"Tropical Sunrise" Hibiscus houseplant with problems

[nmpump2007]

I brought my hibiscus from outdoors in San Diego, CA to indoors in Alliance, NE - big change. Need help identifying what my problem is and how to solve it. I've attached a picture of a leaf. The plant grows and grows, but the lower leaves continue to start out with small black dots (not insects), then start to yellow until they dry up and fall off.  I do use HVH's indoor hibiscus fertilizer as directed, but I end up with small branches with all the leaves gone except at the growing point.  It is dry here and we do have hard water. And it's cold ... I keep it at 68 daytime, 58 night time. I think from reading other posts that I need to keep the heat up to at least 70.  I supplement the light from the window with 6 hours of 5 40w daylight light bulbs and it does get about 4 hours of sunlight.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Darkhorse]

Hi nmpump, welcome to the forum!  You look like you're having a familiar problem that has come up quite a bit lately for some of us... try looking at Bart's topic "DESPERATE FOR HELP..." in hibiscus care discussions.  We're still trying to figure this out. 

[Charlie]

This leaf spotting looks typical and has never indicated a problem before. Hibiscus leaves are not intended to last for the life of the plant. They live for at most a couple of years and then yellow and fall off, with or without spots happening first. New leaves then grow in to replace the ones that have fallen. This normal cycle is made more complicated because hibiscus will also drop leaves in response to stress of different types. So the question becomes - is what you are seeing the normal cycling of leaves or is it a different problem?

These spots look normal to me. Meaning, they are not part of a bigger disease problem. What I think your problem may be is that the conditions in winter in Nebraska are not conducive to new growth so when these leaves fall they are not being replaced. What I would do is prune back the largest branch that is without leaves. Prune it at least 2/3 of the way back and just above a node. If you haven't done so, please check out the page on pruning in the care section of our web site - http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/care/pruning.htm   Prune only 1 stem at a time. Once you have new growth coming out on that stem then you can go ahead and prune a second bare stem. Any stems that have a lot of leaves I would leave unpruned this year. Since the plants are indoors where it is reasonably warm you can go ahead and make the first prune now with a second to follow when new growth is coming in about a month.

Then, this summer when the plants are actively growing you should consider transplanting to a slightly larger pot with some fresh potting mix in the bottom. Between the pruning and the repotting you should get a larger, lusher hibiscus that does well this summer.

Please let us know how it goes.

Charlie

If the above does not work and the plant does not regrow well, that would indicate a systemic  problem that could be disease or could relate to highly alkaline water. If you can find out from your water district the pH of the water and if it is over 7.5 then the HVH Acid fertilizer would help the hibiscus absorb nutrients better. If it is over 8.5 you should also add a small amount of vinegar (1 teaspoon per gallon) each time you water to bring the pH down.

Charlie

[nmpump2007]

Thanks for replying - I have already cut back one large branch and am seeing new growth.  I picked up from reading your site that, since we have hard water here, the plant may not be getting enough of the magnesium in HVH's fertilizer.  I changed to RO water and am treating as suggested with epson salts.  I never thought about the pH level - so thanks for that info and I will check with the water dept. tomorrow.  Thanks for the good suggestions and wish me luck 

[Darkhorse]

Pump, if your pH is high, I've had excellent results with the HVH Acid Blend fertilizer. 

[nmpump2007]

Charlie, I'm back for more help with my hibiscus.  I found our water is extremely high in chlorine as well as hard. I changed to RO water two weeks ago.  The pH of RO water is 6.8 so I assume I don't need your Acid Blend Fertilizer.  I have faithfully used your HVH Houseplant fertilizer all along without it solving my problem.  So, since RO water has no minerals, etc. in it., I need to know which of your products to use to give my plant everything it needs.  The plant is apparently stressed because it continues to put out new growth but the older leaves spot, then yellow, then fall - with no leaf replacing them.  What I end up with is "long twigs" with leaves only at the growing tip.  I've attached another picture.  I did prune back one branch and have good new growth coming in although the new leaves are not as green as they used to be either.  So, do I need to use your Hibiscus Booster, or your Wake-Up fertilizer, or your Growth Enhancer fertilizer - or all of them, or in what order, and I assume in addition to my weekly fertilizing with HVH Houseplant fertilizer?  If you can let me know, I'll get my order in ...

Thanks so much for your help!  P.S. I've also attached a picture of what my plant hopes once again to look like 

[Charlie]

The RO water is good. All you need to get needed minerals back into it is the HVH Special Blend fertilizer. It has all the major and minor minerals that hibiscus need. To help the plant leaf out again you could use Growth Enhancer. Mix it into the water with the fertilizer and you can also spray it on the leaves and stems. You can also try Wake-up spray that is sprayed on leaves and stems but NOT applied to the soil. The final solution if the above does not work is to prune the stems back about 2/3. This will cause a lot of new growth and new leaves.

Let us know how it goes!

Charlie

[nmpump2007]

Know you guys don't have all the time in the world to read all these, but if you can - could you respond to this post I made about a week or so ago?  Thanks.

Charlie,
Received the products you suggested today and am ready to get started. Couple questions - should I wait to repot or should I do it now?  If so, I suspect I should use a garden type soil with no fertilizer added since I will be using your HVH Special Blend fertilizer plus the growth enhancer Super Nova.  Should I cut back the last remaining main branch now before I start spraying with the "Wake Up Spray" so I won't be cutting off new growth later when I prune (there are only two leafy branches left at the very top with a lot of bare wood in between)? Also, I noticed today that several of the yellowing leaves that I picked off the plant felt like there was a sticky substance on them.  It is visible under light, clear and sticky, coming down the "stem" of the leaf where attached to the branch.  These leaves have progressed just like the first photo I sent, developing brown spots, turning more and more yellow, then curling, turning all brown, then falling off.  Could this be indicative of some disease that needs attention?  Thanks for all your help.

[Charlie]

Hi Nancy, the important thing to remember about both repotting and pruning is that it is best and safest to do when growing conditions are good for hibiscus. Since you are in Nebraska I am assuming it is still too cold and too early in the year for good conditions to be happening.

My suggestion would be to fertilizer lightly and treat with Supernova once per week while waiting at least 1 more month to repot and/or prune. When conditions are warm and there is plenty of sunlight then go ahead and repot.

The leaf problem is hard to diagnose for afar. If you can use a magnifying glass and search carefully for insects on the leaves or stems it would help. If you don't find any then the problem is probably just winter and moving stress and the hibiscus may recover nicely once summer comes.

Charlie