Drooping braided hibiscus

16 years ago

I have one of those braided hibiscus that you see all over the place here in Houston. It is not the only one I have, but it is the only one with problems. It is planted in a pot on the patio with adequate light, but the leaves are becoming limp and droopy. It is happening to only one braid plant at a time, the first being about a month ago. I trimmed that one back and examined the leaves of the other two braids and found no bugs, etc. Now, the second tree braid is doing the same thing....drooping green leaves. The plant is just collapsing. The third braid still appears healthy with beautiful leaves. I've sprayed for pests even though I don't see any, but I am afraid I am losing this beautiful plant. Any ideas?

Comments (5)

birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Klt, I'm confused..is it one or three hibiscus? Toni
klt92
Original Author
16 years ago
Hopefulauthor--

It is 3 separate hibiscus plants (3 different colors) , but they are braided into one "tree". The trunk is braided and the canopy was (before the 2 plants wilted) green and full of three different colors of flowers. Really pretty. So, now I only have the canopy of 1 of the colors since the other 2 have wilted and I cut them back. The 3rd one is still holding strong, but I am so curious what happened to the other 2 plants in the braid. I am hoping that soon I will see new growth from where I cut them back and that they will survive. I just think this is really strange.
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Klt, wow, that hib sounds incredible..never heard or seen anything like it before..3 different colors..
I wonder if two of the plants are defective..it doesn't make sense you're doing something wrong if the one plant is still alive and well. Or maybe they messed something up while braiding..
Do u have a pic of these plants? Toni
elizabeth39
16 years ago
I have a braided hib as well; living in Michigan as we do, I would not have purchased it if I had known how difficult they are to keep healthy in cooler climes.

It was doing very, very well and then suddenly it started drooping just a few days ago. I suspect, and my local greenhouse keeper agree's, that it got a shock a few nights ago when the temperature dropped.

It didn't drop that much; but apparantly it was enough. Could you have had a dip in temperature recently? Tell me how it does, I am curious if it comes back, being a novice to hibiscus I will need all the advice I can get lol.
birdsnblooms
16 years ago
Elizabeth, how cold did it get the night temps dipped?
Actually, Hibs will be fine outside up to 40F degrees..
Perhaps there's another problem going on..was it recently repotted? Fertililzed? Too dry or wet soil? Insects?
Elizabeth, do you plan on overwintering the hib? Toni