Winter Temps and Blooms

[Jim]

Hello Everyone!

A question from a fellow located in Central FL. About 10 months ago I ordered 20 or so GREAT six inch plants from Charlie and Cindy. I grew them in a greenhouse until they started growing out of the pots and then I put them nto ground, about June 1. Since that time they all have grown like crazy and are now 4' tall wonderful bushy plants knocking out many blooms a day. I have been using Super Nova and HVH fert every day.

I knew when cooler temps did arrive things would change and I was right. Last week we had  two nights back to back of about 50 degrees. Most of my plants STOPPED cold. Some of the die hards like Saffron just could not stop so they did not. But 90% have stopped blooming which I understand.

Most of the days warm up to mid 70 + or - most night in the low 60's. What I should expect in the bloom department if anything?

I have backed off on water in a BIG way anything else I should do?

Thank you for your time and effort.

[farmer d]

Hi Jim,

Sounds like a lot of great results you have going on there!  If you ever have the time we would love to see some pics of those beauties on the Flower Pics of the Day topic.

I am in Hollywood, CA and have just about all of my hibiscus planted in the ground here too so similar approach.  Are your plants in the ground inside of your greenhouse or are they outside completely?

One other question I have is what type of soil are they growing in?  Did you plant them in the natural soil where you live or did you dig a big hole and place any special soil when you planted them in ground?

I can tell you from my experience growing my plants all outdoors (no greenhouse here) that they can and should bloom during the winter.  My opinion is that you definitely have to water less as the temps cool off.  My thinking is the night time lows are the critical controller of how the plants are affected and react.  Colder it gets the less water they will want so you have to gauge it carefully with each change in the weather patterns.  Watch out for soil that does not drain well, that combined with the cold temps in the soil can quickly bring on root rot (wilt disease) and give you all kinds of headaches. 

Being in central FL I believe it can and will get down to freezing during a few stretches thru winter so if they are outside and unprotected I would recommend getting something to cover them as any freezing temps will kill them quickly.  I use plankets if need be for me.

I also recommend spraying with Supernova when it is cold and/or dry which obviously is a stress to the plant and the SN seems to help offset that quite a bit in my experience.  I have seen it keep the plant in grow mode which stops it from shutting down and going into hibernation for the winter.  It may not grow much but just being in that mode keeps the buds forming and you can see some blooms for sure.  Just be really careful not to spray them too late in the day when they don't have the chance to dry off.  A cold and wet night with leaves and branches that are already wet can easily lead to fungus on the leaves and/or wilt disease on the branches. 

When it gets really cold for long stretches I have seen my plants just kind of go into a state of stasis where it just does nothing but doesn't shut down either.  At one point last winter I had over 30 big buds on my Valentines Day plant that just stopped growing for 2 months (Nov-Dec) when it was cold and rainy a lot.  In Jan we had beautiful weather in the 80s and some of them finally opened while others just couldn't take the wait and fell off.

I hope this helps you out some and I'm sure others will have a lot of input for you to take in as well.  Best of luck with your plants this winter!

Farmer D

[Jim]

Farmer D thank you for the great reply.

Plants all outside totally outside!

I did dig GIANT holes and use really good soil + worm casting and I believe that is why things have gone so good.

Thanks for the late time SN advice I will follow.

I will get the plantlets you suggested.

Farmer, do you cut down on the HV fert. in the winter I guess.

Thank you for your time and effort

Sincerely, Jim

[Ernest]

Hi Jim,

I live about 40 miles south of Darren and, therefore, have very similar climate conditions. All of my hibiscus are permanently in the ground, the oldest having been planted almost 10 years ago. I will cut back 1/2 on fertilizer in the winter. I use half and half HVH Special Blend and HVH Booster. I spray a lot less often than Darren but that's just out of laziness, not because I think it is harmful. I think Darren has shown that, in this area, he can get continual blooming with his regimen of frequent spraying with Supernova. My experience with winter blooms is that they tend to be much smaller and less colorful than those we see in spring and summer.

Erny

[farmer d]

Jim - As for fertilizing in winter I'm not sure yet.  With all my plants being replanted this spring with much improved soil I am still feeling out what and how they will be fed between now and next spring.  Currently I am feeding once a week with HVH special blend (double dose), supernova and quelant-k (like the extra potassium without any additional salt) and will tinker with it throughout winter.  I like Erny's approach a lot and think it is a solid way to succeed in winter.  Also I know Charlie gives great advice in both a recent newsletter as well as the hibiscus care feeding section too.  I would start there and then tweak things as you see them needed.  I worry most about frosts/freezes in your area as the biggest threat - all it takes is one night...

Erny I see the same thing with my blooms too in winter.  No surprise really, that's what they do with colder temps and less sunlight.  So my goal during winter is to see if I can get some more bloom profusions in the middle of winter.  Your Sun Showers is leading the way this fall - an absolute pleasure to view.

Good stuff!

Farmer D

[Charlie]

Jim, you've gotten good advice from people who have succeeded with growing modern hybrid hibiscus planted in the ground.

A couple of points I would add are:

- a lot of Florida has very sandy soil that does not hold water the way the more clay-like soil in southern California does, so adjust accordingly if you have sandy soil (water more frequently). The soil amendment you added will help with this but not entirely compensate for it.

- spraying is a lot easier and faster if you use a good electric sprayer. If you are interested and do not yet have one, please ask or do a forum search as we have covered this topic previously.

- do not stop fertilizing in winter. You can adjust downward but, unless your plants completely defoliate and go dormant, you should keep providing good nutrition.

If you do get a night or two forecast down below freezing in addition to covering the plants with frost cloth you can also run a drip system or sprinklers all night long on such nights. The water coming out of the ground is well above freezing and helps protect the plants and roots from getting too cold. It makes a wet mess but is better than losing plants to freezing temperatures. This only works in areas where the freeze is occasional and barely below 32F.

I second Darren - photos please, whenever you have some you would like to share!

Charlie