growing hollyhocks in singapore

16 years ago

Hi,

I live in Singapore. It's an equatorial tropical climate, high humidity, generally warm all year round (20+ to 30+ degrees Celsius, zone 11 by a long shot). I planted some hollyhock (summer carnival) seeds last April and they've germinated and grown all year, rather slowly, although the leaves are big and green and look healthy enough. The lowest leaves turn yellow and shrivel and fall off at roughly the same rate as new leaves show up, so for a few months now there's been pretty much no net change. Are they okay?

When I look for information on the web the sites all mention things like winter, which Singapore doesn't have. Without obvious seasonal changes, will my hollyhocks ever flower?

Thanks.

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Comments (7)

abq_bob
16 years ago
Hmmm. I believe some, if not most, hollyhocks are biennial, which means they need to go through a true winter/dormant season in order to bloom their second season. I'm not absolutely positive on this, but it seems that's how my own hollyhocks acted when I first planted them several years ago.
sylviatexas1
16 years ago
I'm only in zone 8a here, but the hollyhocks do lose their lower leaves as they grow new ones from the top.

I have a few zebrina hollyhocks, a native or species type.

They never go dormant, & they do eventually bloom;
first year, they grow leaves,
first winter, they sit there like big green blobs,
second year, they flower & make seed.

I'd hang in there & see what happens the second year.

Best luck!
alphard
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the advice. The company that distributes the seeds claims that all the species it sells will grow in a tropical climate, but I get worried when I keep seeing it listed as a temperate plant.

The 'Summer Carnival' strain is supposed to bloom in its first year, which is why I'm particularly worried.
frmmi
15 years ago
This is a little off topic. I'm thinking of a Singapore move. Would customs allow me to mail or carry some small acai palms in?

Thanks Sylvia for posting on my acai threads with the guy spamming out his website. It makes our informational forums silly when these people make usernames and advertize.
alphard
Original Author
15 years ago
i'm not so sure about mail, but for carrying plants the following website might help:

http://www.ava.gov.sg/InformationForTravellers/BringPlants/index.htm

i found that by following links from the singapore customs website, as below:

http://www.customs.gov.sg/leftNav/trav/dut/Controlled+Goods.htm

hope that helps. meanwhile my hollyhocks continue neither to bloom nor to grow taller, but there are these little green nubs at the nodes where the lower leaves are (or were) and i'm not sure what they are. new leaves? or are they finally putting out flower stalks?

alphard
sylviatexas1
15 years ago
Can you post photos?

The nubs might be the beginnings of new leaves or they might be buds.
alphard
Original Author
15 years ago
here are some photos. as you can see i still have pretty much no stem.

detail here:

the green bits grow out of the stem just at the base of where the old leaves were. it's been a month since i took these photos and there's been no change in the situation, so i guess maybe they're not buds. but they don't grow out like leaves either. what are they?