Need a top heavy hibiscus solution

[Ellen]

The 2015 new babies all arrived in fine shape considering their trip to the east coast, altho it was a near thing.  I bought 4 plants in 6" pots because there were no 4" available.  They are almost as tall as I am and will not stand up outside unless there's no wind.  And some of the plants in 4" pots are too tall to stand also.  So far they are all lounging on their sides except when being watered and seem to be doing fine with that, but I wish I could come up with a way to weight them so they could stand upright.  I know from bitter experience that going to bigger pots is a bad, bad idea.  2 years ago I put granite rocks in the bottom of the pots, which turned out to be a bad, bad idea too.  Last year I tied them to the porch rail with baling twine, and while this worked, sort of, aesthetically it left much to be desired.  Any suggestions?  We live in western NC on top of "Breezy Hill"

[Kathleen]

Hi Ellen.  I know exactly what you are talking about.  I have the very same problem and resolved it, along with a few other problems, by using small garden pebbles.  I place the small pot inside a larger pot.  I put a good layer of the pebbles on the bottom of the large pot, put the smaller pot on top of them and then fill the space on the sides with more pebbles.  So far, I have only tried this with smaller (4" - 6" pots) because it makes the larger plants to heavy for me to move around. It seems to be working well and takes care of a few of  my problems.  The plants don't tip over in the wind, the soil is staying moist longer since the hot sun is not beating directly on the small, black pots, and it helps with drainage since the pots aren't  sitting directly on the ground, blocking the drainage holes.  (I changed my potting mix also...but that's another topic)  So far, this seems to be working out very well.

Kathleen

[Merkity]

My plants keep falling over as well due to the wind in our area.  i have several in different sized pots, so i have start creatively huddling the pots so that they support each other - not the ideal solution if you want them spread out, but it works for now and helps keep windburn down as well.

[Charlie]

The HVH plants are intended to be transplanted into larger pots shortly after arrival - like within a couple of weeks. They are mostly much too large for the pots they are in when shipped. It should not be a problem, all that is needed is good potting mix and the hibiscus transplant easily. Only thing to avoid is overpotting - put 6 inch plants into 8 or 10 inch pots and the 4 inch into 6 or 8 inch pots the first year.

The wind issue has been dealt with over the years in numerous creative ways. Some people did a hole the size of the pot and place the pot down in the hole so that it cannot tip over. Others have taken poles of different types and slid them down the inside of the pot and out one of the drainage holes and well into the earth below. The pole prevents the pot from tipping over. You can use bamboo poles but since they eventually rot it is better to buy poles from garden centers made out of fiberglass or other material. You can even use rebar from Home Depot which is cheap and strong.

Another solution some have used is to buy large and heavy Mexican clay pots (also fairly cheap and Hope Depot and elsewhere) and place the plastic pot inside of the heavy clay pot.

If anyone finds any other solutions that work for them we would like to hear about it!

Charlie

[Kyle]

There are a few things that I do for this.  Prune and don't be shy about it, but since my grow season is so short I try to resist myself from doing it this time of year.   I also like to put a smaller pot inside a larger pot to help with stability but you need to be creative.     Another way is to get a bunch of bungee cords various sizes and bungee the pots down to something.  I found that you can't just bungee a pot to the ground unless you have something to attach the bungee to.  If you set your pots on a bench or plant stand, you can bungee  the top of the pot to the bench.   Again, creativity comes into play. 
You can also use plant ties and I prefer the padded  ones to  help keep the branches from blowing to much and tipping over but they also need to be secured to something. 
Like Merkity was saying, if you can group all the pots up so each pot uses each other for support it will help.     Be cautious of certain pots that tip easy.   Many pots are large at the top and taper down to the bottom which is poor for stability.    I like to use square pots since they are more stable for me and the bungees can run perpendicular across the pots.   I have also used wooden paint stirs with square pots since the stirs act as crutches under the lips of the pots in all 4 directions so the pots don't tip.
This is why I love houseplants, no wind!! 
   

[Charlie]

Good suggestions, Kyle! First time I've heard the bungee cord idea, I like it. As you said, be creative and figure out what works in any given situation.

Charlie

[Gil]

When my 24 inch pots start being blown over due to 6-10 foot tall plants, I lay them on the side and push a 4 foot piece of rebar through one of the drainage holes in the bottom. I try to use a hole that would not come up directly near the plant. After it sticks out the top of the pot, I stand the pot back up, and hammer the rebar about 1 foot into the ground.

[Brenden]

Ever since I bought my first plants from  hvh, I cannot stop learning about them, as well as everything  else green! I now grow carnivorous  plants, and attempting  to grow fruit trees from seed, what I learned that might me helpful. The guy I wax watching on YouTube said, orange trees benefit from windy conditions, essentially   conditioning  them, and making them more sturdy. I WONDER if a gradual  oscillating fan  often would help strengthen it, practice makes perfect right?

[Charlie]

For sure windier conditions produce thicker stems and sturdier plants than seen in greenhouse or indoor hibiscus. Not sure if a fan would be sufficient to cause this result but it wouldn't hurt either, and would provide some of the air circulation that hibiscus also benefit from.

The rebar idea is a good one, used by people with lots of big plants who need a solution to too much wind blowing their pots over.

Charlie

[Brenden]

Haha, if only breaking  stems like bones had the same effect