I have two tropical hibiscus that I want to keep. One is two yrs. old now, and did well last year in spite of my having to do battle with white flies (yuck) the other is Hibiscus Sinensis "Variegata" and it has gotten to be about 2' this year in a container. They have both had a good summer and have grown a lot. Should I cut them back at all? What light would they prefer? Last winter I housed the yellow bloomer in my south facing sun room, until white flies appeared. Grrr Said sunroom is near capacity, every fall I am challenged with fitting all my containers back in the house! I am planning on doing a spraying for insects before the cross the threshold too. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks
I have read that they should be pruned sometime between August-October since they bloom on new shoots. You could do that before bringing them in, they might fit the space available then. They need bright sunshine for several hours a day and lots of warmth, being tropical plants. Don't let them sit in a cold drafty area though, that can kill them since they are not frost tolerant.
Hi Kay, I am in the same boat. I have a tropical hibiscus that I over wintered last year. It lost a lot of leaves in a very spectacular way (I was unexpectantly out of town and my teen son missed it with the watering can) I pruned it and was able to bring it back but it did not bloom at all this summer. It is big & beautiful, but no flowers! I will be interested to hear of your two this year. I think I will prune mine back now to compensate for the drop in sun as I move it indoors.
I live in FL. and have hibiscus outside, and for insects I use Triazcide, made by Spectracide. And they like the morning sun. And they do not like wet feet in otherwords too much water.
We moved several big plants into the garage last night, as temps dipped down to 36°F overnight. Brrr The Hibiscus are actually bigger than I first thought. More like 4 feet tall and 3 wide. I think I will take your advice Toni, and do some pruning. Yesterday, I applied a systemic. I really do not want to deal with those whiteflies again! They will be quarrantined in the sunny laundryroom.
The article I read a while ago recommended cutting them back by 1/3 to 1/2,,,and taking out the weak stems and side shoots.
I have acquired 7 hibiscus.They are in the shed now waiting to be thoroughly washed & pruned.They grew huge what with all the heat we had.Sad to say they are not all coming back inside.Don't know a soul who has the proper conditions to keep them. THe whiteflies didn't bother them other years in my greenhouse but we had such an onslaught of them on the whole place this summer.I think they came from the bean fields around.They probably have some larvae on them that is hard to get all of them GRRR! sNs
Yea there were some whiteflies in parts of my garden- especially around the tomato plants. I had to spray the Hibiscus a few times. I also used a systemic.
