Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

What are the steps to get wood from a hibiscus to root ? my understanding is you cut some mature wood from the plant and root it ? if not please explain.

also I planted 2 seeds around march 27 and they have yet to sprout. Do you think they are goners? I nicked the seed and put in organic potting mix for now.

One key to both rooting and germinating is temperature. If it gets too cold during either process it often fails. The temp should be 70 to 80 both day and night, which is not always easy to accomplish. A source of bottom heat is helpful, such as seed pads or even the top of an appliance like a refrigerator. You don't need a lot of heat, just a gentle warmth below the tray or whatever is used to hold the seeds or cuttings.

Seeds have been known to germinate years after planting, but usually they will either germinate or rot within the first couple of weeks. When the seed is fresh and conditions are right the seed often germinates within a few days.

Good luck!

Charlie

I should have known I was going something wrong. The first seeds left them in my room under compact fluorescent lighting I brought them to work to my desk where lots of sun come in the window and its warm. But nothing has sprouted. So I thought I did something wrong.... I took another seed nicked it then let it soak overnight then planted it in jiffy potter.  This time I left it outside on my balcony but its been cold in Los Angeles. I planted it yesterday do you think its too late ? I just moved it inside. If this seed fails I will wait till it gets back to regular 80 degrees :D

You are on the right track. We all have to experiment with the conditions we have in order to find what works. Seeds that don't germinate right away can still do so unless they rot first, which is common if they are too wet. It can be tricky to get all the factors right, but once they are right it seems very easy. Nicking is helpful and speeds up the germinating. I nick all my seeds but I do not soak them. Soaking is likely to bring about rotting and is not necessary. Just press the nicked side of the seed into the moist but not wet potting mix and it will absorb all the water it needs to germinate. Don't bury it, just press it into the wet mix nicked side down.

Good luck!

Charlie

Well I looked at the seed and its rotted ( probably like you said soaking it)  so I will wait for better weather. The weather hear has be crazy hot then cold now hot again... but the nights are still cold and not warm.

I did some hybridizing last fall and planted some of the seeds from those crosses in 6 pack seed trays and miracle grow seed starter and I got several to root.  However, I had several crosses I made that had seeds, but did not germinate.  Its entirely possible that them not sprouting is not your fault, but rather is due to infertile seeds.  Good luck and be sure to post pictures of your first blooms!

I hope they are infertile because I bought these seeds from Barry S.  Since the weather is getting hot I will try it again . So far the nights are not cold anymore.

I realized that your wood question was never answered.  So this is my first time doing it too, I just got some wood from a friend and I was reading that you can dip the cuttings in root tone and put them in a gallon pot with perlite.  Then stick the pot in water so that when it evaporates the water is wicked up so the cuttings dont dry out while getting established.  It is also important to keep them in shade when they are rooting.  According to my research it takes about 6-8 weeks to root.  Am I missing anything charlie?  Hope this helps

I decided to buy this

[img]http://www.thisyounghouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jiffy-plant-tomatoes-from-seeds-greenhouse.jpg[img]

And I planted 4 seeds to see if this would work. Today I see 3 sprouting !!!! , It comes with a cover to keep the dirt pellets warm. One day I accidentally left them out when it was hot but they still grew. Now I will try some more seeds and keep track of the seedlings growth I will post some pictures in a few days.

Hi Nievesgirl,

Im glad that is working for you!  In 8 months or so you should have new hybrids to share :)

Ok I see 4 sprouting out of 4  ;D , I just planted 5 more to see if they will sprout. when should I transfer them out of the pellets ? Not really take them out but put them in a pot ? I have 3" clay pots I bought

Nice Job. You are experiencing one of the pleasures in growing these - learning what works for you in your environment! These lessons can be painful when they involve plants dying but when you get it right it is quite a high!

The first pair of leaves on hibiscus seedlings are not true leaves. Wait to see the next pair of leaves emerge and then you can transplant to the small pots. Small and delicate as they look, hibiscus seedlings are actually pretty tough and vigorous from this point on. The main danger remains damping off due to high humidity so be careful with the dome. You should get some air circulation inside the tray during the day to help prevent this fungus disease from overwhelming the tiny seedlings. After you transplant them there is little danger of this.

Good luck, and well done!

Charlie

What i do is put dome over them only at night to keep a nice warm temp , then i take it off during the day and they get some real sunlight when its around 4pm.
Thanks for the info also  ;D

That's perfect. I used to do the same thing when I used a dome and it helped cut down the losses due to damping off.

Charlie

Here are the pics , I deceived to plant the rest of my seeds So we will see how many more will sprout so far I am having luck with this method. I had people tell me its 40-50% that the seeds will sprout so far I got 100% results out of the first batch and the second batch looks like I got another 100% result. 4 out of 4 now 5 out of 5  ;D Lets hope the rest sprout.

I am going to try to get some wood from hibiscus Plant a few block down inf front of another apt. I tried it once but I did not know what i was doing back then lol.

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC19813.jpg)

are these ur own hybrids or did u purchase the seeds?

No not my own I bought a batch of 6 from ebay seller and the rest where bought from Barry Schlueter

Update on jiffy Greenhouse so I decided to not put lid over greenhouse since we have been having nice weather in Los angeles. I notice no new seedlings sprouting at all I dug a few seeds up to see progress ( nothing ) . I put lid back on , on Tuesday , and last night and BAM they are sprouting ! The growth seems unreal. I even noticed the 2 pair of leaves on the older seedling grew a lot in one night !

update

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC19824.jpg)

I transferred two seedlings last night to 3" clay pots I hope they do well. I also found a better mini green house I will buy for the next seedlings I try to grow, it comes with a heating mat.
Right now the jiffy mini green house gets heat from the cable box I place it on top of  :P

(http://www.joebonsai.com/images/products/germination_station_6inch.jpg)

I think you will find the heat mat very helpful for both growing seeds and even for stressed plants that you can put on it as a sort of hospital as needed.

Good luck with the new setup!

Charlie

It seems that my seedlings have been growing slowly because of the weather , I saw a picture of a 8 week old seedling and I was floored  :o I have seedings that are about a month old and they are no where near the size in the picture I saw.

The seedlings got some sun for two days and their real first leaf is starting to grow. That good news so far.

I also had a question about the seedlings. Could you make assumptions on what kind of growth these plants will be like at this age ? I only ask because I planted 5 seeds at the same time of the same cross and 4 out of 5 sprouted at the same time . I have one that has 5 leaves and the other still has the baby leaves

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC19961.jpg)

(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC19963.jpg)

Forgot to say , where can i get plastic 3" containers? I am not liking these clay ones since they suck up too much water. I can not find any at home depot or armstrong nursery. 

Hi Nievesgirl,

Don't be too concerned about the rate of growth. It is way colder here in southern CA than it is in TX and Florida, especially at night, and that affects the growth tremendously. Our "hot season" is just about to begin and you will see much faster growth July through October. Also hibiscus growing from seed increase their rate of growth the older they get. Once you get yours into 6 inch or larger pots the growth will really take off. Always keep in mind that top growth and root growth are intimately connected. You don't want to overpot but at the same time hibiscus top growth responds strongly to new root growth so you don't want to hold them back by keeping them in smaller pots than they are ready for.

You can make assumptions about young seedlings based on their current performance but it is just as likely to change as not later on. I don't feel like I really know a new variety until I have grown it for several years and grown plants propagated from the original seedling plant. The one thing about hibiscus that you can count on is that they will surprise you, and no "rule" ever goes unbroken for long.

I'm not sure where to get the small plastic pots. Surely some garden center has them - maybe someone will make a suggestion.

Charlie

My seedlings are taking off finally. I guess I miscalculated how old they are. They barely just turned a month old ! I was freaking out because I thought they where too small.

I will post updated pictures soon.  I am awaiting new seeds so more seedlings to come.

Thats good news!  If you want something to plant them in, and is a bit more earth friendly, there are compressed coco fiber pots that I saw at Do it Center a couple weeks ago.  They last and are completely biodegradable!

I have a few questions about my seedlings

Is this normal for some of the leaves to look like this ?
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10261.jpg)
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10259.jpg)
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10260.jpg)
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10264.jpg)

Here is what they look like now
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10268.jpg)
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k72/kalibobs/SNC10267.jpg)

Yes, they look normal. Seedlings show a fascinating range of leaf types and colors. Alas, they lose these interesting looks as they mature.

Charlie

Ok thanks Charlie , I thought something may have been wrong with them lol

I received 150 Seeds ! They finally came. I did not expect this much at all. I have a seed starter kit with 72 cells , I will grow half and start other seeds later. Since I am having success getting the seeds to grow I will probably have a huge jungle soon lol.

ROFL, you have your work cut out for you!  Now you just have to make room for your own hybrids, are these all ebay purchases?  If you really want to set seed, Belle is really good.  I have three seed pods forming atm, and they were pollinated when the temp has been around 95-102 every day.  Its even warmer now and the seed pods still look good.  I'm going to give her a break for now, her blooming has slowed down since the seed making, so I would like to see more blooms.  What also appeals to me about Belle is she is pretty compact growing, so you could get her to produce alot of flowers/seeds only taking a little space.  I know you don't want to use pinks, but she is such a good seed setter in even hot weather.  Saffron was pretty good in cool weather, hot weather not so much.  Maybe Charlie can give some incite as to how many of Belle's offspring are pink, so you can figure out if you want to use her for setting seed.  ;D

I like belle a lot even though its pink , I will think about it. I really have not been pollnating or getting lots of buds yet. cinnamon girl is blooming good and so is heartbreak hotel ( its recovering from shipping but full of buds)  voodoo and gator blooms good also. But of course they bloom on different days lol

Forgot to say none of the seeds are ebay purchases. People are only selling 5 seeds per auction and some ending @ $60 bucks. I would be broke just winning on auction lol I got mines for free from a IHS member

Heres an idea on how you can collect pollen and use them on other blooms even though the two aren't blooming at the same time. 

Since I do not have a bunch of plants that are also blooming what I do when I want to make a cross between two plants is I take a Q-tip and collect pollen right after they anthers burst open.  I then put it in a ziplock bag and mark what the pollen is from.  Next you just throw it in hte fridge for up to 4 days and it is usually viable.  This depends of the cv, and sometimes wetting the q tip first helps, but so far its worked good for me.  Not really cryogenics, but it lets you keep the pollen for a few days. 

The ebay seeds are insane, part of me wants to just collect seeds and sell them, especially if I am running out of room.  The problem is I want to see what the seedlings bloom as.   

Thanks for the tip , I knew about the fridge thing but I did not know how long it would last ! I will have to try this now, I assumed it only last 1-2 days in fridge it would have been pointless for me lol. I remember using a paint brush when i first got hibiscus. I think I like the brush better than the q tips .

OMG I was thinking the same thing ! I want to sell them but I want to see what they look like since I am low on space I will have to sell some just so I can feed my addiction.

I need to rent plant space from you  how much per sq ft ? :D

Me too!  I was thinking selling some seeds on Ebay could be a good idea to support my habit..haha

Well at least you would be able to justify getting all these plants and the amount you can make can offset how much you spend... well in a perfect world. :P

OK just got done planting all 162 seeds ! lol