Re: hibiscus- YO Dave!

Donna, I'm by far no hibiscus expert, have been growing them for many  years 
though....thought I'd weigh in here for what it's worth.  I doubt  seriously 
that the plant is patented or such, and if it is, you are only doing  it for 
your own use, not for resale, so I would not worry about it.
 
As the Hibiscus age, they do become a bit gnarly looking, and tend to have  
weaker wood, and no longer produce the quantity and quality of blooms that they 
 used to.  You could do a number of things......cut off the branches at  
several inches, on an angle, put rooting hormone powder on the end and plant it  
in some soil....keep in a warm, bright area, and moist.  It should root for  
you quite easily.   I would do a number to ensure you have one nice  plant at 
least.
 
Not knowing if the Hibiscus is grafted or not, I would save the old plant  as 
well.  Most Hibiscus recover well and are rejuvinated by a good hard  
pruning.  This forces the plant to go into survival mode, sending out  healthy new 
growth.  I would not do this now, since your growing season is  almost over, but 
would wait until spring.  In the meantime you have your  cuttings growing, so 
if the old plant doesn't survive, you at least have a new  plant.  Come 
spring, I'd prune the Hibiscus back quite a bit (above the  graft, if grafted) and 
see what happens.
 
I dont' know if Dave will agree with this, he might have other  ideas.....but 
either way it could not hurt to make a few cuttings, to get them  started 
while the temperatures are still warm.  Nothing ventured, nothing  gained.
Good luck....
Noreen
zone 9
Texas Gulf Coast/ West Houston
 
 
 
In a message dated 9/9/2008 8:08:31 PM Central Daylight Time,  
gossiper@sbcglobal.net writes:

Yo  David!... or anyone.

I have one of Davids fancy hibiscus that has been  put thru the storm ringer 
of
life.  Poles crashed on it in storms and  various incidents throughout the 
last
couple of years.  Although it is  alive, it looks terrible in form and has 
many
areas that could easily be  attacked by insects etc. I don't see an easy way 
to
prune it to make it  look like a plant again.

So... I was thinking of attempting to start  another plant and let nature 
takes
it course with the original  plant.

So.... how do I do that with the best results?  Do I have  to wait till next
spring?

Donna








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