Slow growing Hibiscus seedling

9 years ago

Hello,

This past April, I planted about 6 hibiscus seedlings that I had collected from my backyard. Having never done it before, I did my best to cultivate them. All of them sprouted, but the one pictured is the only one that made it.

My question is, it has now been seven months and my seedling is only about three inches tall. It seems from the research I've done this little guy should be twice as big. I keep it in a Southern facing window during the day and have it under a lamp during the evenings. I worry about putting it outside as I have always had issues with spider mites and I definitely don't want this little one to die. The plants starter leaves went yellow and fell off about two months ago, but no other issues are apparent. I use a specially formulated hibiscus fertilizer about once a month (very low dose).

Does anyone have any other ideas to get this little guy growing faster?

Thank you!

Featured Answer

merkity

9 years ago

sometimes is just the plant - if you have checked the roots and they are not bound in any way. if you are giving it fertilizer and plenty of light and warmth - well it could just be like mine. i started a batch in june. many of the seedlings are over a foot tall while a few are still only 3 in tall.... if you look at the little guy front right compared to the one next it...big difference. they have been treated the same. in fact all the seedlings in that tray are the same ( except the gloxinia lurking in the background)

Comments (6)

Dustin Rae
9 years ago
I have had quite a few seedlings that were left behind so to speak. It is usually a light issue. Not sure what part of the states your in, but hibs need 12+ hours of really good quality light to grow/bloom well especially from seed.

I have mine under a grow light fixtures with a timer that auto regulates when the light turns on and off keeping the correct time cycle- since it sounds like the plant is in perpetual light try switching it to a normal plant cycle of 12 hours light 12 hours no light.

There are different cycles you can put it on, also how warm is it? My seedlings stayed small after I started them in the fall indoors- once summer and temperatures came up to about 75-80 they took off.

The plant could also just produce poor offspring- I have had a cross I performed nearly 3 years ago and sprouted seeds and gave them to friends- three years later some of these older plants are still only 4-5 inches tall :-( I have checked in on my friends and they seem to be doing everything right so it might be the seedling itself. Since one of them I kept and it is now over 4 feet tall while another is also dwarfed.

Anyhow check the temps and then I would try fixing your light cycles.
palmfan
9 years ago
Great advice! Hibiscus like to be warm, but also need good light. We are now in a real slow time of year for hibiscus growth if north of South Florida.
palmfan
9 years ago
Great advice! Hibiscus like to be warm, but also need good light. We are now in a real slow time of year for hibiscus growth if north of South Florida.
Gail Stevens-Cryer
8 years ago
HEY MERKITY... BEEN AWHILE:)... ANYWAY HOW DO U GEEMINATE UR HIBISCUS SEEDS ???... THOUGHT I'D GIVE IT AGO BUT NIT SURE HOW...
merkity
8 years ago
hi! - I like to use the nick and shell method... I nick the seed, soak for 24 hours and then remove the shell. if i am feeling lazy then i will only nick the shell to allow germination to begin faster. by removing the shell i find out quickly which seeds are empty or not as big as they should be.

even if you just soak the seed for 24 hours and then plant you should see germination within a week. but you don't know ahead of time which seeds are bad.

some people will start their seeds in a wet paper towel and they have great results - i don't really have the time to watch them closely enough in a towel so i put them right into dirt after shelling them.

germination tends to be about 50-80% of the seeds and then some of the seedlings simply don't thrive.