There are many types and varieties of hibiscus. In the southern regions of both our country and abroad, Syrian hibiscus is widespread, it grows and blooms everywhere in the open air and pleases the eye with an abundance of flowers. There is also a houseplant, so I want to tell you about it. It is often called “Chinese rose tree”, but hibiscus has nothing to do with roses – this is the Malvov family.
Hibiscus ‘Double Mini Skirt’. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Blooming pleasure
Even 10 years ago, many indoor plant lovers knew only one of its varieties with bright burgundy double flowers forming a ball no more than 7-8 cm in diameter. children, Hibiscus is a long-liver and quickly grows from a small, handsome favorite of window sills into an indoor tree, and then completely moves to live in some institution with high ceilings.
There is a very similar specimen of the improved (with larger and double flowers) variety “Hamburg”. Perhaps, among today’s abundance of varieties, this is the most hardy, because it almost does not get sick and is extremely rarely affected by pests. Hibiscus growers use these very varieties as a rootstock for breeding more capricious and spectacular varieties. And now there are a huge number of them. Large suppliers from Holland and the USA do not get tired of developing more and more new varieties.
However, they rarely come to stores, as suppliers like to work “on order” with amateurs, hibiscus growers – wholesale customers. And here are the long-awaited beauties at home! It would seem, wait for flowering and enjoy the beauty. But … these are not at all “grandmother’s” hardy Spartans and a special approach to them. Here you need to be patient, put a lot of effort and knowledge so as not to lose your favorites. Although humility does not hurt either.
The plant can die despite care, and the cuttings, without giving roots, can dry out. Here are the problems with growing and pouring like peas from a leaky sack. On the sites of hibiscus growers in the topics “Problems of growing” – solid SOS! “Help, the plant is covered with some kind of sticky substance”, “Help, the leaves turn yellow and fall off!”, “What to do, the buds fall off” … and so on and so forth. Why is this happening? Are you guilty of crafty, self-interested suppliers who are interested in buying more? I would not rush to blame them, and here’s why:
Hibiscus. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Petar Tiholov
- Western suppliers are focused on Western consumers, for whom a flower in a pot does not differ much from a bouquet. Sell it either abundantly flowering, or with a large number of buds. Such a plant has blossomed for a week or a month – excellent! You can throw it away and buy another. Indoor floriculture is not very common among Western consumers: a mild climate, lush flora and a special mentality. The plant is bought as decoration for the interior. Although, of course, collectors are everywhere, but for this it is necessary to have a greenhouse. And this business is troublesome and costly and, I repeat, is necessary only for collectors. Suppliers do not think about the Russian consumer who wants to preserve the flower “for life”, they don’t need it.
- “Why, after all, do the leaves turn yellow, then they will go with spots, then with stains, then the buds will fall off?” – Russian flower growers are racking their brains. From overfeeding with hormones and other stimulants of growth and flowering. This is a common practice for suppliers. And how else to grow an expensive plant in a short time so that it is attractive and competitive? And also – from the dramatically changed conditions of detention! Business is business. Whole laboratories are struggling to develop rare varieties. Russians who are not spoiled by such luxury, looking at catalogs, lose their heads and are ready to buy to the maximum. In this sense, we are the Klondike for them!
But here are the long-awaited beauties at our home, and we circle around them: and diligently water and fertilize, spray, but … our wards are capricious, right up to “suicide”. What, to give up such beauty? In no case! This is where knowledge, work, love and patience come in handy. Flowers in autumn, transferred from the summer balcony, verandah to a heated apartment, to the windowsill are especially affected.
The time has come – the effect of stimulant drugs has ended, and the sun does not always look into the windows of residents of the middle and more northern parts of our country, room heating batteries and other floral inconveniences are in full swing. So they start to break and the hibiscus go on strike: “We are not” Grandmothers “for you, give us what we love, we have different leaves, denser and more rough, and in general we are special!”
What are we doing? We urgently hang up the batteries with wet towels or simply folded in several rows of bike blankets. We buy stimulants (Epin, Energen and others), add them to the water for daily spraying, and even better – to the water of humidifiers and sometimes to the water for irrigation. We arrange additional lighting. And most importantly – watering: hibiscus waterlogs, but these are only adult plants, the young should be watered carefully, only when the clod of earth dries up. And good drainage is essential. And careful ventilation, no draft!
After all, our favorites are typical inhabitants of greenhouses and you need to accustom them to indoor conditions gradually, although it is still advisable, if there is a balcony or loggia, to insulate them and make a real house for the plants. By the summer, watering with the addition of stimulants must be reduced to naught. Yes, they will not bloom so often, but we will extend their life. And a little more about the “sticky substance” flowing down the stem.
Usually this is hibiscus nectar, a phenomenon uncharacteristic for “Babushkin”, but it is better to make sure more precisely – if we do not find the inhabitants under the leaves with the help of a magnifying glass, there is nothing to worry about. Although, in the open air in summer or with open windows, flies and other insects can flock to it. What to do? We put the plant under a slightly warm shower.
Hibiscus. Farmer Burea-Uinsurance.com Hibiscus
In conclusion, I will allow myself the advice of an experienced florist. Before putting together a collection of indoor hibiscus (spending a lot), you need to measure your capabilities. Will we be able to create the necessary conditions for them? A large collection requires a greenhouse, time for care and considerable means for comfortable maintenance, the plants quickly turn into large-sized plants (however, it all depends on the variety).
But nothing can frighten a real lover – he buys, creates conditions, up to the infringement of his own, grafts, germinates, changes by cuttings, boasts and takes pride in flowering, finally – he enjoys not only flowering, but also the growing process itself! The life of hibiscus growers, as evidenced by numerous sites, is in full swing.
This is a very exciting activity – growing hibiscus, every morning to run to the bud that has gained strength. What’s in there? Over time, it turns into a passion for some. And who knows, maybe some copies will be passed on to our children and grandchildren, and will be in the category of “Grandma’s” in terms of endurance?
