Hibiscus Houseplant of the Day

[Cindy]

I've been getting some requests to post some hibiscus houseplant pics here, so I thought I would start today. Please jump in and post more, all you house-hibiscus growers!

Today's flowers are a new seedling on the left and Belle du Jour on the right. The 10" Belle makes the 9" seedling look small!   



Here's the Belle du Jour up close:


And here's the new seedling:


My house hibiscus used to always be smaller and paler than outside hibiscus, but I keep tweaking the houseplant formula, and finally success!  I'm getting big houseplant flowers with tons of color! My African Violets went crazy on it too. I've never had their flowers be so big either. I should have taken pics of them, and now they've stopped blooming because the sun has moved away from their window. I'll take pics when they start up again. I think the formula is FINALLY good!

Cindy

[motherof4]

Cindy is the formula different than the original.,sold in the store?...and if so are you going to change the formula?...because if so I will have to get some...thanks ..lynette...and also very nice blooms!!!!!

[Cindy]

Hi Lynette,

The last change was a few months ago, and I think I posted something about it here on the forum. I can't remember. But I have steadily cut down the nitrogen and phosphorus over the last year or so and increased the potassium and magnesium. Everything should be the same as the original formula. I want to keep the plants from growing huge in the house, plus nitrogen tends to stimulate spider mites. So I've been trying to get to the lowest possible nitrogen levels that will still keep the plants healthy, blooming, green, with lush foliage. On the potassium side, I've been steadily increasing it trying to get flowers in the house with as much size and color as the outside hibiscus and greenhouse hibiscus have, and I think I've finally accomplished that too! So hopefully I'll be able to stop changing it!  Famous last words.... I'm always reading new research info and think I have to try to apply it to my guinea pig house plants! Poor babies!!!!!

[motherof4]

so you give extra potassium?? or its enough already in the mix??

[Cindy]

We've added more potassium to the Houseplant Formula already. There's tons in it now. You don't need to add any more to it.

[Yashodhara]

Since it is way too hot outside, all of my hibiscus are spending the summer indoors as houseplants... Here are this week's bloomer highlights (Three parts - a lot of heat lovers here): Cosmic Gold, Dainty White, the El Capitolios, H. Rosa-sinensis, High Voltage, Painted Pony and Hot Babe. Also, some more ducklings and an "indoor jungle" shot... Just need some green shag carpeting and the illusion will be complete!

Deb 

[Yashodhara]

Part Two:

[Yashodhara]

Part Three:

[Cindy]

Wow, Deb!!!!!!  Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'll start trying to take more houseplant pics too. I've lived in the cold north mountains so much of my life that I think I can't live without an indoor jungle too. Your pics are INSPIRING!!!!!!!  Hot Babe really is something, isn't it?  And the ducklings!!!!!!!!!!  So adorable!  :-)

[Yashodhara]

Hi Cindy!

Thanks!!! Yes, "Hot Babe" is hot... All that bright neon orange color and only getting artificial light.

Since you posted a photo of "Belle du Jour," I thought I'd show you what mine is up to... I got her as a 4" pot last August: She's now 50" tall, in a 10" pot, and still hasn't bloomed... Hmmm... Perhaps you sent me one of those hibiscus-redwood hybrids by mistake? LOL  

P.S. We're supposed to be getting super-high temps this week (100º by Thursday)... Could you hold my last shipment of 'biscus babies until after the heat wave has passed?

[davidwood]

Wonderful Deb,very funny and I bet it blooms very soon now.

[Darkhorse]

Deb, how do you keep your carpet so clean with all those potted plants?  lol

[Yashodhara]

I knew today was going to be a scorcher, but I had no idea just how bad it was going to be...  

I was afraid I was going to be coming home to a herd of really really unhappy hibiscus... Boy, was I surprised (they're loving it!)  

Today's bloomers:

Tahitian Princess (first bloom)
Porcelain Doll
H. Rosa-sinensis (2 HUGE blooms, despite 92ºF with 60% humidity inside my apartment)

Deb  

[Cindy]

Yes, anything up to 95 or so, and the hibiscus love it! Especially with humidity added.  So pretty, Deb!

As far as carpets go, Jordan.... I've almost given up on keeping my off-white carpet clean. I think I'm going to study the dirt color that it gets between the plants, the dogs, and the cats, and then go find a new carpet in that exact color. Hopefully it won't be too icky of a color - some kind of mottled gray and brown, I'm guessing. 

I actually did this once with a floor. I taped white paper to my kitchen floor in rainy Washington and let my 4 dogs track in muddy footprints until the paper was covered. Then I took the paper to the hardware store and picked out floor tile that looked as close to the paper as I could get. That was the best floor I've ever had! It didn't show a thing! Down here in hot Southern Calif, I'm actually wondering if I should replace carpet with tile again. Here the dirt is kind of a golden tan color - not too bad for floor tiles...

[Darkhorse]

lol Cindy!  I'm fortunate that my house is a fixer and at this point I don't care what I spill on the floor.  Last winter when the plants were inside the concrete slab got stained from the iron supplement!  Oh well! 

I'm with you on the brownish-dirt-colored carpet.  That will be in my two guest bedrooms-- dark, hardwood-looking laminate will be in the rest of the house.  Eventually it will be a rental so that works perfectly for me.