A regular tree hibiscus

Oh My!!!!!!! What naughty puppies, it is a good thing they are cute. LOL

If it makes you feel any better, we are experiencing a terrible drought right now and the deer are coming more often for the succulent greenery they are not finding in the woods. A few nights ago they discovered hibiscus buds are just the ticket! We were out of town and I had moved my hibs from the deck out to the garden so the irrigation system could keep them watered while we were gone. The dog was in the kennel so there was no stopping them. You get the not so pretty picture. They wiped me out, hitting every plant, even some on my steps. On the upside, I won't have to prune my hibiscus for the rest of the year. :-(

Ardesia, this may sound cruel to many people, but this was the last straw. I took these pups when they were 8 weeks old and someone had dropped them at my house. I have loved them, fed them, given them shots and had them spade and neutered.
My brother has been real upset with me having them anyway because they don't mind me any better than my kids did, and my kids turned out to be responsible adults.
I am 65 and don't have 2 years out of my life to train them...don't even know how anyway. I only had one dalmation and kept her 14 years until she had to be put down. These are just 8 months old and doing what 8 month old pups do!!!! But I am too old for this......A friend is taking them sometime this week and she is young with energy and enthusiasm to train them.
I am a lot more upset about this than my joking indicated as these are not the first two plants they have destroyed.....they have ruined at least half of what I have purchased.......
My daughter in New Braunfels had to put a giant iron fence to keep the deer there out of her back yard. The deer do the same thing only when there is a drought....which we are not having right now

Finding a friend with the energy and time to train these dogs is not cruel at all, it is the most loving and responsible thing anyone could do. I am proud of you.

Send some of that rain our way, OK???

We were in really bad shape about 3 weeks ago as the farmers totally lost their crop last year to a drought.....About a week ago, we got over 2" (some people got up to 10 and 15 inches in some parts of Texas) My brother called it the "million dollar rain for Taft"

Well, maybe you could split that million with us???? LOL

At this point we are ready for pennies and nickles, we are not greedy.

we are soaked in Iowa, the river hasn't went down in over a month.Wet dry wet dry..wet wet..LOL

LOL

Trust me, i don't get any of it!!!!!!!!!! (LOL)
Since I have ardesia and Eclipse on line....I have a trash bag full of what the dogs tore off of my hibiscus.....need to propagate.....please give me your best advice (I have lots of gro-light stands in the house) but I think tropicals do better outside to root in the heat...would you use straight perlite or what kind of mix....I also have rooting hormones and the liquid rooting stuff I could let the cuttings sit in for about 15 minutes before i stick them....how long should the cuttings be???
"You will be my best friend" if you help me......that is what my little grandchildren say about the age of 4!!!!!!
gail

Oh Gail, I am not wonderful at rooting those fancy hybrid hibiscus like the chocolate one. I think the variegated one will root easily for you. I accidentally broke a small piece off mine and I didn't have time to root it so I just stuck it in the pot and it grew.

Straight perlite drains too fast for the heat here, when I do root something I use vermiculite or a mix of vermiculite and potting mix.

Hopefully Kyle will chime in for you.

WE can not use vermiculite at all....the humidity stays close to 100 percent.....everything rots here if we don't watch it......maybe someone who roots hibiscus all the time will come by....thanks

I use vermiculite(100%) under a mist system.you can make 7 inch cuttings,cut the bottoms off at an angle right under a joint, soak for a short time in hormone then stick into the verm. up to 3 inches deep.If you are starting them in pots put the whole pot into a clear plastic bag and keep the top open.put in a shaded area under a tree and cross your fingers.Most will take a few weeks to sprout roots.Or you can root them in a jar of water in a window in the house.

Both ways work.

Kyle :-)

You say use vermiculite also.....I have never in my life used vermiculite to root anything but av leaves in a tight closed container under gro lights>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> have to think about this....I might just go the safe way and root in the house in water!!!!
thanks ladies

LOL, well, I am a she but Eclipse is a he.

sorry, I didn't realize Eclipse all this time was one and the same Kyle.....ok....I know you know how to do it....out comes the vermiculite tomorrow morning.......
sorry about that Kyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gail

I do...
Well I guess I'm going to have to mail the cross vine cutting to ya-- since things didn't work out when last the plans were near the Jungle here.