PlantFiles: Tropical Hibiscus
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

I love my hibiscus! My mother gave me a small specimen about 5 years ago...I keep it in a large terra cotta pot, it spends the summers outside and winters in front of my largest south facing window (we live in the northeast). I have never changed the soil (sandy, gravelly and loamy) and it just flowers just about non-stop all year long. I have to keep pruning it so it doesn't get too large (I try to keep it about 4"), but everytime the blooms go away and I think I can trim it, it starts to set flower buds again! This is a favorite in my house, especially when it flowers in the gloomy, dead of winter! In the winter, I let it dry thoroughly between waterings and try to keep it moist in the summer.

I have had a Tropical Hibiscus growing indoors in a northwest corner window for two years. The first summer, it bloomed continually. Each flower lasted only a day, but there were usually several buds or blooms coming all the time. Last summer, it didn't bloom at all. It did put on lots of leaves. During the winter, it just sits there. Now, in March, it is beginning to put on some new leaves. I think it doesn't get enough light. My plan is to put it in a larger pot and set it outdoors for the summer. In my climate zone (9) it will freeze to the ground, and in a really cold winter, the roots will die also. So I will have to bring it in for the winter.

Struggled to keep a peach-orange colored one alive this summer in a full sun exposure here in AZ. Finally just shriveled up and died but right next to it a red variety was thriving. Had a friend tell me she had the same problem having better luck with red in full sun. Orange and yellows can't seem to take the dry heat as well. Beautiful though.

There are so much varieties out there, it's a topics of it's own.Here in Mauritius it grows marvelously and flowers all year round. There are many grafted and hybridised sold in nurseries. Here it is also called Hibiscus of Hawaii (single one ) , because there are also other double or triple flowers variety which are popular.Hibiscus in general are very easy to grow and almost care free.

This time of year there are tons of them at Home Depot (here in NC), and priced low!

Where do you buy these plants? I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida so they should be easy to find, but before I search all over where can I for sure buy them?

Lovely Plants, and easy care. These don't like to be dried, so keep them moist, but no 'wet feet'.

Davelodi; your plant (in a pot?), maybe dehydrated, give it a good drink. Let the water run off, then repeated if needed to saturate the root system. Prun them back, if need. Just above a node (like roses, etc.). Or try to air-layer the leggy growth into new plants.

I bought six plants last spring to early summer. Living near Sacramento, Ca. I knew it was would be tough this winter. To date the leaves have all died back. I really liked them and I hope they come back this spring. I'll find out in a couple of months.

Old varieties do well in our alkaline soils with good mulching and a solid fertilizer program. The latest problem with hibiscus is a bit unusual - iguanas love the flowers and leaves. They can strip a small plant in a matter of minutes.

here in hilton head island and bluffton, sc, the tropical hibiscus does very well in the spring through fall out in the yard and planted in the ground, but will die back to the main stems and sometimes all the way to the ground, but quickly comes back in the spring. if it is planted next to the house or in some other warmer microclimate it will almost always be just fine, but it will usually not flower in the winter.

I garden for enjoyment and butterflies. There is a hidden danger with the Chinese Hibiscus most are not aware of. I discovered through a personal experience last year my red, yellow and pink hibiscus are larve plants for the Io Moth caterpillar.
There are four major "stinging" caterpillars occurring in Florida. The Io moth caterpillar is rated the third worst sting.
These caterpillars do not possess stingers, but have spines that are connected to poison glands. All you need to do is touch one and you are in trouble. I have personally experienced the sting and it’s as bad a sting as I have ever felt. It is worse than a bee’s sting.
I was not looking for caterpillars in the hibiscus I was trimming as none of the leaves indicated anything was feeding on them. I was totally surprised to be stung and stung so severe.
They attach themselves to the underside of the leaf. These caterpillars feed on the leaves, but don't do much damage. Usually I have found (since I started looking) just a small semi circle near the end of the leaf chewed out. This is as an indicator the Io Moth is in that plant. A simple touch or accidental rub against the caterpillar will yield a sting.
The caterpillar is about an inch to an inch and a quarter long when mature. It's bright green, almost Chartreuse, with a red and white stripe along the side of the body from it's head to it's end. Should you see any of the caterpilars, you will (if you look for them) see the Io Moth. This is a spectacular moth which gets quite large. However as with most moths, it only comes out at night. They can have a wingspan to over four inches. The Io moth, named for a character in Greek mythology, has a very obvious black eyespot on each hindwing. Males are golden yellow in color, but females are more brown. If you experience these caterpillars, and are into sitting in your garden during the pleasant spring through fall evenings, you might consider hanging a not too intense small light on a pole within easy viewing distance so you can see them if they are present. They have three to four (or more) flights per season. They are worth looking for.

I had a beautiful hibiscus I purchased as a house plant eight years ago and kept it on my (enclosed) back porch in winter and would put it out when it turned warm in spring (zone 5). As someone else states earlier, I potted and repotted until it was in a pot that was just able to be moved. I kept the branches trimmed so I could fit it into the same corner each year.

Each early fall when brought it inside the leaves would turn yellow, fall off and be replaced by fresh green (indoor) leaves. I was told by the nurseryman that this was normal and the leaves change when the amount of sun changes for them. Over winter towards spring, the leaves would all fall off again - especially if I neglected to water it once every few days. But leaves or not, it would bloom. And when I put it outside in spring it would change it's leaves again. And it loved being outside all summer. It would be covered with blooms! I always sat it where the rain coming off the roof would hit the pot. Otherwise, it needed to be watered about every other day.

This was a wonderful plant, but this year because I'm getting older and am tired of moving it in and out, and cleaning up dead leaves, I donated it to our plant auction. I'll miss it a bit - the flowers were wonderful, especially in winter, but it just got too cumbersome and too much work.

I am experiencing yellow leaves, but I know I haven't overwatered. I have three plants that are starting to look leggy--defoliated, however, the flowers still bloom beautifully daily. I asked the nursery where they were purchased, and they said theirs had the same problem, but didn't know what was happening.

When we moved back to TX in '98, our friends gave us a beautiful red Hibiscus as a house warming gift. It was growing in a 5 gallon pot, I was instructed to cut it back and take it in during the winter. I still have this plant; the stems on it are about +/- 2" thick. I prune when needed, I do not allow it to grow pass 5’ and I've root pruned it every other year as a result, I have been able to keep it in the same 10 gallon square pot for 6 years now. I have since acquired a double white one by accident. When I bought my white one, it had loads of buds, since it was in with yellow ones I had assumed it would bloom yellow flowers, I was pleasantly surprise to get double white flowers. Last year, I bought a small cutting which had a dead yellow bloom that was growing in a 4" pot. The plant was in the discard bin and marked down to 99 cents. That plant is now growing in a large azalea pot; it is a bushy 2' plant that is constantly covered with blooms. I guess it is rewarding me for rescuing it from the dumpster. I love Hibiscus; they add a pop of color to my garden.

I purchased a tropical hibiscus plant one month ago. The blooms are small and red, quite common, but the real show was the foliage. The leaves were varigated, white, green, red! The plant is on my deck, and receives very little direct sun. The leaves do not look as robust now as when I first brought it home. They have grown quite large, so I assume that it is still healthy, but the new leaves no longer have that beautiful red lining. I am in the Caribbean. I think the conditions at my home are similar to those at the shop I found it, except that it receives more water now and perhaps less sun. I want the little red leaves back!

Here in San Diego, CA, I have a half dozen varieties of hibiscus growing in my garden, including the very delicate Hibiscus schizopetalus. All of the blossoms last from two to four days with no special care like spraying with water, etc. They all grew from cuttings and are in the ground with only minimal fertilizer. Perhaps it is the even, mild climate here and the fact that they are not exotic hybrids that gives the flowers their longevity. WalterT.

The hibiscus flower unfortunately does open for just one day. The temperature has nothing to do with it. When our hibiscuses were young plants, we had the same problem of only one bloom at a time but not now. My suggestion is when you have more blooms open, cut some, bring them in & float them in a swallow glass bowl. You will be able to enjoy them inside. We have several colors in our yard and there is beautiful when all in bloom.

It is the nature of the hibiscus plant for the blooms to open for just one day.

I live in Zone 6 and just recently purchased a tropical hibiscus. It appears healthy with dark, glossy green leaves and beautiful flowers. However, there is only one flower open at a time with quite a few other buds still developing. My problem is that the flower is open only for one day; it closes that night never to open again. This has happened in very hot weather (80's -it's on my deck in a container with sun most of the day) and in cooler weather (60's and cloudy). We've had a lot of rain but the pot I have it in has drainage holes on the bottom and has been draining.

Known by locals in Hong Kong as 'daihongfa' (literally 'big red flower') an apt if not very imaginative name!

About 5 years ago, my husband brought me a tree. The tag on it said that it's an "Ever-blooming Hibiscus". It stayed outside for the entire summer but the tag on it said that it couldn't be out in temps below 50 degrees F. I brought the tree in for the winter because I am in Zone 4. It has been re-potted several times because it was growing and, if it got too windy, it was too top heavy. I would trim it back to bring it in the house and by the end of winter, it would be nearly touching the ceiling. It always had at least one flower on it at all times with several buds. I had to stop finding bigger pots for it because I wouldn't be able to move it anymore if the pots got any bigger. The moral of this story is that the tree has done so well that it outgrew my home and is in the temporary care of a friend until winter is gone. It's ultimate destination this summer will be my mother's house in Florida where it will be planted in the ground. I had very good results in rooting the cuttings with a rooting hormone just following the instructions on the container. The cuttings would be dipped in the rooting hormone, stuck in a pot of wet dirt and covered with plastic until I saw new growth. Since some would take and some would not, I'd usually do several cuttings in the same pot. Overall, my experience with this tree was great. I really loved this tree and will miss it a lot but I am happy to know that it will be going somewhere that it can really continue to grow. I will post a picture of it taken in April of 2001 while it was still in my kitchen.

I have eight different varieties of tropical hibiscus right now. I love them. They are easy to grow, and I have had luck rooting them too. I almost lost one I was growing in a pot on the patio. It is pink (ruffled, double whatever it's called). A heavy flower. It got covered with trips, thrips? ( I think that is what they are called.) They are small yellow bugs that cluster on a plant. I sprayed and sprayed this plant, cut it back. Surprised I didn't kill it. It was so infested but finally, success...back to health!

I do work in a tropical residential atrium in Montreal, as gardener. We have about 700 Hibiscus sinensis in the greenhouse. For the last 4 years, we experienced problems with a little pest called a liotrip. The one I am talking about has a red larve and a 1/16 long black adult.

As a residential greenhouse, we can't use chemical pesticides. We tried the alchool 70%, Trounce, Safer's soap, oil, and nothing works... If it keeps going this way, we will lose all of them soon, and it is our emblem

One of the easiest plants to grow, and in south TX it seldom freezes all the way down, and will grow back if it does. Mine is a huge bush, and after our last cold snap, some of its leaves turned bronze--very pretty.

I have always wondered which variety this is--I didn't buy it--it was a pass-along plant, and it is an old variety. My mother and aunts had these. The bright red flowers are only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches across. They bloom all the time, but more in the summer, and they like the hot weather. I have one gowing in deep shade; it's not very big, but it does bloom sometimes.

Beautiful, but all are lost in zone 6.Have to purchase new this year.They are my favorite.We have had one of the coldest winters I can remember.Had two tree type and 22 bush type.Guess that is the price of a flower lover.

Not very hardy, I had to bring it indoors but all the foliage grew back and it seemed to bloom heavier than ever. The flowers are large and showy and attract butterflies and especially hummingbirds. Does well as a potted house plant during the winter or in cold climates.

I also live in zone 11...I find that Tropical hibiscus do better in pots because I have to move them out of the direct sunlight when the temperatures are soaring! I have so many varieties of hibiscus and I have never met one that I did not like!

I have been container gardening and growing tropical hibiscus for some time now. I find they are the easiest tropical flowering plant to care for. I live in zone 10-11 and they are blooming all year long. The flowers attract the birds and butterfies and I find they brighten my garden all year.

Tropical Hibiscus is found in the tropics, and is a tender evergreen perennial. In zone 9 it will die to the ground when temp goes below 32C, but if well established it will grow back the following spring. Can be grown as a container specimen in colder areas. Flowers are very showy, up to 5-6 inches, and the plant can become over 10 feet tall in frost-free areas. Plant needs to be deep watered often, specially during the hottest days, but soil has to be well drained because it doesn't like waterlogged roots. Grows as a shrub, but can also be trained into tree form.