I don't know a lot about hibiscus, but I love them. I have a dark pink one and it is marvelous. Lovely dark green jagged leaves. Anyway, sometimes a bud comes out and just before it opens to a bloom, it falls off. Anyone know why? Here is a picture of a bloom that didn't fall off.
Thanks,
Michelle
I was having the same problem with my buds on my Co-op liners that I purchased. I sent an e-mail to Carol Howard (she is the one that sold the liners to us) and asked her what was causing the bud drop, and the following is what she send back to me:
"There could be several different problems with this. Consistent water
levels is one - if the soil dried out too much at a point when the bud
was in the growing stage that could have done it. Thrips are a little
bugger that you can't see but will cause buds to drop. You will need
to find a safe insecticide for thrips with the plants being indoors.
Not enough light can cause them to drop as well as change in
temperatures. Too high of a nitrogen level fertilizer can do the same
thing. "
Newatplants I hope this will help you. The flower you are showing is really a nice color, do you know what the name of it is?
Hi 2pug, thanks for the info. I may have let it dry out too much before watering it. I have it outside and it gets full sun...that is full TEXAS sun. Thrips? what in the world are those? I had whitefly on a hibiscus last year that made all the buds fall off. This one has no sign of whitefly, thank goodness. I'm not sure what kind this hibiscus is. It came with a generic "Pink Hibiscus" marker on it with no further info. Isn't there a lot of Nitrogen in Miracle-gro? I've used it twice on it...maybe too much? I know that I can't use it very often on my tomato plants or else the blooms will drop for sure. Matter of fact, I have stopped feeding my maters and they are finally beginning to keep their blooms and I have 2 small green maters forming.
I really like the color of the bloom too. The one I had that died b/c of my over insecticiding the whitefly was a red throated golden hibiscus and it was gorgeous.
I think I'll google thrips and see what it is.
Thanks again!
Michelle
2pug, here is some info on thrips in case you wanted it. Pretty gross little devils...and destructive. I'll have to look closely at my hibiscus and see what the deal is. thanks! Michelle
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/hortcrops/english/thrips.html
I have also been told that on your hibiscus you want to use a low middle # when feeding. Something like 18-10-28, it doesn't have to be the exact #'s but keep the middle # low. I was told that MG can burn your roots on hibiscus, but I'm not an authority expert, this is just what I pick up from the people that grow them.
Ah, I see. Okay, thanks! I'm totally lame when it comes to fertilizer and whatnot. Before I started gardening, I didn't even know plants needed food...only water. how silly is that?
It not silly at all. I never did any gardening to speak of until I retired. I only had house plants. I always used the Miracle Grow liquid and used so many drops in a gallon jug and watered once a week every Sat. morning. I thought the fertilizer was liquid sunshine. Because the plants were in the house all the time it needed the miracle grow liquid to take the place of being in the sun. Now how lame (dumb, stupid) would you call me. I have learned so much since I became a member of Dave's Garden its not even funny. I still ask some of the dumbest questions. But that is how we learn.
Linda
This message was edited Jun 8, 2005 12:25 PM
