hi. when i purchase my hibiscus from the nursery, the leaves are beautiful and deep glossy green. they look quite healthy that way. but once they're planted, the leaves lighten to a more yellow green and they lose that shine. this has happened to all of my hibiscus within a month or so of planting. they grow fine and quickly as well as put out many blooms. but i'm wondering if the leaves are a sign of a soil problem. does anyone know what this could be? thanks.
Hibiscus Leaves
Are the leaves yellow with green veins, or do they turn completely yellow? Yellow with green veins is a symptom of chlorosis, applying iron will fix this (or sometimes just fertilizing in general...although I would let them settle in for a month or two before you fertlize them). If the leaves are turning yellow, hibiscus can be a bit temperamental when you change their conditions, so they'll sometimes do that with transplanting, big temperature swings, letting them dry out too much in between waterings, etc but there's no permanent damage done and they always bounce back.
thanks for the response. the leaves don't turn yellow with green veins, but i will keep an eye out for that. i think it might be the water problem, because i usually let rain do the watering after the first couple of weeks, and it only time the rain is dependable is in summer. still, the leaves aren't green and vivid in summer, but i'm thinking maybe the rain also washes away the nutrients etc. - this fertilizer says it contains iron and potassium and is labeled for palms, ixoras, and ornamentals/tropicals. would you recommend getting it? thanks
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100011744/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
That fertilizer is probably OK. The trick with hibiscus is that they don't like a lot of phosphorus so you want to avoid fert's with a high middle number.
avoid high middle number, got it! they seem so carefree i guess i ignore their specific needs sometimes. i try to retain as much info, i'm pretty young so i don't want to waste any amount of information i could be learning. thanks for your help.