Acclimating our new HVH Hibiscus plants in Texas

[jpiper82]

Charlie,
When I get my new shippment next week (Hopefully) how do you want me to acclimate the plants before I transplant them into my planter boxes in direct sunlight.  Estimated temps will be in the low 80' to low 90's. Water and fert, will not be a problem.
John

[davidwood]

When mine arrive the first thing i do is give the leaves a good spray with water to refresh them[the soil is sometimes still wet] and then leave them in the shade for about 3 days.I then put them out in the sun in the place i think they will live for about a week and then re-pot them.

I have had a 100% success doing this and after the journey they have had to Vietnam and the sun and heat they face here its pretty amazing.

[Charlie]

David has a good program, can't really go wrong with that.

The plants you will receive have been grown in a lot of sun so problems like sunburning are rarely a problem. If you placed them in shade of too long it could create a problem where none existed before. So, either a short acclimatization like David describes or even less should work fine. If conditions are way different, such as up in the mountains at altitude or out in the desert with extremely low humidity, extra care may be needed but for most places the greenhouse plants will acclimate easily and quickly.

Charlie

[jpiper82]

Charlie, I like David's program, I'll try it. I just want the transition to be gentle to the planter boxes, I don't want to lose a lot of leaves and buds.
John

[davidwood]

I leave them in the shade a bit longer than is probably necessary because they may have been in the box for 2 weeks and i have in my mind it must be a bit stressful for them.
The one thing i do take very special care on is the watering and potting up.Like i have said for 1 week they just sit in there new home and i water as necessary except i will let them dry out a little a day or two before i transplant,i do this so as to try and cause no disturbance to the rootball when i pot up.
When i pot up I cut the plastic pot it has come in so the sides fall away and then lift and place into my pot.I then fertilize and water same as the rest of my cv's.I am sure Charlie will say if this is good practice or not but i have been very successful following these rules.

[Charlie]

This is great, David. I wish everybody would proceed with such a good feel for what the plants need. We all learn as we go...

Charlie