Deformed flowers?

Could this be thrips? I don't have the problem on any other hibs but for the past few days each flower on Blue Bayou has been oddly shaped. This plant is a blooming machine and is never without flowers.

Hi Ardesia,
You may want to mix up a Systemic and pour it in the pot. It may be thrips. Any bud drop?

Thanks Robert. No bud drop even in spite of the sudden and intense heat this past week. I hate to use chemicals but I love this plant; it is always in bloom.

I checked it with a hand lens and can't see anything.

One of it's leaves is spotty. Once again I checked it with a lens and it looks good. The hairy things on the vein are just hairy things, they do not look like spider mite webs. The spots just look like it is losing pigment in those areas. No holes or anything.

It's a puzzlement. :-)

I just found another oddity. Siamese twins on Seventh Heaven.

Any radiation leaks near your house? LOL On your flowers that are a bit deformed--are the buds there for a long time looking ready to open but then take forever to get around to actually opening? I've found sometimes due to weather conditions or other factors some buds take a really long time to open and those flowers are always either a little crispy around the edges or not as nicely shaped as buds that open quickly.

My flowers look like that too. It's definately an adjustment to the heat. Also, some are smaller than normal.

LOL, no radiation leaks although our water does have minute traces of tritium leftover from "past practices" at the Savannah River Site, known locally as the bum (bomb) plant.

you got me puzzled now. I know the heat plays a big roll sometimes. This year mine have not struggled like this yet. I do expect it though.

Heat can do amazing (and horrible) things to hibiscus blooms. I got to check this up close and way too personal one time when a shipment of shade paint for the greenhouse was late arriving. For several days the temperatures inside soared into the 120's even with every door and vent wide open. Almost every variety suffered some sort of crippling of the blooms. Sometimes just really small flowers opened but others were misformed and the colors got weird too. One that did better was Fantasy Charm, a real surprise since she is one of the biggest flowers and not real heavy textured either. Come to think of it, Fantasy Charm opens from a deceptively small bud and maybe that is why it was less effected.

Anyway, my best guess would be heat effect for your Blue Bayous. Thrips are always on the suspect list when flowers behave badly, but there would normally be other thrips signs, too.

Charles

Thanks Charles, it must have been the heat; it hit us quite suddenly this year and the hot nights do not help. It is not normally this hot until August.

All my plant have been moved to the light shade of Live Oaks and Pines.