CT Summer Blooms.

Hi Kristen. Not sure about 'Misbehavin'. Everyone seems to grow plants for purchase on root stock. That means very little personal knowledge would be available. Only people that would know would be thehybridizer or anyone growing from rooted cuttings. I am doing alright. I moved about a month ago from a western suburb 12 miles west of Ft Lauderdale, into Ft Lauderdale. Took some of the hibiscus and dug up, divided and moved all my Daylilies. Need to get things settled because our winter gardening season will begin in a month or so. So many more choices on what to grow at anytime from October thru April.
Jon

Lucky you, amoerecouore. Wish we had great winter weather. Jan. Feb. and Mar. are our bad months which isn't too bad compared to others.

No kidding Peg, I had to move my hibiscus inside last week! Now its warmish again, so I am their personal slave.... bringing them out in the morning, bringing them in at night... what a pain in the neck!

We have about 6 good outside months in CT...

Whatever you do keep it up. You have spectacular blooms and deserve bragging rights with me just as long as you post pics.

I had one of my NOID Hibs in buds this morning. Hope I don't miss it when I get home.

I hope not either! Post them asap!

Hi Kristen - wow how did i miss this thread. I see some gorgeous blooms here you posted. Misbehavin and Vin extrodinaire are amazing. Where did you get yours?

Mine are still outside. Is there a certain temp when i should bring them indoors? Like 50 deg maybe?

Hi Maureen,

Dont let them get into the 40's so low 50's at night I started bringing them in. I got Misbehavin at Tried and True. And Vin at HVH.

blupit you have out done your self thanks for the great show!

Thanks Dana. They are all inside now for the winter... Misbehavin is the only one that is complaining about it... yellowing leaves... hopefully it was recover soon.

Sure there like little kids don't want to come in lol I know I am out here today trying to figure out where everyones going I have way tooo much lol but won't want it any other way have a great weekend

Thanks Kristen. It went down to 45 last night,i probably should have taken them in last night but i was shot after working all week. I will keep my eye on the forecast, it it's going down again to under 50 they are coming in.

have a good weekend.
p.s. sunny wind is blooming, so cheery - love this little bright yellow bloom.

SW sure is a special happy lil bloom!

May I introduce you to "Gumbo File".

Another view of "Gumbo File".

I am so proud of "Gumbo File".

Beautiful colors.

Kristen, Wow what a wonderful collection!!! I hope some day to be able to have half of that. Any tips on rooting or do they need to be grafted?
Regards,
Mickey

Hi Mickey,

Thanks for the compliment! I love them! I try rooting as I am not too successful at grafting. I have only tried 6 or 7 grafts so far and only one stuck and is doing well. So I guess I need more practice. I am not sure on who can root and who cant on all of mine though. As far as rooting, I make a fresh clean diagonal cut through a node. Put Clonex gel rooting hormone on the cut. Then I either stick it in a nice seed starter soil and put it in my "cutting green house" Basically it is just a fish tank with a glass hood that I put a seedling heat mat in the bottom. It is under a fluorescent shop light. I have a humidity and temp gauge inside to monitor the humidity. Or you can bypass the fish tank and just put a plastic zip lock bag over top of the cutting and keep it sealed. Or my other option is to put the cutting in my cloner. I have a 8 site Daisy Cloner that works well. http://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Clone-8-from-Botanicare/dp/B001JL0BLM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324473641&sr=8-1 It is a lot of fun and you will end up literally cutting everything you see and sticking it in the cloner. Basil roots in 3 days in this! Its great. This summer I had about 10 basil plants!
Good luck!
Kristen

Your hibiscus are just beautiful!!! Do you have a white fly problem in the winter? How lond does it take for you to get roots on your cuttings?
Regards,
Mickey

Sorry for the delay Mickey. I have not been on DG in forever. I just renewed my subscription today... been busy busy busy! But no white flies here. I never have had any actually. The only bug issues I have ever dealt with is Aphids and Spider mites. I now use a product called Kontos. It's expensive as hell, but works great on both my issues. I guess it makes the spider mites infertile?? Whatever, it works.

It depends on the cutting for the length of time it takes for roots to appear. I have a cloner that I use. Although sticking them in dirt works well too if you take care not to let them rot. But I had Sleeping Beauty and Acapulco Gold root within 2 weeks. Then I have had Haute Coture in my cloner for almost 2 years. Still alive but not throwing roots! I have a great setup for rooting in dirt. I bought a fishtank with a glass top. put a seedling heat mat inside, and its is under a grow lamp. I have a humidity and temp guage inside to monitor a proper humidity. I don't let the glass get foggy, if it is, then it is way too humid.

Hi Mike!

I love the cloner! It is hard to give a time frame for rooting hibiscus in one though. I had Sleeping Beauty root in about a week and a half! But just last month I took Haute Couture out of it and stuck it in some dirt (rootless) because it had been in the cloner for 2 years! I was sick of it. It stayed alive and is still alive in dirt. I don't know how...

What I do is with a sterilized sharp exacto knife, make a clean diagonal cut through a node. With a butter knife I dab a bit of Clonex rooting gel http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q3NN4W/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0012BFBJG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NBEJ2JH85KG8CKTJZDH on the cut. (don't dip the cutting into the jar as it could contaminate the gel, and don't re-dip the butter knife either). In the water that is in the cloner I use a Clonex rooting hormone (different then gel, it is for dilution) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012BFBJG/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15474521979&hvpos=1o2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3605280091259992668&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B0012BFBJG. I found that they root faster if you keep the water temp warm. I simply put the cloner on top of a seedling heat mat. (I only did this for the winter, as it is really chilly in my house).

Here is a great thread on properly doing cuttings you should check out. I tagged it when I first came to DG. Lots of info from this man! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1052089/

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions
Kristen

Do you trim your hibiscus back in the fall before bringing them in? Mine went through a shock when I first put it out this spring and then took for ever to catch up. It is just now blooming. I have 2 more baby's that I got this spring that have grown triple but no blooms. Should I trim them back this fall like I do my other one? The only window that I could put them near this winter, would be a north side window.

Im gonna trim them before i bring them inside. however, that being said, my husband build me a greenhouse, hopefully they can stay outside all winter

Wow I need that for all of my tropical' s. Are you going to heat it or just let the sun do its thing?
I think my hubby wanted to build me one, What did he use for the roof?

Nice green house. Needs a rocking chair, good book and a hot cup of tea. Sharon

I use a CFL light that is equal to 300 watts and run it 24/7. The bulb doesn't produce heat and my flowers bloom all winter long. The bulb also draws very little power. It is much better than the monster of a plant light I was using. I need to start hunting some more bulbs for all the plants I need to drag in for the winter. I keep buying more and they keep growing.
I do oleander too. With a CFL bulb I don't have to worry about light from a window.
Mickey

Wow, I never knew there could be so many beautiful ones. Well now that I'm back home in FL, guess I've found a plant that really interest me to grow here. I'm starting me research as we will be moving next year into a house of our own and there will be plenty of space to start a collection of these.

Thank you so much for sharing all the wonderful pictures of your plants. Wow is what keeps coming to my mind.

Jan