Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

I have had my Gator for about 4 months and i would assume about 6 months with Charlie [maybe wrong] so making it about 10 months old. Its now about 1 meter tall and has many many buds and blooms every day.The problem i have is when they open they all droop down, well that's not strictly true if i give them a good feeding of Potassium they will point upwards  the next time they bloom. Being fairly new to growing i am not sure if its a good or bad thing to keep giving fairly large amounts of Potassium[ about once a week], or should i just live with the fact that this is the way Gator Pride behaves. Or maybe this is not how it behaves and i have got something a bit wrong, apart from the drooping blooms it truly is a stunning plant.

PS.Picked a couple of yesterday and took a picture of them with my grandson who is visiting me from England.

wow your courtyard and garden are beautiful!!

Great photo, David!

I think you will find that as Gator Pride grows older it will be able to hold the flowers up better. It will always have some sideways blooms and some downward facing ones but should also have some that are upwards, too. Also as the plant grows taller the sideways facing ones may be easier to see than those facing straight up. Below is a photo of a plant that is probably 3 years old and about 4 feet tall, 5 with the pot included. It is typical for Gator Pride in my conditions. I've also heard if the plant is exposed to more wind the peduncles grow shorter and are better able to hold the flowers upright although mine gets very little wind.

Potassium is good for strengthening the stems. Since the common form it is found in is potassium nitrate you have to be careful that the nitrogen does not burn leaves or roots but as long as that does not happen you can use it regularly.

Charlie

Thanks once again for the advice and nice to see a picture of  a whole plant [would be nice to see more but can understand why people want to just show of the blooms]. Like everyone else i like the blooms but equaly important to me is the plant its foliage and shape,also being a fairly new grower it gives me something to compare mine with and just seeing your picture of Gator tells me i will need to reposition mine in the garden. David.

This almost got the ax last year as it was to airy and for some reason aphids love it more then all my other Hibiscus. Glad I left it as it is a blooming machine.

Nice full bush, Len. Thanks for showing.

Charlie

I thought this was a great shot of late Fall weather coloring.

Len, that is some gorgeous flower. I can't wait for my small plant to start blooming.

Erny