Complete newbie questions

Hi all,

I'm new to gardening this year, and just delved into the Hibiscus forums today for the first time. All your gorgeous pictures have convinced me I need to have one (or maybe five....)! But, I have lots of questions.

1) Do different cultivars have different requirements, or are all hibiscus fairly similar in terms of size and growing requirements (sun, temps, etc.)?

2) I'm in the southwest Houston area, so sub-tropical (zone 9a). Can hibiscus be planted outdoors here or do they have to be in pots and come inside for the winters?

3) Should I go away until I'm a more experienced gardener before trying hibiscus?

Any help is appreciated!

Valerie

Hi Valerie,

I am in the same zone in Nederland Texas. I will be putting some in the ground next week. Some of the darker cultivars like more shade than sun. Learn the moods of the plant. I suggest keeping them in pots for now so you can see what they like and dislike. If they are in 6" pots go to an 8". I have customers that put theirs in 3 to 5 gallon pots, dig holes and put the pots in the ground. Not completely in, the rim is above ground. If you do this please drill many many holes in the pot so it can DRAIN well. Leaving in the pots allow them to take the plant out of the ground in colder months and protect them in the greenhouse. They fill the holes with pine bark so it will be easy clean out the hole when they want to put them back. The 17 hibi's that I will put in the ground are well established. I also have 2 of them so If 1 dies which I hope they dont, I will have a spare. Practice makes perfect. Hope this helps some.

Robert

I live in zone 9b and find that mine do better if I keep them protected for the winter. Most winters they would survive here without protection, but the one year I left mine out without much protection they took forever to really get going in the spring, vs if I keep them in the greenhouse I had one that bloomed all the way until about Christmas, then took a couple months off but was blooming again by about March. And I had one (in a pot in a somewhat sheltered area) that accidentally spent last winter outside, and we had a really unusual week or two of nights that got into the low 20's and that killed it. But there are lots of variables in climates besides just the temperatures, so I'd trust the experience of someone from TX over mine.

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep thinking about it. I'm not real keen on plants that I have to bring in for the winter, but they sure are pretty....

Do you have a covered patio? I'm in zone 9b too, and we had a terrible plant-killing freeze this past winter, but all my potted hibiscus that were placed near the house under a covered patio did fine. I did the same thing with my plumerias too. About half of what I had planted in the ground died and did not come back.

Yes, my front porch is covered. Perhaps I'll try that.

It is best to keep them on the dry side in the winter. I keep my potted hibiscus in a protected spot out of the wind and rain and they do fine outdoors. The ones I have in the ground are the more common varieties. This year I plan to plant my hybrids and hope they do as well.

LOL Maybe we should warn you here about how addicting hibiscus are. :-))))))

digigirl -

I'm a few miles from you in Alvin, same zone, and I have 11 hibiscus planted all outside in my landscape, all in different lighting. They all do very well and look great. The ones in full sun tend to grow a tiny bit slower and flower a small amount less than the ones that have just a tad bit of shade for about an hour a day. I have many different cultivars, including my favorite, the exotic and delicate hibiscus schizopetalus (see http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/790/), and I take care of all of them the same and they all are doing well. The weather that we are having is perfect for planting new hibiscus, too.

Once planted, make sure you water them once a day for about a minute each, but don't drown them. However, with the rain we've been getting, you don't have to worry about it. Also, make sure that you have 2-3 incches of mulch over the roots, and plant them with a tad bit of fertilizer (Osmocote is perfectly fine) mixed into the soil. These are the easiest plants to me, just plant them and watch them grow!

This past winter, if you remember, we had a good freeze. My 4 hibiscus in the front lost all of their leaves, but they all came right back within 2 weeks and are growing like mad now! Some are in full sun all day long and one is in part shade. They all look great. I usually have 20-30 bloomsper day on them and I do nothing to them! It's breathtaking, and the neighbors all compliment me on them all of the time.

For some additional information on yellow leaves and care, go to http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/care/index.htm

The best thing is you can go to Houston Garden Center and spend about $10-$15 per plant and enjoy watching it grow. If something happens (probably won't), then you haven't lost much. I love these, they are incredible!!

Also no, you shouldn't wait - this is how you get your experience!! I'm a newbie, too, and I started wit hibiscus. Now I'm helping my neighbor and I'm really loving it!!

Also, FYI - if the leaves look wilty and some drop off in the first few weeks after planting, pay no attention. Just keep up the watering (or as in our case, let nature takecare of it), and after 2 weeks or so you'll see your plant really perk up. Sometimes s ome hibiscus go into some sort of shock right after planting them, especially this time of the year. This just happened to my neighbor's, and she bought hers at Home Depot. But now, 2 1/2 weeks later, they are looking lush, very green, the leaves are perky and they're flowering well!! I hope you enjoy this - post pics!!

Thanks Amanda! That's awesome news. Makes me feel much more comfortable to know that someone local has successfully grown them!

I will look and see what wonderful new goodie I can find!

Ardesia - yes, I can see how they would be addicting. As I mentioned, I'm new to gardening this year but already am finding myself obsessed with finding new and more places to put clematis, daylilies and now hibiscus! I think I've already caught it. ;)

OH MY GOODNESS, I know!!! You sound like me!! I've found so many daylilies on eBay that I've purchased and I've got no place for them!! Ha ha ha!! And I actually bought my Hibiscus Schizo from eBay, too. It's performed VERY well!! Try there for plants if you want ... just make sure on the hibiscus that you are getting a good sized plant because when the hibiscus are very small, they take a LONG time to grow. But once they're in 1 gall. pots or so like you'll find at Home Depot or the Houston Garden Center, they will grow well, flower well, and perform very well for you.

The one thing I can recommend against from my own experience - NEEM Oil on your hibiscus. It's an orgranic pest control that is said to be able to be used on all plants. It's about killed the hibiscus that I sprayed it on. Ugh ... I had some whiteflies starting on mine. I've killed those now but also maybe the plant! Oh well ... they'll come right back. That's the great thing about these plants. And if not then I'll spend another $10-$15 to replace it.

I bought some Neem oil a while back, but have never used it. I'm trying to remain organic and preferably just leaving things alone as much as possible. So far (knock on wood) I've been lucky and haven't really had any major problems. I've got a couple of canna that volunteered in my front bed that gotten by snails, but they haven't bothered anything else, so I haven't done anything about them.

I just noticed I think I have some clematis wilt on one of my plants, but that's no surprise with all this rain.

So does anybody have any suggestions for something other than Neem for insect infestations?

FYI - Neem does work well on my Brugmansias and sago palms...

Neem is organic, some people try and avoid all chemicals even organic ones so if you're trying to do that then the best thing I've found is a good strong blast from the hose! But if you're OK using organic sprays, neem would work for you. When I've exhausted my non-chemical options, I'll usually use insecticidal soap instead of neem, but both of them are organic options

Insecticide soap worked for me, much better on the plants, but not as good on the bugs. And pricey!