January Flower Photos of the Day

[Charlie]

Happy New Year to one and all around the world! Its great to see all that you do and the wonderful flowers you share.

Charlie and Cindy

[farmer d]

Happy New Year to you too and to everyone!  Off to a fantastic start with a beautiful, large Bridal Path!!!

Farmer D

[farmer d]

Charlie you asked in the Dec daily pics thread if I think I will have an abundance of blooms like last January.

I can say for sure I won't.  Since replanting all my hibs and figuring out the dynamics of caring for them has pretty much reversed to now watering them constantly for the most part, they seem to be very happy and in an almost pure growth mode.  Even during this colder than usual December they have all grown quite a bit, some pretty much like it was summer still.  Still spraying almost daily with Supernova and feeding them double doses once a week as well so far of Special Blend, SN & Quelant-K.

I wonder if I got those ridiculous amount of blooms last winter because my plants were highly stressed with the wrong soil and the clay prison holes they were in?  Really stressed plants = reproduce before dying mode thus put all energy into blooming as much as possible.  I've even read a few articles about how people beat their plants with belts and such to induce much more flowering - now that is a new dimension to domestic violence not to mention nuts...

Anyways my point being that they will continue to grow and probably not bloom as much until the seasons change at a minimum.  Who knows maybe they will stay in grow mode until their roots max out their new digs and then go into more of a bloom mode again.

As an example check out the comparative pics of my Valentines Day plant from last Dec to this Dec.  From out of control budding to some major growth in one year's time.  Interesting to say the least!

Farmer D

[helixturnhelix]

Here is Stardust today, 5 inch flower with thick petals.  Mine doesn't open completely, but we will see how the flower looks as it matures.  I am hoping to see some spots soon.   

[Mike]

Hi Everybody
Charlie I have some seeds off of Rodeo Drive here is a picture !!
Also I have another seedling that bloomed and it looks like Acapulco Gold , But its from Simple Pleasure & it has the same bush as SP you cant tell them apart . And I find that Simple Pleasure is one of the best bushes of all my plants & I have around 100 plants . It takes heat good in the summer & blooms in the house in the winter , also is full and beautiful , top notch !! I will post a picture of my seedling & my Acapulco Gold that bloomed inside recently . My camera doesn't take good pictures in the house , I guess the light is to low so picture quality is kind of bad .First flower is AG second one is SP seedling . From my experience Acapulco gold doesn't take heat to good in the south the leaves keep turning yellow and falling off , around here it's around 102 to 107 degrees in summer . thats why I really like this seedling it looks like AG but will do better for me in summer heat .

[farmer d]

Chris that bloom would be pretty awesome with some spotting on it - great potential!

Mike I agree the SP is top notch and such genes are great to use as often as possible.  I have noticed the same thing with AG (gave one to my in-laws that is potted on their porch) and it did not like the heat all that much to the point I had to move it to a shady spot.  Of course my in ground one can handle anything including heat without any signs of unhappiness.

I got a first time bloom today from Tahitian Sunset Splendor - tough time of the year to produce a first bloom so that is a good sign.  Also a really pretty one from LBAL and apparently a tasty bloom from Crystal Pink.

Farmer D

[Mike]

HI Darren
A lot of these plants do much better in the ground than in pots , I did a test last year , putting the same plant , one in a pot & the other in the ground and the one in the ground did 2 to 3 times better than the one in the pot . What I am planing to do this spring is to plant a lot more of them in the ground then dig them up in the fall . down south that is a long stretch , around early April to late November .

[farmer d]

Mike that really is invaluable information as you have comparatively tested out the two and the difference to me from what you're saying is more than I thought it would be.  My approach to this is that when I plant in pots I want to end up in the largest size pot I can accommodate for each plant.  In my mind it is a way to try and imitate being in ground to some extent but how much does this reduce the negative effects of being potted remains to be seen.

So far the results for me have been good with my young plants in pots growing very nicely - even through winter so far.  I prefer wider pots rather than deeper pots - I want those roots growing out sideways so the plant is more likely to become a wider bush but one can always prune to get a similar result too.  Whenever I uproot one of my hibiscus I am always impressed and reminded how vigorous and much space the roots need to support a healthy and robust plant.  They start wrapping around the inside of the pot so quickly it is amazing to me.

Farmer D

[Ernest]

Darren, those are two nice Tahitians. Sunset Splendor looks great for a first bloom in winter. That suggests a lot of promise for it in the spring.

Erny

[Denise]

Happy New Year! Yesterday morning it got down to 28 degrees but it was a toasty 42 degrees inside my greenhouse. Hooray! Here are some pictures.

[farmer d]

Happy New Year to you too!  Your plants look great - great job with your greenhouse!!!  Look forward to lots more pretty blooms - a joy to view.

Farmer D

[davidwood]

Charlie you asked in the Dec daily pics thread if I think I will have an abundance of blooms like last January.

I can say for sure I won't.  Since replanting all my hibs and figuring out the dynamics of caring for them has pretty much reversed to now watering them constantly for the most part, they seem to be very happy and in an almost pure growth mode.  Even during this colder than usual December they have all grown quite a bit, some pretty much like it was summer still.  Still spraying almost daily with Supernova and feeding them double doses once a week as well so far of Special Blend, SN & Quelant-K.

I wonder if I got those ridiculous amount of blooms last winter because my plants were highly stressed with the wrong soil and the clay prison holes they were in?  Really stressed plants = reproduce before dying mode thus put all energy into blooming as much as possible.  I've even read a few articles about how people beat their plants with belts and such to induce much more flowering - now that is a new dimension to domestic violence not to mention nuts...

Anyways my point being that they will continue to grow and probably not bloom as much until the seasons change at a minimum.  Who knows maybe they will stay in grow mode until their roots max out their new digs and then go into more of a bloom mode again.

As an example check out the comparative pics of my Valentines Day plant from last Dec to this Dec.  From out of control budding to some major growth in one year's time.  Interesting to say the least!

Farmer D

It is very interesting Darren and happy New Year to you. You know the one thing that has always surprised me about your cv’s, its not the magnificent bud count but the size of the plants, when I see all them buds I am expecting to see a far larger plant and then when I do it’s a bit of a shock, I know we have bought plants at the same time and mine in a pot has grown larger than yours in the ground with about 80% less buds. It’s like yours have forsaken some plant growth for bud production, even the growth they do have is far more compact, I just wish we knew the secret to why that happens, I don’t accept its all down to the food and SN, I am sure many others including me have followed your program with nothing like your success.
Of course I think it’s a given and accepted that being in the ground is a major factor like Mike says, but I have 2 other theories, first and maybe unlikely, is it not possible that there was something in the ground [that maybe you where even unaware of] that is a tremendous help to Hibiscus, this may account for you not having the bud count now same as last December as you have altered the environment.
My second theory is a bit bizarre, well about as bizarre as beating them up for buds haha but I will try and explain.  I have read a few times that cuttings do better individually when grouped together in a pot, not sure how they know [the cuttings that is] but apparently they do, now is it not conceivable that your cv’s do much better not just because they are in the ground but that you have many in the ground right next to each other, sort of like the same thing that happens with cuttings. I do know I put 2 Electric Orange in a large pot together and had a big increase in the amount of buds of each, so maybe not so bizarre after all.

[helixturnhelix]

Wow great blooms everyone!

David, it is interesting that your potted plants are getting so huge and with fewer blooms.  I have the opposite problem, in that my potted plants stay very compact and hardly grow because they are always flowering!  I think that you are seeing this growth habit mostly because of the relative N-P-K ratio in your fertilizer.  Lots of nitrogen and less phosphorous and potassium often leads to the growth type you are seeing, green plants that grow well and fewer blooms.  I would defininately try reducing the amount of nitrogen you are using and ramp up the potassium.  I use a very low nitrogen fertilizer and sea kelp (high in potassium) to induce lots of blooms.  

I had to take down my basement set up last night as I am moving to Oregon, but it looks like a few CVs decided to bloom anyways.  Braveheart surprised me the most with its rings of color.  

[davidwood]

Wow great blooms everyone!

David, it is interesting that your potted plants are getting so huge and with fewer blooms.  I have the opposite problem, in that my potted plants stay very compact and hardly grow because they are always flowering!  I think that you are seeing this growth habit mostly because of the relative N-P-K ratio in your fertilizer.  Lots of nitrogen and less phosphorous and potassium often leads to the growth type you are seeing, green plants that grow well and fewer blooms.  I would defininately try reducing the amount of nitrogen you are using and ramp up the potassium.  I use a very low nitrogen fertilizer and sea kelp (high in potassium) to induce lots of blooms.  

I had to take down my basement set up last night as I am moving to Oregon, but it looks like a few CVs decided to bloom anyways.  Braveheart surprised me the most with its rings of color.  

Thanks Chris, not sure it is the N-P-K [unless I have my sums wrong]. I am not allowed to import fert so I sort of mix my own, I can easily buy here Growmore products so I mix 1 jar of there 20-20-20 with 4 jars of 12-0-40; gives me 68-20-180 divide by 5 = 13.5-4-36. Chris is that right and about ok, I use half a teaspoon every watering, I can’t increase that as I get leaf burning and have even thought about halving it to every other watering.

What is a bit odd and may interest you is my own seedlings [produced here in my garden which I am unbelievably proud] grow totally opposite to Charlie’s; they are very slow and very compact and have had blooms on one at 12inches.
The only real difference between the two is my seedlings have a lot more Perlite in the mix [50%], maybe that has something to do with them growing slower [which I like] and so the new plants from Charlie have been put in the same mix as the seedlings hoping I get similar results.

Just been looking at Oregon on Google Earth, you certainly seem to like cold places haha.

[farmer d]

I had to take down my basement set up last night as I am moving to Oregon, but it looks like a few CVs decided to bloom anyways.  Braveheart surprised me the most with its rings of color. 

That Wall Flower bloom is really pretty with the lavender halo.  Your plants look to be in great shape after being gone for so long.  Good luck with your move and it is exciting to know Portland will now be properly introduced to our world of exotic hibiscus.  Can't wait to see your new set up!

Farmer D