growing in colorado

[kris]

Hello all,

I will be moving from so cal to colorado, so I will have to start growing my hibiscus as houseplants.  Lucky for me Denver is almost always sunny.  The thing I am worried about is the humidity, which is very low in the mountains.  Are hibiscus very sensitive to humidity?  Which window face is the best for growing these plants? (south, north, etc)  Will they still bloom as much in the house as they do outside?   I really don't want to give up my plants, but if they don't do well where i am moving i would rather give them away then have them parish.  Thank you for any advice you can give me.

[Cindy]

Hi Kris,

I think sun is the number one thing that make hibiscus do well in the house. Humidity doesn't seem to matter that much. My hibiscus don't even seem to mind the heating vent blowing right under them, which is really drying. But make sure you give your plants plenty of nutrition. We post the recipe for our houseplant formula on the houseplant section of our website, and if you use it, your hibiscus should stay happy and healthy. They bloom less in the house than outside, but they still bloom enough inside to make it worthwhile to grow them.

I do a lot more pinching and pruning for my indoor hibiscus so they'll stay smaller, branch more, and have more flowers on a compact bush. All that pinching delays blooming by several months, but in the end I get a lot more flowers. I have a small kitchen window full  of baby hibiscus in the 4" pot size, and by pinching them repeatedly to make them branch a lot, I've ended up with lots of tiny blooming hibiscus plants that I just LOVE. My house is small, so I've had to learn to grow hibiscus in small spaces. Here's a picture of my baby blooming - my best day with 3 blooms! 

The one thing you have to watch out for is spider mites in the house, because they love the dry indoor environment. So as soon as you see yellow leaves, treat for spider mites. But other bugs don't like living indoors and are rarely a problem, which is one nice thing about growing hibiscus indoors.

[kris]

Hi Cindy,

That is great news.  My plants have been growing outside for the last few months, but are still in 6 inch pots.  Ive been looking at grow varieties that you have said in the description of the cultivar do well in the house.  I currently have blue ballerina, (im seeing buds for the first time), valentines day, acapulco gold, and bell du jour.   I just pinched back the new growth on acapulco gold so I am hoping to get some flowers by mid summer.  Are there any other varieties that you have that also tend to do well in the house?  Also what is the smallest pot size you could keep hibiscus in indefinably?  I will be ordering your houseplant formula in the near future, hopefully when black dragon is finally back on the shelves.

Best,

Kris

[Charlie]

Cindy changed my mind about pot size. My opinion has been that a 10 inch wide pot, around 3 gallon size, was the smallest I would keep a hibiscus in long term. Cindy, on the other hand, delights in growing them in the smallest pots she can keep watered - usually 4 inch wide pots. I still stick to my opinion as far as having a fully developed plant with maximum flower size but she does get the small potted hibiscus to grow and bloom in their little pots.

A trick for keeping hibiscus in the same pot for years is to prune the root ball back by about 1/3 every other year, and then add new potting mix to fill up the space under and around the downsized root ball. This stimulates fresh new roots to grow which in turn stimulates new top growth. With most potted hibiscus that remain in the same pot I see a trend toward losing vigor over time but pruning the roots and the tops as needed goes a long way to keeping the plant attractive and vigorous.

Charlie

[kris]

Thanks charlie,  I will most definitely be investing in bigger pots once they outgrow their 6inchers