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radovan_gw

Hardy Hibiscus rooted late?

radovan
16 years ago

I rooted some very young twigs of Luna Red and Luna Blush

hibiscus in a 2 L coca cola bottles. They smal and young looking very healthy. I have to plant them outside. Will they survive harsh cold winter in my backyard?

They are young and still don't have that "chunky" root for the winter. Big and old hibiscuses do survive winters in my area. I am in Brampton, Ontario, Kanada.

Comments (9)

  • katrina1
    16 years ago

    I asked a similar question about mine, and got lots of advice to plant them, Others said to let them go dormant and over winter them in a cool room, or the garage.

    If you have long winters that keep the ground covered with snow, that should shelter yours more than mine which are in a 6b/7a winter tollerance area and which gets winter temperature swings that often rise and fall above and below freezing. Or at other times for a night or two can even sink down to single digit degrees F. with no snow cover to help insulate such plants.

    I have four rooted cuttings that are similar to what you describe yours to be. Those of mine, I plan to over winter in the garage once they go dormant.

    My others that have been growing in 4 inch pots all summer and now need repotting are ones of mine which I am attempting to train to be single leader small trees. They seem to have thick enough trunks just above the root flares, so they should survive as long as this week, I plant them in a sheltered area, and then dig and repot them again, early next spring, just before they break dormancy.

  • katrina1
    16 years ago

    I asked a similar question about tiny rooted cuttings I took from my 'Blue Satin' Rose of Sharon hardy hibiscus, and got lots of advice to plant them, Others said to let them go dormant and over winter them in a cool room, or the garage. Another suggested I plant them in a starter bed and dig them in the spring to either repot or plant in the desired landscape bed.

    My first conclusion was to do the overwintering them in the garage thing after they went dormant later this fall.

    Changed my mind though, today after I slipped the pots away and saw a much better amount of root growth than each of the four little two inch tall main leader trunks and small canopies on the tops would be expected to have.

    Now, that I just planted them in a topsoil/shredded pinebark bed, which has settled in all year, they most likely, even after they go dormant, will still need me to cover them with milk cartons during our upcoming winter freezing time events.

    As far as the heat of the day will affect them, the bed is along the east side of my house which has a stone wall siding, so they will get morning and noon day sun with 2pm through dusk shade. Even though they get afternoon shade the stones in the nearby wall should help them in the winter by radiating out the warmth they stored from the morning sun's radiant heating affect when the skys are not too cloudy.

    There was a fresh application of osmokote slow release, non-burning fertilizer in the pots, so when I planted these I just settled the dirt around the potting soil and roots with water, into which I had added half the suggested dosage of Espoma Bio-tone Starter Microbial Plant Food. That starter at full dosage contains among other things, only 3 percent nitrogen, so I feel pretty confident I did not cause the roots to burn by using that addative in the water.

    I know my zone 6b/7a winters will cause different problems which these tender new rootings will need protection from compared to your area and your rootings, but generally some of the aspects I mention above still could apply in your situation.

  • radovan
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Hi katarina,

    I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for your exhausted advice. i will try to hide them in my shade (a little house in the backyard) although it freezes inside.
    I have no room anywhere else. You are at least a bit luckier bcs your area is much warmer.

    Thanks again, Radovan

  • katrina1
    16 years ago

    How cold does it get in the place you will keeping them this winter?

    Are you certain you do not have a place to put them which would keep them in about 40 degree F. temperatures or above 0 degrees C. this winter?

    If you do not have a basement,or crawl space under your home to keep them over the winter, then is there a way you can store them in your home's attic?

    Just make certain that however and where you store them you will be able to check them once in a while to make certain their soil is not allowed to go completely dry. Even though, when they are dormant, they do not need very much moisture, it will still put them at risk if the soil is allowed to dry out.

  • radovan
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    hi katrina1, thanks a lot. it does freeze in my shade very much. i do have a crawl space (cold room) and it does not go under 0*C but close to that sometimes, it is in basement and i use it for my fig containers to hide from cold. i will try to squeeze hibiscus too but it's too many containers for small room and i am an addict to hibiscuses, hydrangeas and figs:-)
    i'll try. thanks again, Radovan originally from Yugoslavia,

  • katrina1
    16 years ago

    Good idea, especially if your area receives long cold winters. Maybe next spring just after your last possible late freeze, you can plant them into a nursery type bed which will encourage them to grow and root well enough to overwinter well in the ground in the 2008-9 winter freeze times. That is as long as you can still give them a little protection during the coldest times if is there is no snow cover to protect them.

    I can not imagine that my four which I rooted this year and which I transplanted into the Azalea beds a few weeks ago will be ready to plant in their landscape spots for another two or three growing seasons. I sure hope they live through the winter; as long as, once they go dormant and just prior to any forecasted hard freeze times this winter, I protect them with milk carton covers, and maybe with sheets during any late frosts next spring.

  • radovan
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    hi katarina1,

    sorry if I bother you too much but just one more thing; you say milk carton covers, Do you mean those squared cartons that holds milk and when we finish drinking milk that square carton you put upside down over your young plants? I do not drink milk (allergies) but could you tell me what size to buy or where can I buy bigger ones, and do you make holes on the top or just leave as they are. I am sorry if it sounds silly but I want to make sure I understand it. Thanks, Radovan

  • katrina1
    16 years ago

    I was talking about half gallon, square bottomed milk cartons that in height are rectangular and about 7 inches tall; not the clear plastic gallon and half gallon jugs. Do the stores in Canada sell such type products?

    In the US Tropicana, Minute Maid, and other juice companies also sell their half gallon orange and other juices in the same kinds of waxed cardboard cartons.

    My reasoning for thinking of using those is because, in my zone 6b/7a, most of the winter's hard freeze episodes here do not last very long before temps rise again at least 10 to 25 F. degrees higher the next day or so.

    Also, I planted them so close to the eastern rock wall of my house, so I feel certain that the planting bed soil area will remain fairly warm even during the coldest part of our winters. The cartons are mainly just to keep the cold winter air and the radiant heat of the winter sun from damaging the tender young twig like trunks of my new rootings.

    To answer your other question, I will open the top of the carton, turn the carton upside down and put it over each rooting, while pushing the opened top flaps down into the pinebark soil bed. Also; no, I do not plan to cut a hole in the bottom of the carton which once in place will be at the top. I figure that, as long as the rootings are dormant and have dropped their leaves they will not need any light. Too, I will not be creating a vacumn under the carton, because air should still be able to enter from the loose shredded pine bark soil bed where the rootings are planted.

    Please keep in mind, though, that I am not trying to mislead you into thinking that such thin sealed cardboard type cartons will be enough to protect your rootings; especially, if you keep them outside during the winters that you get in your colder climate. Of course your rootings might be fine if you first install a thick layer of mulch over the planting bed and cover your rootings with the cartons I mentioned and then thickly pile up mulch to cover them or secure some batted insulation over the cartons.

    If you need cartons taller than 6 inches high, you might consider covering all your rootings with those plastic, large storage containers; like those, which home supply stores; Target and Wallmart sell in the US. If you can find large and deep enough plastic storage containers in your area and choose to use them, make sure that you cover them with a secured blanket or other type of insulated covering which will keep the winter sun from shining into the plastic containers and causing the rootings to overheat and even steam, just in case there is enough heat and moisture in the soil beneath for that to happen.

  • radovan
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    katrina1, thank you so much. Now I understand it. I will be busy this coming fall covering everything, I have to otherwise I will have nothing growing in the spring.
    Thank you, thank you very much. Radovan

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