Some animal ate my hibiscus only stems and left all the leaves

[Lumi Smith]

Last night when I came home from s
work, I was shocked to see my hibiscus on my deck lost all the leaves and stems but the leaves were left on the floors. What could have done it? How can I prevent it in the future?  I live in CT.

[Charlie]

Maybe someone from CT will respond to this, too. Do you have deer in the area? In southern CA we have a lot of rabbits and they will eat the smallest and most tender new growth but not the older growth and stems. They don't usually leave anything behind on the ground. I've heard of puppies eating hibiscus, and for sure turtles and tortoises love them. A big grasshopper can eat a lot of leaves in an afternoon but there would not be any left of the ground.

Another possibility is that there was a light frost during the night and the hibiscus defoliated because of that. Any chance it got that cold? Cooler nights can also cause a fungus disease in hibiscus that make all the leaves go limp and they eventually fall off but it can take several days for this to happen.

If you can post a photo of the plant we might be able to see something that would help. To post a photo use the "Additional Options" that you see at the bottom left corner when writing a post.

Charlie

[blupit007]

Hi Lumi,

 Which part of CT are you from?  I live in Clinton.  It has been in the low 40's at night for me.  I brought all my hybrid hibiscus inside in September.  It also has been really rainy this October in CT, so the moisture and cold temps might have been the culprit?  I'm not sure.  I left my garden variety outside up till 2 weeks ago when I started seeing signs of weakness in the leaves due to the chilly weather.  The garden variety seems a bit more tolerant then the hybrids, but even still, I had to bring it in.

  As far as the leaves being on the ground, that sounds like the cold making them drop.  But the stems missing?? 
Kristen