Hi, I bought a tropical hibiscus a few days ago. I'm living in the Philippines and hibiscus are common and grow well, but it's hard to find the more exotic hybrids and such here (they are just too expensive for most here to afford).

Anyway, when I found one that was more beautiful than the more native varieties, I bought it even though I knew I was going to have to give it some special care. It has already been air layered on 4 of the branches.

No doubt, the vendor I bought it from was going to use this as a parent plant to create more of the same variety to sell.

The problem is, if I carry out the plan she started, I'll have 4 small hibiscus and one very pruned hibiscus. I'd much prefer to keep one larger hibiscus.

What's my best chance at being able to keep those branches on the plant? I'm hoping they didn't fully remove the cambium and it will heal.... If not, there's no chance it will ever grow back together, I suppose. I was wondering if I might want to just cut the air layers off and graft the branches right back where they came from. It's a crazy thought, and maybe the amount of time it would take the branches to rebound after being grafted isn't worth the effort anyway.

Just curious what you guys think.

Maybe the only thing to do is wait and see what happens.

At what point will I know that for sure the branch needs to be removed and any hope of it maintaining a complete connection to the parent plant is gone?