How to grow Chinese hibiscus? Home cultivation and everyday care methods
Chinese hibiscus is very easy to grow and has the trait of flowering on new shoots, which means we need to prune and fertilize diligently. Every year around early spring, before and after moving it outdoors, prune and shape it: on each branch, leave 2-3 buds at the base and cut off everything above. After pruning, because the aboveground part consumes less, water and fertilizer should be moderately restricted. This way it will keep blooming throughout the flowering period.
Chinese hibiscus likes warmth, humidity and full sun, and is not drought-tolerant or cold-tolerant. In the north it needs to be grown in a pot. When the temperature drops to 14°C at the lowest, it is advisable to move it indoors (except in an enclosed balcony where the temperature can be controlled), so it can still keep blooming.
Chinese hibiscus blooming under a blue sky
Chinese hibiscus likes water, and many flower lovers have let it die from lack of water by overlooking this (but you cannot just water it desperately because it likes water; you still have to go by how dry or moist the soil is). Fertilizing should mainly be light and frequent, applying a dilute liquid fertilizer once every 7-10 days. Note that less fertilizer should be applied later on, to avoid triggering autumn shoots. Autumn shoots are tender and have weak cold resistance, and will suffer cold damage in cold weather.
For potted Chinese hibiscus at home, you need to prevent the plant shape from becoming too large and too tall, while also making the branches lush and getting the hibiscus to bloom more. The best solution is to cut the main trunk back at 5-10 cm, keep 3-4 main branches, and on each main branch keep another 2-3 side branches, pruning the whole plant into a shrub-like form so that the branches are full and lush.
Because every bud that Chinese hibiscus sprouts in spring can develop into a branch, letting them all grow will cause disordered branch growth, leggy growth and fewer flowers. So you should promptly remove diseased and weak buds, parallel buds, overlapping buds, inward-facing buds and upright buds, and keep thick and strong buds, outward-facing buds and sparse buds, so that the buds form a reasonable distribution of space.
Since Chinese hibiscus is sun-loving, it should be given full light in summer. Insufficient light easily causes flower buds to drop, flowers to become smaller and flower color to fade. Because Chinese hibiscus often produces many buds, besides ample sunlight it also needs plenty of water and fertilizer. During the peak flowering period in summer, depending on the temperature and how dry or moist the potting soil is, water 1-2 times a day, but do it so that you water when dry and let it dry between waterings, and water thoroughly when completely dry, to prevent root rot from waterlogging in high temperatures. Watering is best done before 9 a.m. or after 17:00, to minimize the temperature difference between the air and the water.
At home, you can first put the water in a basin in the sun for 2-3 hours before watering the flowers. At midday, you can spray water on the leaves and around the flower pot to lower the leaf surface temperature and maintain air humidity. The flowers of Chinese hibiscus are very tender, so you must not spray water directly on the flowers, otherwise it will very easily scorch them. Fertilizing is best with a compound fertilizer that is well absorbed and quick-acting. Every 7-10 days you can spray the leaves once with 0.2% monopotassium phosphate, to make the leaves emerald green and produce more flower buds.
In summer, also pay attention to timely pruning, continuing to remove excess sprouts, so that every flowering branch has a reasonable space to grow. Summer and autumn are seasons when pests and diseases are very likely to occur, so every 10-15 days spray a mixture of 10% chulintong at 1000 times and 70% thiophanate-methyl at 2000 times, which prevents both disease and insects.
During the summer flowering period of Chinese hibiscus, bud drop easily occurs. From a physiological standpoint, this is a manifestation of the plant's own self-regulation, and the grower should try to create a growing environment with full sun, air humidity of about 70%, and a temperature of 25°C-28°C during the day and about 15°C at night, to reduce the occurrence of bud drop.
Chinese hibiscus is extremely intolerant of cold, so whether it can safely overwinter is key. Generally, when the temperature drops to about 15°C, the potted Chinese hibiscus should be moved indoors, placed in a ventilated, sunny spot and given as much light as possible. Otherwise, the leaves will turn yellow and drop. But note that the temperature should also not exceed 20°C; too high a temperature will cause leggy branches and leaves and likewise make overwintering difficult.
In winter the potting soil should maintain a relative humidity of 30%, and you should not water heavily. In winter, generally no fertilizing is needed; at most apply a little trace liquid fertilizer. In the cold winter, you can cover the Chinese hibiscus with a plastic bag and poke a few small breathing holes in the plastic bag, so that it can safely overwinter under relatively warm conditions.