Tropical Hibiscus Seedling Help

Arlington, TX

I started growing this seedling in July 2015 and it has not grown much since then. I have transplanted it outdoors into a larger 4" pot back in September, but when it did not grow I planted it into the pot it is in now. It currently resides on my kitchen windowsill. I water it about once a week or less when the soil is dry, and I give it a little MiracleGro occasionally, but not consistently. I do not understand why it is not growing. I grew some "Confederate Rose" hibiscuses from seed over the summer as well with no problems. I just cannot seem to get this one to grow. In fact, I just visited a website about growing tropical hibiscus from seed and mine is the equivalent of a 14 day old seedling, not the size of a 6 month seedling/plant that it should be. If anyone can provide me with some advice on how to overcome the growth deficiency, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thumbnail by jenluce Thumbnail by jenluce
Reno, NV(Zone 6b)

My thought is that transplanting it 3 times has caused some stress. And, as its a tropical Hibiscus, not a hardy hibiscus, it needs more water.

Bay City, MI(Zone 6a)

If you avoid over-watering and over-fertilizing, it will likely start to take off after the vernal equinox and come into it's own around Memorial Day. Never use a Bloom Booster or 1:1:1 ratio fertilizer on Hibs - they don't tolerate Phosphorous well. Fertilizers with RATIOS of something like 3:1:3 or 3:1:4 are best for this plant. There is a difference between fertilizer RATIOS and NPK %s. 18-6-18 would be a 3:1:3 ratio, and 12-4-16 would be a 3:1:4 ratio. To keep things simple, and since I use Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 and almost all my plants, I add the extra K the plant likes by using the 9-3-6 plus a little ProTeKt 0-0-3, which also provides silicon in opalene form, which can significantly improve plant performance.

Al

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