Hibiscus

Mallow family. Homeland Southeast Asia.

Hibiscus Chinese (or Chinese rose) species Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is widespread in culture. The name was given by Karl Linnaeus, and literally translated as the Rose of China. This species is the national flower of Malaysia. In the literature, this plant is found with the name Rosan Chinese.

Sometimes hibiscus is confused with room rose, but this is a completely different plant.

Hibiscus species

• Chinese hibiscus is an evergreen shrub, 70 to 1.5 m tall at home. The leaves are whole, ovate or lanceolate, with a serrated or wavy margin on long petioles. Hibiscus blooms quite easily with good care with large flowers, up to 12 cm in diameter. Flowering can be abundant and long - from spring to autumn, although the flowers do not last long - about two days. Flowers come in different shades - orange, yellow, red, pink or white, as well as different shapes - simple or terry.
• There are varieties with variegated leaves, such as Hibiscus rosa-sinensis var. cooperi Cooper's hibiscus (in the first photo) - it has elongated leaves (up to 10-12 cm long and 3 cm wide) and cream and pink specks on a light green background. Branch very well.
• Hibiscus linden hibiscus tiliaceus is an evergreen tree with leaves shaped like linden rounded oval, about 8-15 cm in diameter, simple or lobed, usually serrated. The flowers are large, five-petalled, similar to the flowers of abutilon, in the morning - yellow, blushing in the evening. There is a variegate shape with variegated leaves.

Hibiscus is a wonderful plant to grow at home, suitable for beginner florists and easily blooms at an early age.

Hibiscus - home care

Temperature

Hibiscus is thermophilic, although it is satisfied with any temperature optimal for growth of 20-25 ° C, flowers wilt faster at a higher temperature, and in general hibiscus adapts easily in any conditions. For summer, it is better to take the plant to the garden or balcony, to fresh air, but the place should be protected from the wind and a little shaded. In winter, coolness of 15-18 ° C is desirable, if you leave the pot on a glazed (insulated) balcony, you can hold it until mid-autumn, until the temperature drops to + 10 ° C, but the watering is very strict. The decrease in temperature in winter is due to a decrease in illumination, the darker the plant, the more important it is to lower the temperature so that the bushes do not lose leaves. If you can't keep it cool, just install lamps nearby.

Lighting

Hibiscus loves bright diffused light, for flowering at least 4 hours of direct sun in the morning or evening, and very good, openwork light at noon. Small hibiscuses grow on windowsills, but over time they do not have enough space and have to rearrange the pots in the room. In this case, it is best to place the hibiscus near the south window.

The requirements for light in rosan only in terms of flowering, if you have enough deciduous tree, the pot can be placed on diffused light or light partial shade (on the north side), perhaps occasionally it will bloom with lonely flowers. But if you want constant abundant flowering, you need a lot of light, exposure on cloudy days in winter, when the temperature is above 18 ° C. LED or fluorescent lamps are suitable for illumination. To illuminate a tree from 80 cm to 1.2 m high, you need about 2-3 LED bulbs with a regular base, 15-20 W, placed on different sides of the crown.

Cooper's hibiscus is more demanding on light, turns shoots clearly towards the light source, so you need to illuminate or periodically turn with different sides on the windowsill.

Watering and humidity

Hibiscus has a large leaf mass, the surface of a leaf with a thin epidermis, so it evaporates moisture very actively. That is why you should avoid leaving plants in the heat, you just don't have time to water. And you need to water in the warm season often, in spring and summer, almost every day. Although the frequency of watering is determined not by days a week, but by the drying rate of the soil, it must have time to dry in the upper third of the pot, and remain slightly wet inside.

• With cooling, moisture evaporation is sharply reduced and watering should also become more rare - reduce watering in rainy cool weather in summer. And do not forget to rebuild to a new irrigation system with the inclusion of heating in the fall and the end of the heating season in the spring.

Hibiscus easily puts up with dry air, if you are an idealist, then know that this plant likes the air humidity of 50-70%. If the hygrometer is below 30%, you need to start spraying 2-3 times a day. If the pot is next to the battery, in winter you need to cover it with a damp terry towel or sheet. While the plants are small, they can be periodically carried into the bathroom under a warm or hot shower to wash off dust. Avoid using a leaf polish.

More photos of Hibiscus

Fertilizing

Feeding begins 1.5-2 months after transplantation. It is necessary to give a complex fertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in equal parts or a little less nitrogen (for example, Fertica Lux). Large doses of nitrogen, like organics, cause rapid foliage growth and delay flowering. It is very good if the fertilizer contains minerals that are no less important for flowering, for example, boron and zinc, as well as molybdenum, copper, manganese. Feeding can only be carried out during the period of active growth and flowering with an interval of two weeks. If in winter hibiscus continues to grow at home in warm and good lighting, and possibly even blooms, then you can feed once a month. There are a lot of good fertilizers, choose those that are intended for flowering plants.

In
• early spring, you can carry out extra-root feeding: dilute 2 g of boric acid powder, 1 g of zinc sulfate, 2 tablets of succinic acid with 5 liters of water and spray all the leaves in the evening. Repeat in a month.
From
• May to August, you can top-up with potassium humate: 1 teaspoon of potassium humate per 5 liter of warm water. Water once a month.

Flight connections

Young hibiscuses need to be transplanted annually into fresh soil. Often you have to increase the pot if the root lump no longer fits in the old one. The growth rate of hibiscuses depends on the conditions, the better the microclimate develops in your house, the more vigorous hibiscus grows, and the better the light, the more responsive it blooms. Together with height growth, the hibiscus has a thickening of the trunk, at the age of ten it is about 2.5-3 cm thick in diameter. The root system also grows, it is quite powerful and dense, a large tree needs a large flowerpot (15-20 l) or a small wooden tub.

If the conditions in the apartment are such that hibiscus does not grow in autumn and winter, then perhaps there will be no need to increase the pot in a year.

What to plant hibiscus in: the pot is round, plastic or ceramic, with large holes at the bottom. If there are no holes for water runoff in a tub or a large flowerpot and a tray is not provided, you need to make a very high drainage (made of expanded clay or foam plastic, 2 cm pieces). If in an ordinary pot it is about 2-5 cm (from the size), then in a tub without holes it is all 10 cm.

• Soil for young hibiscuses: 1 part of turf, 1 part of sheet, 1 part of small gravel or pebbles (3-5 mm), 1/2 part of humus.
• Soil for adult (over 5 years old) hibiscuses: 2 parts of turf, 1 part of humus, 1 part of gravel or pebbles (3-5 mm), 1/3 part of vermiculite.
• Universal version: 5 l of Terra Vita peat soil living earth, 1 l of vermiculite, 1 l of small pebbles (3-5 mm) + 100-200 g of biohumus.

Surely you have seen somewhere in an office or kindergarten a Chinese rozan planted in roadside land, dense and cemented over the years. Indeed, hibiscuses are not very demanding to the soil, but this applies only to our "Russian" hibiscuses obtained from the cuttings from our grandmother. And if you happen to buy a Dutch copy, he will not tolerate such an appeal.

Hibiscus propagation

Hibiscus is propagated by cuttings. Rooting itself is not a problem - at any time of the year, if it is warm and light. And the forming pruning is carried out at any time during the growth period, you can repeatedly pinch the ends of the shoots .

Cuttings are rooted in water, if the cuttings are cut long, you need to cut off part of the lower leaves, you can leave 1-2 leaves on top. When the roots of the cuttings grow 3-4 cm, transplant them into small pots with a diameter of 8-10 cm. It is even better to plant the cuttings in small plastic transparent cups. When a large accumulation of roots becomes noticeable through the wall, you can transplant into a suitable pot.

You can root cuttings in pure vermiculite or a mixture of vermiculite and universal peat soil. But the substrate must be sterilized.

Growing problems

If the soil contains a lot of draining particles (pebbles or gravel, vermiculite), good holes at the bottom of the pot and lower drainage, then the pot can be taken with a small margin. But if the soil is dense, after watering it forms a dense lump, in a large pot there is a threat to fill the plant.

With excessive watering or when the earthen coma dries out, the fall of flowers and buds can also occur, but the main indicator is the state of the leaves. If hibiscus leaves turn yellow, you need to check:

• the ground in the pot, popping it to a depth of 5-7 cm, if it's damp there - you fill the plant, if it's dry and the pot has become very light, then dry it
• pay attention, the leaves are elastic or hang: the leaves may droop from drying, the flowers instantly dry out and fall, but after watering the turgor (elasticity) is restored
• if the top of the handle or the ends of the branches droop - most likely you are pouring plants
• pay attention to the nature of the spots - if these are yellow spots in the middle of the leaf, marble yellowing without clear boundaries - look for pests: tick, shield, worms

Store hibiscuses can be more capricious to rearrangement: during the set of buds and flowering, they do not move or turn, as this causes the fall of buds or flowers.