garden centre or wherever you bought it, might have 'upset' it !! The ones in the garden are extremely robust and this year have flowered and flowered ...and I've not watered them at all ...so they have had to rely on the odd thunderstorm for a wetting ....doesn't seem to have done them any harm ...I think sometimes our plants like a bit of a struggle :D
M-L

 

Oh, thanks, M-L. I'll persevere with this one; it's so pretty but I never dreamt they were so "temperamental" .. silly ole plants ! :D :D

 

I'm back here again. Re-reading what both you, Rich and M-L have said, I still don't understand. This new one has yellow leaf drop but continues to bud drop! It's in a sheltered position until late afternoon and only gets a couple of hours of sun. Funny thing about this is that you see them growing here, in all their glory, a big ball of colour, even at our "local" petrol station, with no shade at all!

I've also noticed my hardy hibiscus "tree" H syriacus Duc de Brabant, a lovely double flowered variety, is very sad looking too. It's had lots of buds this year (second with me) and only two have flowered!

I water more because of the heat and the leaves get yellow ... I water less and the leaves flop! :eek: :confused:

 

Wal from your description its either a watering problem, or some other problem affecting the roots. Have you had a look ?

 

Well, I could hardly have a look at the roots of the one that was in the ground for nine years ... actually recently, it's planted in a friend's garden now. Havn't seen it as she (who is Portuguese and lives in England) rents it out a a holiday cottage.

All these ones in pots be-puzzles me and t'other half completely!

 

The hardy hibiscus (syriacus)that I have, and I've got about four maybe five in various places do have yellow leaves early on, but the seem to green up later in the season.
i've only tried to grow the tropical type (rosa-sinensis) on one occasion and had similar results as yours, dropping buds and leaves, not tried again. I think as ML says they dont like being moved, and a change in conditions, perhaps if you can acclimatise it and not worry too much about how it looks at the moment it might come back strong later.

 

Good idea, Pete. It's actually looked healthier today with two buds thinking about opening ... watch this space!

 

I have two sins hibs in the kitchen and they flower all year !! i find they do like plenty of water and i feed them twice a week, this is a picture of one from a week ago.

 

Hi Dawn.

I keep mine on a south facing windowsill with net curtains which stops the sun being too strong.

These are mine that are in flower today.