I need some serious help. I have a nice sized Hibiscus shrub that has, over the last three years, lost all of it's foliage. I get great flower blooms, however the greenery has diminished in size and density over the past few years to what is now a "leafless" little fellow.
I hope someone has some information for me.
That's very weird...what's also weird is that the flowers look like a tropical hibiscus, but there's no way those should survive in Tennessee. Can you give us some more info on how you're watering and fertilizing it, and have there been any signs of insects or disease or anything on the leaves in previous years? Are there any symptoms on the branches/trunk (peeling bark, oozing stuff, dark coloration, anything unusual) Also how much sun does it get? Plants that are under stress will sometimes do a last ditch effort at reproduction if they know they're dying so that could explain why it has flowers but no leaves, but unfortunately that doesn't help narrow the cause down very much. One thing I do notice which may or may not have anything to do with the problem is it looks like you've got a stake attached to the trunk--as the plant grows, the ties and the stake can start to cut into the trunk and that will eventually cause problems. Can't tell if yours is so tight that it could be causing problems already but that's the only thing I can come up with without more info.
My Bad! Sorry = (
This Hibiscus is actually in my Mother-in-laws backyard in San Clemente, CA.
He gets full sun and plenty of water. There has been no noticeable insect activity,, but the bark looks "dry." The stake & ties are removed (there is a small gap between) from the tree.
That would explain why a tropical hibiscus would survive! Thought you might have some miraculous super hardy tropical hibiscus there! LOL Hopefully someone else will have some ideas, bark looking dry doesn't necessarily sound abnormal. Did it used to have leaves and then lost them? Hibiscus are notorious for leaves turning yellow and dropping off in response to any little bit of stress, but then it usually grows new ones. All of mine live in pots, but I've had them drop some leaves if I repot them, if I move them around too much, if I water them a pinch too much, or a pinch too little, or if they had gotten pretty dry and then I give them a good thorough watering. But with those things they rarely drop all their leaves, and even if all the leaves do drop they always grow back...are there any signs of new leaves growing in on her plant? Or I wonder if the proximity to the A/C unit could have anything to do with it? I don't know if the air currents created by the AC running could have an impact or not, but if she uses her AC frequently during the summer that's something else to check into.
The air conditioning is used very little, so I don't believe that would be the issue. The leaves are nonexistent this year. The leaves have basically "receded," similar to a person going bald, over the last few years (3-4 years) from full & dense to none. The flowers are even smaller than "normal."
Appreciate the help.
This article might help you a little..do you know if she ever used melathon?
http://www.dupontnursery.com/cajuncolormagazine.aspx
"eyes"
I could be wrong, but I would think those effects of the oil in Malathion would just affect the leaves in the season it was sprayed, if the plant survived I wouldn't think it would prevent leaves from growing in subsequent years. Could be wrong though!
I also live in Southern California and have had this happen to hibiscus plants. I lost a red hibiscus this spring. It started losing leaves; then branches died back, then the whole plant died; all within two months. In my experience it usually seems to be a result of too much water, which causes root rot. Of course there could be other causes such as white fly or aphids. Root rot is really hard to treat; you could try cutting back on water and pruning the hibiscus to encourage new growth. Good luck.
"plenty of water" could well be the problem. i think, as lorien4 suggested, a good pruning could help and let it dry out. a plant this old and established should not need supplemental watering unless it is a case of extreme drought. it may be that it is just getting old and worn out and will eventually need to be replaced (unlike old gardeners who go on forever) lol.
Actually in California it will need supplemental water--our "normal" rainfall amounts are very low. Southern CA gets about 10 inches or so of annual rainfall (compared to Florida's typical rainfall of anywhere from 50-60 inches or so). So I can 100% guarantee a hibiscus won't survive without supplemental watering. However, it may not need as much supplemental water as it's been getting so it is definitely something worth looking into, but definitely don't tell her to stop watering it altogether.
ah yes, i forgot about your lack of rainfall there in summer. boy, i WISH we got 50-60! we are 8' below normal right now. the past couple of years we've been in drought conditions. finally, this past month we are establishing a more normal pattern of afternoon storms but we have a lot of catching up to do.
Lately out here it's been lack of rainfall pretty much any time of year! LOL This past winter (at least up here by me in northern CA) we got off to a good start on rain, but then the rains stopped months earlier than they usually do so we ended up falling short for the 2nd winter in a row, and of course all the wild areas dried up earlier than usual, so fire season started earlier than usual too. Seems like everyone's either got too much rain or too little, nobody gets just the right amount. Too bad we can't collect it up from the places that have too much and redistribute!
yes, that would be so neat if only we could! my sister in st.louis had 55" in may alone this year. when i lived there many moons ago, that never happened! i hope you, your loved ones and homes are all safe from the fires. i can't imagine anything more frightening (and i've been through hurricanes).
