I've Fallen ....and I can't get up!

Hello Hibbie Pro's -

Can you help me? I am a beginning gardener...and I've found that Hibiscus is my favorite flower! I planted 4 last year. I've added in 2 more this year.

This one (see attached pic) is a new one from this year and produces my most spectacular flower! We planted it early in the season (April?) and it burst open with bloom after bloom.

It took a break for quite a while....a couple months? So a week ago I used some of the bloom fertilizer.

Another factor....in June we had quite a drought. But I tried to keep it watered. Beginning a week ago...we are now having some hard drenching rains....

I can't bear to see this plant fallen over like this! 2 days ago I found it was somewhat fallen over. Now I see it has fallen even more. The rains have been heavy...

This plant is FULL of leaves, and I've noticed quite a few new blooms. I've propped it up with the wire from a street sign....

Can you help me solve this mystery? What should I do? All my other hibbies are doing fine....

Hi 4004, your plant looks health, probably the soil got loose around the base of your plant do to rain and the weight of the plant pull it down. I had similar problem with one plant so I got a big rock and placed it at the base of the plant pushing it the other way without hurting the plant while the soil settles around it and plant has more roots to support it.

Don't use super bloom fertilizers high in phosphorus on hibs, its like poison to them, it makes them week and produce less bloom and over time it will kill them, use a high potassium fertilizer like Miracle Grow general purpose 24-8-16 fertilizer, it help s the plant have a starrier stronger center branch, more blooms, bigger more colorful blooms.

Wilfred

The plant looks quite healthy to me. I have a few that have flopped at some point. I just prop them up and use a garden stake to hold them up. Usually in a few months the issue corrects itself.

Thank you both so much! DH said he planted it high to have drainage....so he'll go look at it tomorrow to see if the soil is loose around the base....

I just looked at what I fertilized it with...it is called "Vigoro Blossom Builder" 10/52/10: 10% Nitrogen, 52% available Phosphate, 10% soluble potash, .02% boron, .05% copper, .15% iron, .95% manganese....

I'm hoping you don't tell me that phospate = phosphorus...however they do sound TOO much alike....

Since It's still healthy looking...I'll hope it makes it through. I staked it a bit better today. We had more drenching rain today...really hard hitting....

Again - Thank you SO much for your help...

Mary

You're welcome Mary. If it still lose just perk it up some way. The fertilizer (10/52/10) doesn't sound quite right for hibiscus. I have 3 hibiscus fertilizers that are labeled hibiscus fertilzers that are used. I looked at the components on each container and the numbers are the following: (24-8-16) (18-6-8) (18-5-23). I also sometimes use Miracle Gro which is (24-8-16). As you can see the common theme is a lower 2nd (phosphate) number. I would simply let things be for now rather then adding more fertilizer and overfertilizing it. If its a slow release pellet type fertlizer you could possibly remove most of it since it probably hasnt broken down yet. The next time you need to fertilize you might want to consider one with a lower phosphorus (2nd) number. Hope this info is helpful.

Jon

Jon and Wilfred are correct about the fertilizer numbers. It is also important to remember that some hibiscus are just floppy plants. Not all of them are upright growers. You mentioned this one had extraordinary flowers; it is possible it was bred for the flowers at the expense of the growth habit. Keep doing what you are doing and I'll bet everything will turn out fine.

Hopefully the hard drenching rains you are having will wash all that extra fertilizer out of the soil.

Good advice everyone. 1 question. Do you have gutters or is the rain draining from the roof straight down on them? If it does fall directly off the roof it will be hard to correct your problem completely since the force of the water falling will continue to beat at them down.

Robert

Oh you smarty pants; I forgot about that one. It makes perfect sense since they were having a drought until recently.

I thought about that also Robert. When I started tearing up the yard here two years ago and planting things I had to stop and have gutters put in. The rain wasn't a problem most of the time, but when it really poured it did some major erosion in two separate areas out front. It was washing away so much freshly laid and disturbed soil it looked horrible. I had to stop and correct the water flow problems and I'm sure glad I did. What a mess it created on two separate occasions.

Thank you ALL Of you!

RE: The fertilizer....yup....looks like I did a "no-no" with that one. I will definitely leave the poor thing alone.

Like pp said...it has beautiful leaves and plenty of them...it looks so healthy...just flopped over....but I've had it propped up since first posting...it doesn't look any worse for the wear...

And Pizonne is correct ...it is next to the house ....I'll have to look when it rains heavy...very likely it's beating down on the poor thing.

I had another HIbby near a fence/palms that over wintered even though we are 8B so was hoping planting it next to the house...it would be protected...more of a 9A....and make it through the winter...

Yes - Ardesia - this was a particularly spectacular bloom....RIght again....I'll try to post a pic...

You guys are the greatest... I will 1) leave it alone RE: fertilzer ....2) watch the roof / possible gutters installed if that's the case 3) leave it propped up. Let me know if there is anything else I should do!

Thanks,
Mary

Hi Mary

We all make some mistakes so I wouldn't worry about it. At least you only did it one time so I'm sure it will be fine. When you are expecting a cold night in the 30's this upcoming winter try to get out there and water it very well in the daytime. The plant will soak up that water and the extra water will help the plant minimize any frost/freeze damage. It's kind of like the same concept when you see them spraying the citrus groves in Florida right before a frost or a freeze to save the fruit/trees.
I like the bloom you have posted. Do you know the name of the variety? I was thinking perhaps it's named Hibiscus "Evangeline". That's my best guess.
Jon

Hey Jon -

Thanks for the tip! I can't remember the name....shame on me...I think it's from Dupont? Cajun - something maybe....but I might be imagining that...

When it bloomed it was actually more beautiful than the pic shows....it would start out more lavendar/pink...but the middle would fade a bit in the hot sun...

Maybe it is Evangeline....that's a Louisiana type name.... I loved the play... :)

Thanks again,

Mary

You're welcome Mary. It's probably Hibiscus "Evangeline" which is a Cajun Hibiscus from Dupont Nursery.

I wouldn't know the name but I sure like it also. Very pretty!

Thanks a bunch!

It's still propped up....

So Far So Good..... :)

I too am in 8b and we get some really cold nights in the winter as I am inland a bit, maybe even 8A. A few years ago I decided I had gotten my money's worth from my plants that could not survive the cold nights and planted them in the ground. I put a thick (1 foot) mulch of pine straw around them in the fall before the first freeze and don't do any pruning after August. I also put blankets over them any night it is going to drop into the 40s. My hibiscus plants usually get killed to the ground by the time we have our last freeze but once the weather warms up, they all come back. I have 5 tropical hibiscus plants and have not lost any to the cold so far. They usually only get 3 to 4 feet tall due to having to regrow from the roots up, but the grow and bloom great, so as long as you mulch good your plants should be ok. The also seem to do much better and need less water during the summer when I leave the mulch in place.

I had some pretty severe foliage damage on quite a few here in Ft Lauderdale on one night in Feb 2008 when it was in the mid 30's and the plants were on the dry side. We had two nights in the low 30's this past winter and no damage on the plants that were well watered in the daytime prior to those cold nights.
There's year round mulch around my plants here also. I even place small sized potting bark on the top of the soil in the potted plants. It's allowed me to be able to go 3 days, even in the summer, between waterings. The exception to that would be hibiscus in a 6 inch pot or smaller. It's generally every two days in the summer on consecutive rain free days. The smaller pots just dry out faster.
Jon

wow cmsjjdr, what a thought to do that. Our ground rarely freezes anymore, but we do get down to 0 degrees one or 2 times a yr. Might be worth trying, I love when I can cheat the zone map! Pine straw, huh?

LOL Debbie. I think that is WAY stretching the zone map!!! I think those occasional zero degree nights won't work out too well.

Jon, I wouldn't be so surprised if she did get those temp. two years ago we had record low for a tropical island, went all the way down to 34*F, lots of people were joking that all we needed was 2*F more to get snow, that would have been a first for us in this nice warm climate of ours. Thank God mother nature retaught what she was doing and decided to make it warmer again.

Wilfred

We get an occasional night in the winter when it gets into the 30's and not every winter. I think the coldest its been here since I moved here in 1990 was one night this February when it was 33 or 34 degrees. The last time it snowed here was in 1977. It was only snow flurries.

My plants have survived lows into the teens, but like I said it is the root system that survives. I think as long as you have a good healthy root system and mulch it well you have a good chance of survival. I must add though, when the temp has gone really low it is never for very long and even in the coldest winters it will usually get back into the 50s during the day. With good mulch the ground temp probably does not get close to as low as the air temp and that is probably what saves my plants. Due to the die back they never get really tall though. My mom who's house is only about 10 miles from me, but only a couple of blocks from the bay, never does anything to protect her hibiscus. She has a plant that I took a piece of that is 7 feet tall. The same plant here does good to get three or four feet tall at my house because we get much colder away from the water.

I have found that they will take cold nights and some freezing temps when mulched.

However, if there is any sustained freezing temps like we get in N. TX, it will freeze down the trunk to the top of the root system, and seldom come back even with inches of hardwood mulch. Usually I buy the cheap common ones on sale and treat them as annuals.

This year I splurged and bought some nice small Dupont Cajun starters. They will come out of the ground and get potted up this fall.

Thanks for the advice! Here is my "Fallen over" hibby...with the latest spectacular bloom...it's an anomaly....with the center producing a petal of sorts...

Nice bloom Mary. It looks like hibiscus "Rum Runner" to me.

Jon

Not Evangeline?

No, I don't think it's Evangeline. That one is more yellowish in color. Pretty sure its Rum Runner because I have Rum Runner.

Glad to see your gorgeous hibs are doing well and blooming so nicely, Please post more photos of them for us, love seeing them.

Wilfred

Here is another picture....the bloom looks quite different....it might be the lighting or perhaps my camera...

I also notice that it fades and looks more yellow as the day wears on....

I would like to know what kind it is.......especially since I told someone it was Evangeline....

:)

Mary

Hi Mary

I have Rum Runner and I used to have Evangeline. Evangeline I don't recall ever opening up pink/red in color. Rum Runner goes through the color change reflected in your two photos. The first photo was probably taken late morning and the second photo was taken in the evening?

Jon

What I have noticed with the Cajun hibs I have, is how quickly the colors fade from first opening up to evening. They're knockout beautiful in the A.M., and go to "those are really nice" by the P.M.

Even in a matter of a few hours mine lose the brightness. I hear that in cooler temps the color holds better. So I would guess that accurate naming is perhaps best done with early morning pics.

I guess it comes down to personal preferences in colors Mary. There are many hibiscus that fade during the day and there are some that don't fade much at all. They do fade faster in hot weather. Cooler temperatures will bring you some real vivid colors. Cool temperatures will also surprise you with some varieties. It is very common to have blooms stay open several days in cooler weather instead of just one day during the summer heat.
Jon

I love the changeable colors. I am not sure if it is actually fading or a reaction to changing tempertaures and light.

Spectacular Red Beans and Rice hib this morning.

That's a cool bloom with the speckles. That must be the "rice" part

Judy, I have both Evangeline and Rum Runner and yours sure looks like my Rum Runner. Here is a picture of my Evangeline. It never had the red color shown in your picture.

This message was edited Aug 2, 2009 11:49 AM

Here is a picture of my Rum Runner. Both these blooms are on the same plant, the faded one is two days old and the pink one is just opening. Hope that helps.

d

I guess it is Rum Runner - because it sure does look like your picture there....

And yes to PP....the pinkish bloom photo was taken earlier in the day than the yellow picture....

we've had some REALLY hot days this summer particularly in June during the drought...and the blooms have only lasted a day...

So hopefully when it cools down...they will last longer...

My poor hibbie is still propped up.....but it looks fine and is giving me a gorgeous bloom about once a week...

Thanks to all!

Mary