Forcing new branches

[Julie]

I bought a Hybiscus from this site...I'm sorry I can't remember for sure when but think it's been about a year. It's called "First Lady." I am using it as a houseplant since I live in NW Washington state, USA. I have pinched it back several times with no luck on producing new branches. Last winter I finally cut the top off, about in half. So I had 5 or 6 inches left. I put the cutting in water to see if it would get roots (but it looks like scales.) It's growing though and has 2 new leaves and looks like more will come.

Back to the orginal plant. I pruned it to begin with to encourage new branches. Well, it produced one new branch and thats all. It's about 3 inches taller now but a single branch.
Is it possible to get this plant to get fuller indoors?

Julie

[Darkhorse]

Hi Julie,

   I'm not familiar with the cultivar you have-- First Lady--  but some cvs tend to resist branching despite pruning. 

I would start my troubleshooting with overall plant health.  Does the plant get adquate food, water, and sunlight?  How about the soil; is it too wet or too dry?

Once you're sure you aren't dealing with any health issues, check your pruning method.  Pruning farther down the plant is considered a hard prune, and is more likely to result in multiple branches.  Just trimming off the tops may not be enough.  It sounds like cutting it halfway back worked a little bit for you.  You could always try that again once the plant has done more growing-- cut the two branches it has now halfway back and you will hopefully end up with three or four.  I've gotten best results from doing harder prunes, rather than cutting a few inches off the top of the plant.  Again, First Lady may not want to branch well but Charlie could tell you more about that.

One final thing.  Bushes tend to be fuller with less direct sun, so maybe put it in a place where it gets good, bright, indirect sunlight most of the day and only an hour or two of direct sun.

Jordan

[Charlie]

Nice summary, Jordan. I agree with everything except perhaps the last paragraph due to where Julie lives. NW Washington is not one of the brightest locations in the USA, right? Lots of clouds, rain, and cooler temperatures. If that is indeed the case you probably need to expose the hibiscus to as much sunlight as you can find for it. In a bright area placing the hibiscus in some shade will, as Jordan said, result in lusher growth but there is a limit to how little sunlight they can thrive with so in Julie's climate I think looking for more light is better.

In general hibiscus react to pruning depending on how vigorously they are growing at the time of pruning. The better the growing conditions and the more vigorous the growth, the better the results from pruning.

First Lady tends to make fewer branches than many hibiscus. She grow vigorously upwards, usually developing half a dozen major stems (after pruning) all of which grow upwards. I think you have a good chance to see some branching and growth this coming summer if the plant is healthy and gets optimal conditions of good nutrition and lots of warmth and as much light as your area provides.

Please let us know toward the end of summer what happened!

Charlie

[Julie]

Thanks for the great advice Jordon and Charlie.
I do have the plant in east window where it would get as much sunlight as possible here in the winter.

I either think the plant just wasn't old enough to be growing vigorously or I haven't pruned it back far enough.

Thanks again. I'll report back maybe this summer after it gets more of a chance to grow more.