I'm so upset,I could cry.

I just need to blow off some steam. My well meaning hubbie tried to surprise me. He potted my new Hibbies that I got from the co-op.I can't really make him feel bad by yelling,but he took all the ID's off and put them aside. Now I have four new plants and I don't know which is which.I guess i'll have to wait till I get blooms to find out. Two of mine are really in shock right now. I'm waiting for two things, one,for them to bounce back and two, for them to bloom.I keep telling myself,it could be worse.Thanks for listening.
Lynda

Sorry about your hubby's mistake there...but don't worry, if you only have 4 and you know the 4 names that they were supposed to be, just post pics when they bloom and give us the list of the possible names and you're almost certain to find someone who can match up the names with the flowers. And they should recover from the transplant shock too--if they're looking sad just keep them out of direct sun for a bit to let them get themselves going again.

Thanks Ecrane, I will probably be able to ID,because,I got all of them a different color. He did the same with my Clematis,luckily,I only had four of them as well. He just don't understand why I need to know the names. He also goes around when hes tending the yard, sometimes, and puts the same fertilizer on everthing. We sat down and I gently had a talk with him. Since I have become disabled, and get around on a scooter,hes only trying to help, but he don't get it,
YET ! lol

awwww, what a well meaning sweetheart, lol don't be too hard on him. I'm sure he'll 'get it' one way or the other, if you catch my drift

Not to worry, as Liz says, someone on here will make sure you get the labels matched up with the correct plant :-) Everyone loves a puzzle right?

LOL been there with Hubby. With all our rain and humid weather they should bounce back quick.
I am just up the road from you so Hi neighbor.

Lavina

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.
Hi, Lavinia Mae-not sure where you are located, but its nice to have someone in my zone with similar weather patterns. Do you grow any knockouts ? I am one of the very few people who is having problems. My knockouts haven't bloomed since the first of June.
Lynda

I'm in Pamlico County close to Oriental. Across water from Cherry Point. I don't have knockouts but I have a lot of hibiscus that are not blooming yet. Maybe everything is water logged.LOL I am.

Lavina

This message was edited Jul 20, 2009 2:16 PM

Lynda, have you gotten any blooms yet? Would love to see them.

Judy

I have no blooms yet. My camera isn't working, but I hope it soon will be. They are still just like they were when they came. A couple of them may not make it. I'm a little disappointed, but I'm gonna hang in there and give them a chance.
Lynda

I was wondering why you think a couple of them won't make it? What do those plants look like right now? Are they in containers with good drainage and has the saucer part of the container been removed so that it won't hold water? On a sunny day how many hours of sun would you say the plants receive? Has he fertilized them just the one time and what kind of fertlizer did he use? I'm trying to get a better idea of their environment in hopes of figuring out what you can do and/or change to get you better results.

Jon

I put them in gallon containers right away. I followed all the instructions that came with the plants. I introduced them gradually to full sun .We have been feeding about every two weeks with MG 24-8-16. When we have hard rains for several days in a row, I was afraid they would get waterlogged,so I alternated pulling them under the eaves and when they need the water,I pulled them out again. When they came, only one had good ,green leaves. The others had yellow leaves that were falling off. I realize they were probably shocked. I am being patient and trying to give them a chance. I really hope I get something encouraging soon. I need my device for my camera fixed soon,so I can record the progress. Thank you so much for your concern.
Lynda

Your comment about waterlogged rang a bell with me. I had a unique (for me) problem this year. Same as you Tarheels, we had heavy rains and they came so hard and fast this summer. One day we had 4" in one hour another it was 3.5 in one hour. This was in addition to the daily rains. The soil was so saturated it appears that much of the perlite in my potting mix has up and floated away. I am having to repot a number of plants because they need more drainage. I have been growing hibs for more than 30 years and this is the first time I have had a problem like this.

I left one in the pot last year after it looked dead. Guess what , it came back this year. Bigger even.
I did not put pot in GH over winter either.
Lavina

Lynda, I just bought two of the tropical hibiscus. One had two leaves with a very little yellow when they arrived. I waited a week before I potted them into 6" clay pots with no saucer and they went into a sunny south facing window. A week later I gave them their first light feeding with 24-8-16. The one with the yellow leaves just kept getting worse and worse and I was afraid all I would have left was a stem! Several leaves had dropped and all the rest were a green-yellow color. So a week ago Sunday I tried the Epsom Salt treatment the vendor wrote about - quoting here in case you missed it
"Also, fertilize every 7-10 days with your favorite hibbie approved fertilizer and once a month give them an extra treat of epsom salts. 1 to 2 tablespoons per gallon of water. Make sure they are well watered before you do this so the roots do not burn up on them. This adds magnesium for a healthy green bush. It would not hurt to start them on your fertilizing regiment now. (as long as they seem to be destressed)"

I was scared to over do it so only used 1 teaspoon to the gallon the first time and watered the plant very well first. The leaves quit turning yellow and got a little greener so I repeated the treatment on this just past Saturday with 2 tbsp of Epsom Salts in the gallon of water and the plant is already looking MUCH better. I am so happy that now most of my outdoor plants got a dose of salts too!


What do you think? Worth giving it a try? I found the Epsom Salt very inexpensive at the Walmart pharmacy section.
And just to give you a little encouragement. I recently bought another kind of small shrub at a local nursery and every single leaf fell off of it in just a few days. I left the plant in the pot it came in and put it in a shady spot and now it has a full set of leaves on it.

....just to be clear the last shrub I wrote about (last post) got leaves without using the epsom salts

My sweetie repotted some brugs for me a couple of years back. He said he didn't put the tags back on them because I already knew they were brugs. Some were seedlings from some fellow dg'rs. If I strangled him I'd never get the weeding done. lol

Anne

I have a husband beating stick available, if you need it. :-)

That's ok making him my husband would be punishment enough, lol.