Cajun Hibiscus
I was given a Cajun Hibiscus. It was doing fine, but pot bound. I repotted it in Expert Potting Soil, which is equivalent to Miracle Grow, in fact I like it better. Now most of it's big beautiful leaves are turning yellow and falling off. Any suggestions?
Sharon
Comments (15)
Bag of Bees
14 years agoI don't know anything about this sort of stuff, but I did see a thread with a concern similar to yours. Maybe you can find your answer here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hibisc/msg032054353869.html?7
Here is a link that might be useful: Other thread
mommaval
14 years agoKatladie....I don't know the problem either, but my neighbor & I have several different cajun hibiscus....we have both repotted each as we buy them and all of mine are green, healthy leaves, however, today we inspected hers closely and most of them are turning yellow leaves one at a time from the bottom. There are no insects or any disease that we can tell, but the only thing I came up with is that I have boosted all of mine with epsom salt & fish emulsion and she has only used miracle grow. So, tomorrow, I will treat hers as I do mine and see if it makes a difference. Is your's continuing to put out new leaves and new growth as the lower older leaves yellow & fall??? This seems to be what hers is doing. We both have ours in the same indirect sunlight also...so hopefully the epsom salt & fish fertilizer will help. Mine are growing thick green leaves wonderfully and three different plants have bloomed....only one of her's has bloomed and there are not many buds on any of hers while mine are full of buds, like 8 to 10 per plant. Update me on what you have tried as far as watering & fertilizing on yours, it might give me some ideas.
wally_1936
14 years agoI don't know what a Cajun Hibiscus is but most of these hardy or bog-swamp hibiscus drop their leaves when it gets so hot and dry like the weather we are having now. It protects the plant and helps preventing them from losing too much moisture but will put on more leaves later when the weather turns and gives us more rain and a little cooler weather.
mommaval
14 years agoSharon...how is the plant doing??? After the epsom salt & fish fertilizer treatment to all of my neighbor's cajun hibiscus, they are all doing great. Mine are continuing to thrive also...give us an update!!!!
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
14 years agoI wish someone would give the latin name for what is being called a Cajun Hibiscus. I'm curious.
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
14 years agoThank you so much for the information. That was exactly what I was looking for. So many people use common names for their plants and some times those common names are regional and mean different plants to different people. So Cajun Hibiscus is just a variety of Rosa Sinensis, or as I call them Tropical Hibiscus. And yes, they are beautiful and actually what I was considering for myself....As I've been reading up on them, I noticed that they really dislike having too much phospherous in their fertilizer (the P in NPK). Maybe that was the problem with the original posters question. The fertilizer in her potting soil was too high in P. Just a thought.
twebbz
13 years agoI purchased a "Creole Lady" from Logee's recently and the flower isn't the grey with orange ruffled edge that they picture...not yet anyway. I've had discussions with them and they did say the color changes with temperature. My first bloom was pink in the center to half way out, then yellow, the orange edge. The second bloom was this way only semi-double. The third and fourth were pinkish grey from the center, brown yellow then orange. Today's blooms with the temp near 100 on the patio are pink, grey, yellow, then orange. I'll be interested to see what they are like when the weather cools a bit.
retsec
13 years agoMommaval, I sent you an email about the epson salts. How much do you use?
Nancy
retsecjackieras2
13 years agoHere is a link for Cajun hibicus that has pictures of the ones Depont is referring to.
heidiho
12 years agoI've had mine for 2 yrs. No blooms or buds yet. It seems to be healthy with beautiful green leaves. I've fed it flower bloom food by Miracle gro and other things. I've moved it to several different locations outdoors and nothing changes.
Tomorrow I will try the epson salt and fish immulsion and see if that works.I have no problem with the regular hibiscus that I have. Blooms everyday.
Why am I not getting flowers?AMaji
12 years agoHeidi,
Hibiscus plants need a lot of Potassium (the last of the N-p-K numbers) to bloom. The traditional bloom foods contain more Phosphorus (the middle number) and it is in general bad for hibiscus plants. Hibiscus really needs a very small of phosphorus and too much of it can not only stunt flowering but prove lethal to the plant. Epsom Salt and Fish emulsion will help with the leafing of the plants. You should look for fertilizers with high K numbers like,http://www.hiddenvalleynaturearts.com/acatalog/fertilizersnutrition.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Carl-Pool-Hibiscus-Food-4lbs/dp/B000FPL680
http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/products/GM_BananaFuel_20-5-30_05LB.html (even though it says bananas, hibs love it).
I use a mix of the banana fuel and the following one.
http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/products/GM_28-8-18_05LB.html
Hope this helps.
mommaval