Little hibiscus lollipop shape, a single stem holding up a round ball of flowers, absolutely beautiful

In recent years, lollipop-shaped plants have whipped up a real trend in the gardening world. Lollipops are simple, pretty and easy to make, perfect for an amateur gardener like me to DIY. A single stem topped with a round blob is a lollipop; just prune the plant into that shape and you have yourself a lollipop.

There are many plants suitable for making lollipops, such as lavender, rosemary, marguerite daisy, camellia, cypress, bay tree and so on. As long as it has a woody main stem and small, dense branches and leaves, I think it is suitable for making a lollipop.

Here I will introduce how to grow a little hibiscus lollipop (the little hibiscus mentioned here is not the hibiscus commonly used in landscaping; the difference is like that between a giant panda and a red panda).

Step1

A young seedling that has not been pinched. The little hibiscus you buy online has usually been pinched, so here I suggest propagating your own by cuttings: take a semi-woody, intact branch and insert it into a loose, breathable medium with no fertilizer, such as perlite or vermiculite (Xiaoyi usually just sticks it into a flower pot).

Step2

After about two weeks, the little hibiscus cutting has rooted. We plant it in a small pot, commonly known as temporary planting. After leaving it in a cool, ventilated place for two days, it can be placed in a sunny spot for normal care.

Step3

Highlight! After a week of normal care, strip off all the leaves below the main stem, yes, all of them! Leave only one top! The look is as shown in the picture.

Step4

When the main stem reaches a height of about 20 cm, you can plant the little hibiscus into a large pot of one gallon or more. Xiaoyi's soil is generally whatever is on hand, with the basic principle that a ladle of water should seep through in a few seconds. Put in the base fertilizer (chicken manure, cake fertilizer, bone meal, etc.), mix in a slow-release fertilizer, and that's it. Give it some water-soluble fertilizer (general-purpose organic nutrient solution) when you think of it; the important thing is plenty of strong sun! After 2 to 3 months of this care, the main stem may reach one meter, and the side buds that appear during this time are likewise stripped off, keeping the top 3 buds.

Step5

When the main stem is about to reach the desired height, since the main stem is very thin and long, it needs support at this point. Find a sufficiently stiff stick, insert it into the flower pot, and secure it using the figure-8 tying method.

Step6

Start keeping the top side branches. When there are 6-8 side branches, pinch the main stem; once the main stem loses apical dominance, the side branches will burst out buds like crazy. Basically, prune once a month, with the overall direction being to shape it round. Repeat this for 3 months and the lollipop is pretty much done, then just sit back and wait for it to bloom!

Step7

By this time it is about late March, and the little hibiscus begins to form flower buds. With a water-soluble blooming fertilizer once a week, your little hibiscus lollipop is done!