question about falling blooms...

Hi folks,
I have another newbie question...
Is there a common reason as to why my new blooms keep falling off before they open?
I have a huge Hibiscus that I transplanted in the Spring...I wasn't sure I would get any blooms at all this year...but it survived the move great, thanks to all of your advice...

I was so excited to see dozens of buds forming on the bush several days ago...But every morning when I check on their progress, they're laying on the ground unopened, after falling off...It is an otherwise thriving plant...Green, full, healthy, lovely! But no opened blooms yet...

Is this common with the first blooms of the season? Or could something else be wrong?

Thanks for any advice/guidance...

abl

When you transplant things, they need to put their energy into getting their roots established, and sometimes this doesn't leave enough energy for flowers (and the plant is probably better off in the long run if you let it develop its roots this year rather than blooming). Hibiscus will also drop buds and sometimes leaves when you move them, but since these buds didn't form until after the move, I think it's because it's putting energy into roots.

thanks ecrane...
so then i guess it takes additional energy to actually open the bloom and keep it on the plant?

i was so disappointed because the buds are EVERYWHERE, i can even see their little color peeking out through the closed bloom...then the next morning, they're always littering the ground beneath the plant...

oh well, i guess i should just be happy that it survived the transplant so wonderfully and it's so huge and green and healthy looking...maybe next year!

Your season is long and I suspect you will eventually see plenty of flowers this year. Just let it catch it's breath.

I guess the other possibility is that if you have a lot of wind, or animals coming by during the night and brushing up against it that could knock them off--hibiscus buds can get knocked off pretty easily in my experience. But I think if there are lots of them and they're all falling off it's more likely that it's just trying to reestablish itself and doesn't have the energy for flowers right now.

There is also a mite that lives inside the bloom while it is a developing bud. As the bud matures, the bottom (from the inside) is almost dead. If you see a yellowing stem at the base of the bud, before it falls off, you may want to try a systemic (which goes through the roots and veins of the plant and works from the inside out. Many times spraying from the outside won't work. Our county extension guy here said sometimes if you cut off a few buds and put them inside a sealed ziploc bag, you will see the bugs come out in a few days, but they are very very small.

Ours is caused by extreme heat and humidity, causes many buds to drop.

Hi Marie, one of my cultivars (Time for Magic) has done the same thing - lots of buds, and each time they fall off :-( Although I'm disappointed, the plant has been growing very well, and I'm sure I'll see buds that actually open soon. I think (at least for me), some cultivars are more susceptible to this than others.

Also, I don't know if you guys in Texas are experiencing the same super-heatwave like we are here in So Cal (105 today - so gross!), but that causes bud drop too. The baking heat makes me melt, and I think it does the same to my little buds sometimes ;-)

karen

Hi Abl and hibiscus friends,
I too have been going thru an excessive amount of bud drop lately. :~(
I found the reason to be small worms in the developing buds.
If you dissect your fallen or yellowing buds, look for a little white or yellowish worm.
If you have these, you need to start collecting ALL of your dropped buds and flowers
and seal them in a ziplock baggie and dispose of them. This will eventually stop their life cycle. I will put a couple of links up for this particular critter.
http://mrec.ifas.ufl.edu/lso/pestalrt/midgefin1.htm
http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/g.midge.html

I hope this helps...

Dave


This message was edited Jul 12, 2007 12:04 AM

Dave....I agree with what you are saying....it seems to be a very common problem with hibiscus buds.

Wow...thanks Dave...I'll have to do a little exploring on my fallen buds to see if that's the problem...BTW, I have had a few recently open and remain open for a couple of days...But still, the majority are on the ground every day...I just assumed that it was because of the recent transplant, but I think I'll poke around in them and see if I might have "the worm"...

Thanks for the heads up!

THANK YOU DAVE!!!
I've had an unusual amount of bud drop lately. I'm not getting it with my older varieties, just the new plants I ordered this year.
I found some buds and cut them open...sure enough...small larvae just like the ones pictured in the article you posted.
I have plenty of work to get rid of these guys, as I purchased at least twenty new plants in the last few months.
Really appreciate your input. Thank again.

Thanks for the thanks,
As nice as it is to receive large plants full of flowers, I may now start removing all buds that come on new plants, and quarantine them until I'm sure they're free of pests.
MerryMary mentions using a systemic might work on them, I may go to that if my bud collecting isn't enough to do the job. Another trick may be to prune back everything, as that will stop new buds from forming for a few months.Oh well, at least I know what I'm up against now...

Yeah...I'm going to remove all buds, prune and bombard with both spray and systemic.
These fellows rode in on plants purchased lately. Hope I catch all of this infestation before Fall.

I've got some of these thugs this year too and I don't have any new hibiscus (waaaaaa)and all my plants were pruned heavily in late winter. I am watching the buds carefully and plucking off those that look like they might have a problem but I have probably not been as careful as I should have been in disposing of them. New and improved hibiscus hygiene starts today.

holy cow, i have them too!
i have no idea on how to get rid of these...i'm new to hibiscus and gardening in general...
any pointers?

Abl, I'm giving all my hibs haircuts today.I will have to give up some blooms for a while,
but hopefully it will be worth it in the end. My worm critters seem to have only been in my greenhouse so far, none have been found in my large garden varieties around my house.I'm still going to prune everything I got in my yard.If this doesn't work I will then try some of the chemical methods mentioned above.

Ditto here Dave. I just hope these guys don't get into the wood! Lordy Lordy!

Well, I think I've figured out why Time for Magic kept losing buds. In addition to the plant growing and rooting, it appears that the blooms on this cultivar are quite heavy. I had a new bloom both yesterday and today, and there are quite a few more buds readying themselves. Hopefully the strength of the stems will grow proportionately to the blooms.

Here's my first bloom pic. Darned grasshoppers appear to also like this hibiscus ;-)

karen

dave,
so how much of a "haircut" do you think it will need?
mine are pretty large bushes(they were already established when we moved here) with TONS of buds (always unopened of course)...

do you recommend i cut back a certain "percentage" of the size?
then i should bag up and dispose of the cuttings so that they can't affect any other plants right?

so do these worms find their way into the buds/blooms after the buds form? or are they already within the plant living in other parts?

should i be concentrating on cutting back the stems with the buds only?

thanks for your advice!
-abl

Abl, I just cut off all of the flowers and buds that were on my plants. I also cut back the growing tips without flowers.
I probably cut back 10 to 30 percent depending on the size of the bush.(Less pruning for the small ones)
I then raked and bagged all fallen buds and plant trimmings.Since the life cycle of this pest appears to be 28 days,
I'm hoping that two months without a suitable egg laying site will stop it from reproducing anymore.
It can also lay eggs in the flowers of certain kinds of orchids, jasmines, plumerias and tomatoes.
From what I understand, they dont live in the wood or other parts of the plant.

Good luck,
Dave

dave,
thanks for the very specific advice...i have a huge plumeria in the other part of the yard that is just now starting to bloom...man, i hope they don't pop up there...do they find other plants in the area? or only close by? how do they "get around" so-to-speak...

i will work on my hibiscus this weekend...thanks again...

-abl

I'm at it too. Hopefully, we'll all beat this thing.

Heres another link from Hawaii that has a little more info, as well as some pictures of the various kinds bloom damage. http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/kbase/crop/Type/bloss_midgei.htm

Thanks again, Dave.