Tropical Hibiscus
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Tropical Hibiscus
- From: G* O*
- Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2000 07:34:28 -0400
True, Dean, but one important modification and one correction.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis does bloom on new wood, but that wood must be
mature, so it takes a while if you have pruned hard in the spring. Another
factor may just be the heat. Hibiscus may be tropical, but a lot of them
shut down, bloom-wise, when it gets very hot. As you said, patience is the
key.
But one correction. Hibiscus DO NOT LIKE high phosphorus fertilizer, like
most of the bloom boosters. Better to use a 20-10-20 with minors, or time
release 17-6-10 with minors.
BTW, there is a very active and informative tropical Hibiscus maillist out
there. E-mail me privately if you're interested. The American Hibiscus
Society also maintains a really good web site at
<http://www.trop-hibiscus.com>
There is a page devoted entirely to growing tropical hibicus indoors, for
us pot bound northern growers.
Gerry
At 07:44 PM 8/1/00 -0400, you wrote:
>On Tue, 1 Aug 2000 15:10:40 EDT NitaCretbc@aol.com writes:
>> Hello fellow gardeners. I have a few questions regarding plants that
>> did not
>> bloom this summer: Tropical Hibiscus (I think I trimmed off the new
>> wood on which it blooms???),
>
>Nita --
>
>Yes, that's correct, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis blooms on new wood. Don't
>give up yet. Mine has only had a couple blooms on it so far this year.
>It does most of its blooming from mid-August through early October. BTW,
>I keep it out on the patio from mid-May to mid-October, then it spends
>the winter indoors semi-dormant in front of a south-facing window. Try
>giving your Hibiscus regular feedings of a "bloom food" (high middle
>number) for the next month -- and keep the soil in the pot evenly moist.
>
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