Which hibiscus can stay very small and still bloom?

[Cindy]

Blue Ballerina is my very favorite so far for small hibiscus in the house. I have one in a 4" pot that I've had for a year in my kitchen window, and it has never stopped blooming. It always has new buds forming, and just keeps steadily blooming. I've told several other people about it, and all of their 4" Blue Ballerinas have also bloomed steadily.

I need to pinch it and force it to branch, but I would have to pinch off all those flower buds, so I still haven't done it. But if I do, I'll get more branches for it to bloom on, and then I'll get multiple flowers at a time, so I have to just close my eyes and prune it one of these days.... but not today! A new flower is opening! 

Cindy

[Cindy]

I have some more new favorites for small hibiscus that bloom a lot:

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
Sleeping Beauty
Night Magic
El Capitolio
Belle du Jour
Simple Pleasures

All of these can be kept in the 4" pot size, pinched to make them branch a lot, and they'll bloom really well as baby plants. My 4" Hibiscus rosa-sinensis has 5 buds on it right now, and sometimes has 2 blooms at the same time!

My big hibiscus are more impressive with lots of flowers and big bushes, but I really enjoy the babies too. I wasn't sure how much I could get the babies to bloom, but with lots of pinching and good nutrition, they really bloom a lot.

Here's a picture of my last Hibiscus rosa-sinensis baby bloom.

Cindy

[kris]

Well this answers my question I just posted on which ones do well in the house

[nina]

Hi, Cindy,

From your list I have El Capitolio and Simple Pleasures. I agree with what you say about SP, but not about El Capitolio! El Capitolio (red one) grows very high at my place, and blooms only at the top of those long, long branches. It is exactly what I would not like to grow in the pot, at home...
Maybe El Capitolio sport is different?

[Cindy]

Wow, that's good information, Nina! I have my El Capitolio in a small pot (4 inch) and I gave it a hard pruning about a year ago to make it branch. Before that, it only had about 3 branches. Now it has more than 10 branches finally. So maybe the hard pruning was what made it start blooming better. Or maybe I'm just lucky and mine is a good bloomer!

I just did a hard pruning on my little Blue Ballerina too. It's a good brancher, but I need it to stay small and I'm keeping it in a 4" pot too. I'll let you know how that works.

I hard pruned my Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in the 4" pot last year too, when I did El Capitolio, and it worked well with it. It has multiple branches and keeps blooming steadily.

My new favorite indoor hibiscus is Sleeping Beauty.  It blooms like crazy and its colors are actually more beautiful indoors than outdoors, I think. It doesn't like or need very much sun, so indoors works great. I got a gorgeous bloom yesterday.  I'll snap a picture and post it here.

Cindy

[Nievesgirl]

To keep Hibiscus in small pots do you have to keep the roots trimmed ?

[Cindy]

I haven't had to trim the roots yet, Nievesgirl, but I may have to in the future. So far all I've had to do is add about 1/2 inch of soil to the bottom of the pot about once a year. The soil slowly diminishes in the pot, so I just pull the root ball out of the pot, put a little soil in the bottom, and pop the plant back in. I should try trimming the roots a little too one of these years, but so far I haven't done that. Maybe I'll try it the next time I add soil. I'll let you know how it goes!

I do max out nutrition on these small plants though. I think that is what makes it work. I give them our full houseplant recipe every time I water.

I also use Wake-Up spray on them liberally any time they look stressed or when I prune them to encourage branches to grow on the lower nodes.

I definitely fuss over them a lot!  LOL  Overprotective mama.....

[blupit007]

Cindy,

 This is exactly what I need in CT!  I think I'm on the waiting list for a Blue Ballerina.  I hope you are going to have some again soon in a 4" pot.  I also am still keeping an eye out for another sleeping beauty in a 4".  Could you let me know if you are going to have any soon? 

 Thanks
Kristen

[Charlie]

We will definitely have more of Blue Ballerina and Sleeping Beauty this summer. Not sure if they are in the next batch to get ready but one or both could be. Another fun one for small spaces is Magic Carpet Ride. None of those around just now but should be in the future.

Charlie

[blupit007]

Thanks Charlie,

  I'm on the list for that one as well 

I love these!

[Cindy]

My Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is going to turn into a Bonsai at the rate it's going. It has been in the same, tiny 4" pot for 3 years now, still blooms all the time, and doesn't show any signs of stress from the tiny pot. It's in a sunny window (south facing) and I use Houseplant Formula on it almost every time I water. But other than that, it gets no special treatment. 

Here it is after 3 years in the same pot: