Re: Tropical Hibiscus

---

Gerry --

 

Ah, a greenhouse.  Well lah-dee-dah!  ;-)  My H. rosa-sinensis spends the winter in a minimally heated room -- along with most of the other "houseplants" -- that has a south-facing window and about a dozen shop lights (my house was built in the early sixties when people, apparently, were trying to commune with their cave-dwelling ancestors).  I can't give them enough light indoors for strong, healthy growth so I try to discourage growth as much as possible.  I leave most of these plants outside until the consistently cooler temperatures -- along with reduced watering -- send them into semi-dormancy which I try to maintain throughout the winter.   Any leaves or buds on the Hibiscus fall off anyway within days of coming indoors, so fall pruning saves me major clean up.

 

Like I said, this Hibiscus has never shown an adverse response to the bloom food.  Will try the other kind of fertilizer to see what happens.  

 

Dean Sliger

Warren, Michigan, USA

Zone 6B

 

 

On Fri, 04 Aug 2000 08:07:00 -0400 "Gerry/Bob O'Neill" <eoneill@ibm.net> writes:
> Figures...there's always one in the crowd! :-)  Hey, if it ain't
> broke,
> don't fix it...
>
> I used to fall prune before bringing my hibiscus into the greenhouse
> for
> winter...But found that I ended up with a lot of spindly growth
> come
> spring. I was not pruning til September/October, though. If one just
> has to
> prune before bring the plants in, late summer is probably better
> than fall.
>
>  The other down side to fall pruning is that you have no blooms over
> the
> winter.