Rooting Kopper King Hibiscus

I have a large Kopper King Hibiscus that is spectacular!

This Spring, one of the new growths from the bottom broke off (I stepped on it...).
I had read that the KK can be rooted from stem cuttings, so I put the broken off section in a bottle of water. It has now been about 3 weeks and there are no signs of any roots forming..The cutting is doing great and there are new leaves growing on the stem underwater--but NO roots or nubbies.

Has anyone rooted the KK from a stem? Any advice is welcome.....

Thanks, Gita

Here is the whole cutting. The top leaves are great and looks like they are growing.
I want to share this plant with a friend, but not sure if this broken off section will ever root.....

IF one can root it from a stem section, when, and from where, should the cutting be taken?
This Hibiscus does not make seeds, so that is out.

This is me and the KK a couple of years ago. it is BIG!

Thanks.

Just be patient, the roots will start to form. I've done the same thing and they do eventually root, it just takes a while. After it gets roots starting to grow, put it in a small pot with potting soil and keep it moist and sort of shaded for about a week and then gradually expose it to more sun.Eventually it will have enough roots to plant.
Good luck, I hope it works out for you. Kopper King is a nice one, but having another one is even better.

i forgot to mention, taking stem tip cuttings in june before they have started to make buds is very easy and I have had success with rooting them this year that way. I took 8 cuttings and 6 made it.The other 2 would have if I wouldnt have let them dry out.
I took 6" tip cuttings, dipped them in rooting hormone, placed them under an aquarium for about 2 weeks and then started hardening them off by leaving them outside of the aquarium for a couple hours then started making the intervals outside the aquarium longer.
Now they are all rooted, ive repotted some and they are really taking off. Overall it takes about a month for a cutting to get going and about 2-3 months before its ready to plant.
You can also carefully dig around the edge of the hibiscus and tease a stem off that has some roots on it and pot it up so it can grow more roots and then plant it.
Propagating hardy hibiscus is fairly easy, its too bad there isnt more information about it online.
Thomas

Thomas,

Thank you for your input.
This was not, exactly, a tip cutting. It was one of the shoots that was sprouting from below. I was weeeding the bed and stepped on it and it broke off.

Usually, when a cutting is going to root, you start seeing those white 'nubbie bumps". Nothing yet! You say to be patient. i will be patient....except it is going home to LA with a friend that has been visiting here. He will have to continue the process....

Maybe I should re-cut it so that there can be some leaf-nodes under water? As it is now--the stem is smooth. No leaves were broken off.

Also--I do not want to take any stem cuttings as I just moved this Hibiscus from one bed to it's present location. It will not be in it's full glory for another couple of years as many roots got severed in the digging up--but it is doing great! Just waiting to see all the dazzled people as they see it walking by my house as it now sits on my front lawn in a small, round bed of it's own....

Thanks again--Gita

Your welcome for the information, I'm sure that many people will take notice of your plant, it seems like people are always amazed at the size of the flowers(I know i was when i first saw them)
I think it will be ok if your friend takes over, just hopefully it doesnt dry out too much during the travel to LA. I would put some moist paper towel & rubber bands on the place thats been underwater and cover the towel with a sandwich bag, should keep it moist until it can be put back into water.
Usually if the top leaves look good, it will make it. The leaves closer to the bottom look bad and fall off eventually but as long as the tip looks good, it should be ok.
I have stems blow off in storms and accidents like stepping on them and have had good luck getting them to root, it just takes a while.

fburg696,

Are all hardy hibiscus easy to root? I

dee

They seem to all be easy, I tried the tip cutting method with several different plants and they all rooted about the same.

Thomas--

One question you did not answer....

Should I re-cut this stem to a shorted length, strip off those leaves growing up the stem (under water) and hope roots will emerge from those areas?
OR---should I just leave it be as is? You talk about tip cuttings...this is not a 'tip"--it is the whole stem that broke off at the base--about 12" long....

Went out and took more pictures....

Here is a close-up picture of the 2 stems. It is in 2 pieces--as I cut it thinking it was too long to begin with. The bottom part is the one growing leaves from the stem--under water. You van see that the bottom part of the longer section has NO leaf-nubs on it. So--where is it going to grow roots from?

Sorry I am so insistent on all this--I just need this to "make sense" to me......

Here is the top of the stem. Leaves look great!

I guess my final question is:
1--"Should I re-cut the longer section so it can be more of a TIP CUTTING than it is now?????"

2--I could also brush off the growing leaves from the smaller section and see if that would give the roots a bit more of an incentive to grow. But--this section does not have leaves on top....

3--My friend leaves on July 14th. I can wait until then and just leave things be and package it up the way it is. I'll do a good job on the packaging--I am also sending 2 rooted/growing Brugmansia cuttings home with him.
All these will have to be hand-carried on the plane. And--he is still on crutches recovering from a broken hip surgery! That is why he has been here with me for so long....
Good luck!

Thanks again! Gita

Last one-----I promise----

Here is the KK I dug up and moved last Fall now growing leaps and bounds in it's new spot. Lots of flower buds! Will see bloom before my friend has to leave.

WHY has this particular Hibiscus not been seen in stores since that one year, maybe 4-5 years ago, that I bough this at my HD? It was everywhere that year! I got 2 of them end of season for 50% off. They just did not sell. Now--you can't find them???????????
Maybe the expensive, fancy-schmancy Nurseries carry them--but not HD or Lowes....

Gita

I've been washing your tread for a while now and wondering how could I help you succeed with your cutting, I'm not an expert but I've have propagated hundreds of different type of plant by the hundreds from cutting and most have the same needs to produce roots and even though I've propagated mostly tropical hib I'll will try to help you. First thing I notice was that the cutting were in to much water level, should had been around one or two inches of water with more of the cutting exposed to air that's why you got some growth under the water from one stem and also the point has what appears to be some type of fungus death to it. This didn't happen to the second cutting because it was longer and had more of the cutting exposed to air. Now let get to what you can do to get your cutting to root, first you must separate both cutting different containers since one is showing signs of fungus on it, now take the longer cutting an look at the end of it, you'll notice it has a leaf nod close to the end, make a new cut around 1/8" to 1/4" from it and place it in a container with 1-1/2" water and place the container in a very very bright area but no direct sunlight on it. now take the second cutting, the smaller one, since it does not have the length to make the same cut as the first one you just going to leave the bottom of the cutting alone but you have to cut off the top portion off up to 1/4" from the first living leaf nod that seems to be growing already, now take this cutting and place it in a container with less water than the first one, around 3/4' water and place it in a very very bright spot, hopefully the light it receives will help it produce food for itself to produce roots, you have little time left before your friend leaves so you should do this as soon as you could. hopefully this can help you save and root the cuttings for your friend.

Wilfred

Wilfred,

Thank you so much for your advice!
I need to ask you--Where is PR? zone 11....hmmmmm....is it Puerto Rica?

I looked att he shorter cutting and, yes!--the top was dying back with some fungus. I trimmed it to above the first growing leaf and also cut off about 1/4" from the bottom. it is now in a very small vase with about 3/4" of water.

The taller cutting......I will cut it back a bit shorter--maybe up to the second leaf (node) growing from the bottom. Then it will be more of a "tip cutting". I will then put it in fresh water no deeper than 1 1/2".

After that--it will be what it will be and my friend will have to take it home and continue with the rooting process.....

Thank you one more time---Gita

Yes, its Puerto Rico, one of the US Island territories in the caribbean, their debates right now whether to make it the 51 state or leave it as a territory, ether way we have all the federal law and taxes as any of the other state and territories including the US Virgin Islands, I think the problem is how to put another star in our national flag, hope they figure that out soon.

From what you have described of what you have done, sounds great, your on the right track, good luck with your cutting.

Wilfred

Hey cousin Wilfred, don't forget Guam is one of those U.S. territories ;-)

Sorry Dee. I wasn't sure so I don't mention it, didn't want to make a fool of myself by doing so without knowing for sure.

Wilfred

That's ok, I probably wouldn't know either if I wasn't born there :-)

Dee, do you have any photos of Guam, would love to see them if you have any. Here one view from were I live right now, I live in the mountain area of the Island, I prefer the country side than the city, to many buildings, car, and noise and not as peaceful as here, not as beautiful ether, I rather have the panoramic view I have.

Wilfred

Not my photo but here is the location where Ferdinand Magellan anchored in Umatac Bay in 1521

This is where I lived...on the other side of the island

MG! it is so beautiful Dee, its like a dream, and the photos look like post cards, bet you miss being there, thanks for sharing your pictures.

Wilfred

YW, the photos are from the Guam Visitor's Bureau so they are virtual post cards :-).

Yes, island life definitely has it's perks!

Well Dee, post cards or not, still are photos of Guam, If I ever hit the Lotto, I'll go to CA pick you up and go visit your beautiful island.

Your Friend Wilfred

p.s. I'll also bring some hibs for you.

Thanks to all for rooting comments re: Kopper King Rose Mallow Hibiscus. Shown is my shocking first bloom, 8 inches across! Thought I had let 2 plants die, bought 8/08 and never planted. Very rootbound, just sticks, but when I made a lean-to winter shelter for potted plants, I put them in there too. Was shocked a few months ago to see leaves sprouted on both. I planted them, and both have many buds on them though plants are only 2 1/2 feet tall. The tag that came in pots said plant in moisture retentive soil, and give regular deep waterings. I set my Miracle Gro feeder on the ground by plant, set it at a trickle, and leave there to saturate ground. The second bloom that opened 2 days later was 7 inches across. The tag says blooms can be as large as 12 inches! Catty1

Kathy1--

YES! They are spectacular!!!!! BUT--nowhere to be found--any more! What gives?
That one year they were in all the Box Stores.....I bought two.

I dug mine up from a too-narrow/small bed last Fall and planted it in a small, circular bed on my front lawn. I was careful--and i KNEW it would recover and grow.....AND bloom.

It has grown very well--and today--Monday--there is a bud showing color and I KNOW it will open up tomorrow!!!! ALL the tips of ALL the stems have oodles of buds on them....
I also know that passers by will gawk and want to know what this plant is.....

My friend left yesterday--I packed up 2 Brugs for him and also the 3 cuttings of the KK (not yet rooting) all in a box which went into his suitcase. He actually flies out tomorrow (Tuesday). I just hope everything will survive.....Funny--He also lives in LA.....Bossier City. NOT a DG member--but I kept telling him to join....

Gita

Here is the cut-back Kk last fall before I dug it up.

Here it is planted in it's new "home". It will get much better light and have a lot more room to grow...and it has!

Here is the tiny bed it was in---besides, it was killing my "Proteus" Clematis,,,,,

In the winter months when dormant, or early spring - you can divide the root ball into several sections and it will multiply quickly that way.

chuck----

Since I only dug it up and moved it to it's new location last fall--I think it is doing extremely well.
However, i will wait a couple years before I go digging up sections of it's roots as I want to wait until it is fully established before i do that.

I is blooming beautifully--all things considered--but it only grew to about 3+' tall. In the old bed--it was almost 6' tall. Still--I am happy at it's performance in such a short time. I WAS being careful in the transplanting!

Thanks Gita...

Here it is---in front of my house.....

Bump

Thanks for the bump--skwinter-----we are all ways off to worry about rooting anything yet!

SOOOO cold tonight--in the teens--and blustery winds to boot. I heard it howling all last night while i slept.

Can you believe it snowed her in Las Vegas today. Just a small amount. If we are going to get any snow, it will be in the middle of the night. Very few individuals that live in Las Vegas own winter clothes. We usually have about 10 days of really cold weather. Really cold we mean in the high 30s low 40s. I know about MD weather. you probably think we are crazy.

I bump some of these threads because I need to refresh this old brain many times and I do not know how to save them.

Gita,
The Kopper king looks wonderful in your front yard - nice landscaping.
I used to have one, it died for some reason, so I 'had" to buy a H. moscheutos 'Crown Jewels' from Plants Delight Nursery to replace it.
Barb

I just a whole group of cuttings. Wish me luck. I am going to plant them today. I hope I have down what I have read a hundred times. Th rain is gone but the wind is t least 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph right now. Blowing away all the bad air. Sky will be perfect Blue later.

Wilfred, when rooting my hardy hibiscus cuttings, do I change the water or add water.