No new leaves

[Lobsterking]

I planted my San Diego Red 2 years ago and it was doing great until this past winter when it lost all its leaves. I figured it would come back this summer when the weather warmed up but it has looked this way for about 6 months now. I recently saturated the entire area with Agraphos a systemic fungicide thinking that it might be a fungus in the soil. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Darkhorse]

Hey Lobsterking,

  I don't have any personal experience with fungal diseases but your plant doesn't look like that's the problem to me.  My general idea is that fungal disease shows up as wilt disease, where the leaves and any new growth gets really wilty, despite ardent watering.  My guess is that your plant just isn't producing enough GA (gibberelic acid, a growth hormone that stimulates new shoots) to recover and is in a semi-dormant state.  Since your plant still has leaves, I'd reccommend trying HVH's Wake-Up spray.  It contains GA and I've had excellent results with it on sick plants that still have a few leaves.

Keep us updated, and welcome!

Jordan a.k.a. Darkhorse

[helixturnhelix]

Hi Lobsterking,

This is what I would do.  Next spring give it a hard prune and it will send up new growth and fill the bush out.  Also usually plants in full sun are going to have smaller leaves in order to reduce the amount of water lost via respiration.  If you want a more lush bush you can either reduce the amount of sun the plant is getting or increase the amount of water you are giving it in its current spot.  Giving your plant growth enhancers which reduce the amount of stress the plant exhibits could also help.  Hopefully these suggestions work out for you

[Lobsterking]

Thanks for the help; I ordered the wake-up spray and the growth enhancer and I will try giving it a hard pruning next spring. Is there any reason why I shouldn't prune it now?

[Charlie]

Lobsterking, you've received excellent advice and I've nothing to add except to reply to your question about pruning now vs next spring. For years I said prune in spring so that new shoots emerge when there is no chance they will be damaged by freezing weather while they are young and tender. The problem with spring pruning is that the hibiscus won't bloom until late summer. A couple of years ago I started pruning my garden plants that needed it in fall and have been very happy with the results. They grow back slowly during the winter but the new shoots take off when it warms up in spring and start blooming in May or June. The risk is that an unusually cold night or two could nip the new growth but it has not happened the last 2 winters and I'm going to take the risk again this winter.

One other consideration comes to mind. Did you change the watering schedule or amount due to the new water restrictions in southern CA? If you did that could also cause the poor appearance and performance of an established hibiscus that is not getting as much water as it is used to and needs. If the watering cannot be increased, pruning is still the answer since the new growth will develop in synch with the amount of water it now has available.

Good luck with your hibiscus!

Charlie

[Lobsterking]

Hi Charlie,
This whole planting area is on drip irrigation so the amount of water hasn't changed but we did have a very cold spring and a very cool summer. I do however have about a 2 inch layer of fine cedar mulch over this area which may be encouraging some fungus underground. Do you think it's a good idea to get rid of the mulch? I will follow your lead and prune my hibiscus this fall. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out with this problem!

[Charlie]

I always like mulch for its insulation value in winter. I doubt that is the cause but sometimes we have to experiment to find out what works best. No doubt you have checked that the dripper feeding this hibiscus is flowing at the rate its supposed to and is not clogged up by something. The minerals in our water can block the flow in drippers when they accumulate as the water evaporates. I fight a never ending battle with this in my greenhouse with its thousands of emitters.

The pruning this fall should result in full plants next year as long as they are healthy and getting enough water.

Charlie

[Lobsterking]

I gave them a hard prune this weekend, watered well with Super Nova and sprayed them with the wake-up spray. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again Charlie for the advice!
Neil

[Charlie]

Good! The first results should be visible within 2 weeks. Let us know, please.

Charlie