dropping buds

I have a "Hot Tamale" tropical or exotic hibiscus. I have found unopened buds on the ground a few times. I have fertilized it with 19-5-10 granular fertilizer. When buds snap off like that, is this perhaps a characteristic of the plant or a symptom of something? The blooms are quite large but infrequent, and the last one was significantly smaller than the earlier blooms.I am thinking I just didn't choose a good cultivar, if that's the right word. Opinions?

I don't know personally of it being a bad cultivar if it drops the buds - sounds more like it's a problem with pests - thrips are famous for causing bud drop. You need to carefully investigate the dropped buds - thrips are very very small & thin - hard to spot. Here's a link to hvh that has a really good explaination of the different pests and how to get rid of them: http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/care/pests.htm

Thrips are one possibility but there are a couple of other things that come to mind also. It has been unbearably hot recently. Has your plant accidently become too dry at any point; even for just a few hours? That can shock a plant into dropping it's buds as can too much water.

Another thought is the granular fertilizer. It is very easy to burn a plant in a container with dry fertilizer. The moisture level has to be perfect to sucessfully use that. If your plant is in the ground it should be fine with it however.

Good luck.

This hibiscus is in the ground. It's possible that it got too dry, but also possible it got too wet. I planted all my hibiscus in March and have watered just about every day. The high and constant wind dries things out so much.
The buds have not got very big, nor changed color. There have not been very many buds anyway. The next time a bud drops, I'll check for thrips.
Thanks for the link. That was interesting to read.

I agree, insects and/or cultural issues are the most likely suspect. But buds are fairly fragile and easily knocked off, so if you've been having lots of wind that could knock the buds off too, I've lost buds to wind gusts before.

No dropped buds on the other hibiscus plants. It's a thought, though. I'm going to have to investigate the bug possibility, too. Thanks to all!