Hibiscus help needed...

Hi,

I need help. I got this new hibiscus pot and it has got three plants clumped together in one pot. One variety has green stems (above the woody shoot) and the other has brown stems (above the woody shoot).

The plant with the green stems has lots of buds and blooms well, each bud blooms and falls off after a day. The calyx falls off the next day (so none has successfully gone to seed -probably due to heat and low humidity). Now the plant with the brown stem which also has red colored flowers but it has never bloomed. The buds are different from the plant with the green stem and some questions I have:

1. Are these two different varieties, can anyone identify them?

2. Is one of the plants (brown stems particularly) suffering from any disease which is causing the buds to drop before flowering? Could it be ants or thrips or any other unidentified problem? low sunlight?

3. What is the best way to rid the plant of ants? and thrips (if that is the problem).

I have tried watering them heavily, lightly, I mist them once or twice in a day yet only the plant with the green stems blooms. I've even added plant food kept the plant in different positions to receive different levels of sunlight yet only one plant seems to be blooming and the other two (brown stem) has buds which fall off without flowering.

The pictures attached here give more details.

The second picture is one I think of as Hibiscus. H. rosa-sinensis, and MAYBE a variety I see sold under the name 'Lipstick', though there are MANY varieties. The woody stems start off a bit brown, then turn grey, large, lustrous dark green leaves, most varities are eliptical, with toothed edges.
As individual leaves age they lose the green, turn sort of blotchy yellow and fall off. This is completely normal.

I see the problems in the last 2 sets of pictures.
The buds that are falling off too soon look like they have some sort of disease going on. The stems are sort of pinched, darkened and shriveled.

In the last picture the leaf in the upper right, with a sort of 'window' of thin tissue looks like some damage perhaps by a small insect that is just big enough to eat the surface layer of cells, not big enough to eat the entire thickness of the leaf. This is typical of certain larvae, but I am not sure which ones.
The larger picture with all the little yellow squiggles also looks like a leaf with a problem. This is not the way a leaf normally ages before being dropped from the plant.

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To care for something like this I would start by suggesting consistent watering.
Plunge the whole pot into a bucket to thoroughly soak it. Hold it down until the bubbling stops.
Then lift it out and let it drain. Now you know the maximum amount of water the soil will hold. Feel how heavy it is?
Hibiscus do not want to go very dry between watering. Every day lift the pot and see how light it feels. When you can tell it is getting drier (it is lighter) also test by digging into the soil an inch or so. When it is dry down just that far deep soak it again. You may not need to use a bucket each time, just water the soil surface until it comes out the bottom, and let it stand in that water for an hour or so to see it if will soak up more water. Then remove the excess water. It would go foul, especially inside the pot, where the soil would stay too wet to allow any oxygen in.

If the humidity is low then mist it. Even better, group it together with several other plants.

The sun can be pretty harsh in your area, I would prefer to suggest bright shade, perhaps some morning sun, but not much more.

I am not sure what the other plants are.

Hi Diana,

All the plants you see in all pictures are hibiscus. If you say the plant starts off with a brown stem that gradually turns green, it (brown stems) is probably the same plant at a younger stage. If only the difference in flower buds could be explained, I could figure out more but thanks for your reply anyways. I appreciate.

I've checked the soil before and it did seem a bit dry because it's sand all the way down where my finger reaches. What I have done now is put it in a huge tray which I fill up with water atleast twice a day with a centimeter or two of water all of which the plant manages to soak up in a few hours. The pot is quite heavy due to sand and it's been difficult for me determine by weight everytime but I'll try it anyways.

I am mainly wondering what insects are causing the problems so I can treat accordingly. Right now I spray with neem oil.

I was also wondering if anyone would know how to get rid of the red ants (all I really see) in particular. I've read about spraying cinnamon but I believe that is just to discourage them not kill. And because it can also damage leaves, I haven't tried, appreciate if anyone could share feedback on that. I want to quickly get rid of the ants because I believe they may be causing more damage than sucking the flower nectar.

Also if you notice, the style of the flowers is quite flimsy, doesn't stand straight that could be the reason why despite pollinating it never goes to seed. Something is affecting all the plants in different ways and I hope I can find out before its too late.

Hi Vanita,

as a home remedy u can use some garlic to get rid of those ants.try some garlic juice mixed with water.pour this juice on buds where usually ants stay.better use it on early morning or after sunset.

The last picture shows signs of Red Spider Mites, these are very, very small little spiders that love dry environment, they are so small in fact that you may need to use a magnifying glass to see the actual bugs, they are pin head size and live by sucking the sap / juice from the leaf and buds,

Once these mites have really multiplied they make very fine webs, that webbing is when these mites are really out of control, The mites generally live on the undersides of the leaves /buds etc, there are several things you can buy on line or at garden store to help kill the mites, some are chemical others are more are more environmental friendly, I send off for a small parasitic wasp that arrived in a test tube, I scatter the contents onto the infected plants and within a week, I see a slight difference, these little wasps are also very small and through the magnifying glass, they are a different colour from the Mites. BUT there are other product, I know the wasps dont eat any other type of BUGS, only Spider Mites.
The only HOME help for these mite is to mist the infected plants with water maybe a few times a dat making sure you spray the underside of the plants, all the leaves and stems etc, this wont kill the mites BUT they wont / cant bread in damp or humid conditions, the misting wont kill off the bugs but it does help slow down the breeding these bugs have.
The other thing to try is use a small ball of cotton wool (the soft fluffy stuff for washing cuts and wounds), dip this in diluted vinegar or surgical spirits, and wash / wipe the underside of the leaves, make sure when handling these infected plants you wash your hands and try NOT make contact with sleeves of clothes etc as this is a way to spread the mites from one plant to another.
Try to isolate the plants infected as this also helps prevent wider infection.

Good luck, hope this helps you out.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.

To be honest not much

This message was edited Mar 30, 2015 2:57 AM

Hi DayleHadlee, can you elaborate just a little, I don't really understand what "NOT MUCH" refers to.

Always helpful IF you can offer a bit more info as to what problem / answer you either don't understand OR agree with, or have you perhaps placed your comment on the wrong thread.

Many people on the site try really hard to help other gardeners with any Gardening problems they may have, not always successfully BUT, they give off their time free on many gardening subjects and are always happy to stand corrected If the info they give is wrong and will offer further help, or even just give praise and encouragement IF that's what is required.
If you wish any of the above, please give a clue as to what you are asking help for.

This is a great site for BEGINNERS FLOWERS (as the name suggests) and it's always a great place to come for help, especially for new gardeners, they are offered advice, helpful hints and tips gained by experienced gardeners, and as the site is worldwide, even experienced gardeners learn from each other and, even formed long standing friendships for some other folks.

Please get back onto the thread so whatever your required needs are regarding flowers / gardening, someone may be able to give further help to your problem, without knowing what that is it's difficult at this point to give the proper rely.
Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.
.

I've been keeping several different cultivars of commonly available hibiscus for the past 5 years by transplanting them into giant pots and moving them inside during the winters. Indoors I aim curly fluorescents 100 watt bulbs in clamp lights at them. Here's some stuff I've noticed that may or may not help you:
1. Hibiscus flowers normally only last a day or a day and a half, like daylily flowers, then they close up and fall off. The calxes fall off a few days later, there's a break-point on the flower stem.
2. I've never seen an ornamental hibiscus set seed even when outside in the summer; they may be sterile cultivars or maybe we don't have the right pollinators here, don't know.
3. Different cultivars have different shaped buds, some more pointed and some more blunt. My double flowered plant has blunt buds. So the shape of buds on your plants is probably normal.
4. All of mine eventually get woody gray-brown stems on older branches.
5. Over watering will cause leaves to yellow and drop off. As recommended, you need a more consistent watering schedule based on the dryness of the soil.
6. I over-winter a lot of plants including really big ones in my house; conditions are hard on them and bug pests ALWAYS show up. Even if you aren't sure what's bugging your plants (pun intended), you can't go wrong with thoroughly spraying them with a soap solution like Safer's Insecticidal Soap. It's not a poison chemical so it's safe to handle; it coats the beasties and smothers some, disrupts the outside shell of some. You especially need to spray the underside of the leaves as well as the tops. I've successfully battled spider mites, aphids, and white flies with Safer's. If the situation was really really bad I would completely defoliate my plants and burn all the infested leaves, then let them start over--they will survive and grow new leaves.
7. Mine invariably take a break in flowering, they do it at different times, and I haven't figured out what triggers flowering yet, they just eventually do. So one of your cultivars may go the better part of a year before it flowers.

It sounds like you've got at least 2 different varieties in one pot. Hibiscus get huge, and the more crowded the pot the harder it is to keep the moisture level right. There's also no such thing as too big of a pot for something that normally grows into at least a 5 foot shrub. I have wheeled pot holders under mine. Once a year I take the plants out, knock off as much old soil as possible and repot with new. I also chop the plants way back. The flower on the young tips, so if you don't chop them, you get a 7 foot tall leggy woody stem with a couple of flowers at the top. After I chop mine back, they go outside for the summer and grow bunches of new young stems ready to come in and bloom in the winter when it's depressing and snowy outside.

WOW sheepwrecked, You have covered all. IF that cant sort out any problems, then nothing will, very helpful and enlightening,
Here in Scotland, we have to grow these beautiful plants indoors and for sure, the best way to kill a tropical plant while trying to imitate the the native conditions, is to kill it with kindness, so many thanks for all the hints and tips you have obviously studied / learned over the years.
I'm sure there are many like me who have already learned a lot from your helpful advice.

Happy Gardening and Kindest Regards.
WeeNel.