Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

  The new growth on this Mustard plant came out white.  Anyone have this happen. It is kinda cool. It was grown in the greenhouse.
Norm

Norm I had something similar on my Miss Congeniality this winter.  Most of the new growth was half white half yellow so I was thinking too much water?  After I cut down a neighboring hydrangea that gave her a lot more sunlight especially on the soil she lives in the leaves have been very slowly getting more green.  My Confection Perfection seems to do this too so I water it a bit less than usual and it seems to help.

Farmer D

Well, look at that! I expected to see sunburn but that's not what this is. I have a few variegated varieties that show this creamy white color but I've never seen a normally green leafed variety start making this type of leaf. Mustard is a Fascinating Foliage variety, which just got more interesting!

If the leaves on this branch remain white, we could cut that stem and root it to see whether there is a genetic mutation involved. Whole new variety then!!

Charlie

Could white leaves reflect a mutation that alters the chloroplasts and, if so, would the leaves be incapable of absorbing energy from the sun?

Erny

Yup Erny,  that is why varigated varieties are usually alot slower growing.  Here is a paper I found outlining the potential mechanisms for this change. 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01630.x/full

Very interesting to see leaves completely white like this.  Chris great referral on the article explaining variegated variety development.

I am no scientist but when I look at Norm's pic here I wonder if this might be an effect of extreme chlorotic leaf sectors due to winter and/or watering.  Look at the buds above the leaf, they are half green and white.  Reason I ask is that my Miss Congeniality has had leaves that were pretty much all white for the last three months until recently when I trimmed back the neighboring hydrangea.

Before and at the beginning of these white leaves showing up I was having issues with normal colored leaves that kept getting these brown edges that would then start to decay inwards.  Something was definitely not right though not sure what.

Anyways no big deal - here are some pics of Miss Congeniality as of today.  I really wish I had taken pics of her several weeks back when the leaves were totally white.  You can still see a few are mostly white with one looking similar to Norm's.

Farmer D

Chris, thanks for the reference. I knew you would have the answer.

Erny

Leaf edge burn (leaf edges turn brown) is a warning sign that the plant is getting too much fertilizer or can be due to sprays that run off the center of the leaf and collect on the edges.

I've grown a few variegated hibiscus over the years, but they don't really thrive like all green leaf hibiscus. An exception is Hibiscus tilaceous which grows into a monster bush. It has red, green, and cream colored leaves. (photos in online store).

Charlie