HIBISCUS PROBLEM - HELP NEEDED PLEASE

Hello, everyone.

I live in Delray Beach, FL (zone 10-B), where hibiscus bloom pretty much year-round. I purchased and planted a peachy-yellow double hibiscus at Home Depot almost a year ago. Back then, it was about 8 inches high. Now, it is 4 feet high and we are delighted with its growth. It bets funn sun from about 2PM until sunset.

However, there seems to be a problem sigh said hibiscus that has me considering doing away with it. The bush produces loads of buds which grow to be about the size of the tip of my baby finger. Then, the bud falls to the ground, leaving only the sepals. We have yet to see a bloom on that bush. What could be causing that? I have used my 10X magnifying glass and inspected the plant from soil to tip, in the hope of finding some insect culprit. I found nothing.

Any ideas?
Thanks ever so much
Sylvain.

That normal if it a hot day, hot weather tends to do that, you can fertilize your hib with Miracle Gro general purpose fertilizer ( 24-8-16 ) to help it coop with the heat stress its going thru on hot days.

Wilfred

Thanks, Wilfred. I am a big fan of Miracle Gro. I will do that.

Also, I saw your wonderful article about Adeniums. Very well done, extremely informative: I saved a copy of it for future reference.

Thanks.
Sylvain.

Hi Sylvain

I live just west of Ft Lauderdale, in Plantation and occasionally have the same issue with some of my hibiscus. The buds mature, turn yellow (or lighter in color) and fall off premature. It's more common during the warmest months or the year and is mostly the result of thrips. It's a very very small insect that sucks nutrients out of the flower buds and causes them to fall. I usually treat the plants with Bayer 3 in 1 insect killer weekly for about 3 weeks and it usually corrects the problem. When you begin treatment you have to make sure you pick up all the flower buds that fall to the ground on a regular basis. The reason for this is that the thrips lay their eggs in the buds. The buds fall to the ground, the eggs hatch, and the new thrips work their way back to the buds on the plant to lay more eggs. Spraying and picking up the fallen buds breaks the cycle. Once you start treatment you should immediately notice fewer and fewer buds falling to the ground. That's a good signal that reflects your treatments are beginning to rectify the problem. Hope this information is helpful to you.

Regards,
Jon

Thanks. I will try that.

Sylvain.

I live in zone 4 and can't claim knowledge of Florida summers. However, it seems to me that your Hibiscus may be dropping buds due to receiving the hot afternoon sun from 2pm to sunset. In my zone, those hours are hot so can imagine how hot it must be in your zone. I have the hardy hibiscus growing in full sun and it does fine due to neighbors trees that block the late afternoon sun.

They do drop more buds in the summer, compared to the rest of the year. It stays hot here all summer, but very rarely above 95 degrees. Down here, if you're getting excessive bud drop (meaning all or the majority of them) it's most likely a pest...as in hibiscus midge or thrips. The hybrids are tropical plants, so they should be able to handle our tropical weather. Oddly enough, hardy hibiscus don't do all that well here. They require a winter dormancy period, which we don't have here in South Florida.

Hi, everyone and thank you for your precious advice.

Since the temperatures have cooled down slightly here, the hibiscus has stopped dropping its buds and is now blooming. I will post pictures tomorrow, when they open.

Take care, all.
Sylvain.

Good to hear Sylvain. That is usually the case once we get to November here in South Florida. It probably was just heat stress, as blomma suggested.