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cold snap

12 years ago

Here in the stl area were supposed to get some upper 30s for a couple of nights. My hardy hibiscus have just started to leaf out. Should I cover them during these temps or will they be ok?

Comment (1)

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years ago
Even if they were to get some frost damage this early, the worst that would happen is it would kill the apical meristem (growing tip), which would actually be like pinching & cause more branching. I always pinch my hardy hibs hard to increase the number of blooms. When they're 12-18" tall. I pinch back to the lowest 2 healthy leaves, which increases the number of stems considerably and makes the plants sturdier.

Al

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