# Where can I find safe hibiscus?



## tofuqueen (Jul 15, 2009)

I've heard from many people that hibiscus flowers and leaves are a safe and healthy food for Russian Torts. I'm having trouble finding hibiscus seeds though. I found a nursery that sells the plants, but not the seeds and they said that most places just sell the plants since it's a tropical plant and can be hard to "get started" from a seed. I told her I wanted the plant to feed my tortoise (she was a little surprized!) and I asked about fertilizers/pesticides. She said that the plants are watered with a Miracle Grow solution added to the water, but that it's safe for humans to consume any fruit or veggies that it's been used on. Would this plant be safe? I haven't bought it yet. I've been feeding my tort mostly spring mix and dandelion greens, so I'd like to find some hibiscus to mix in there!


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## Seiryu (Jul 15, 2009)

tofuqueen said:


> I've heard from many people that hibiscus flowers and leaves are a safe and healthy food for Russian Torts. I'm having trouble finding hibiscus seeds though. I found a nursery that sells the plants, but not the seeds and they said that most places just sell the plants since it's a tropical plant and can be hard to "get started" from a seed. I told her I wanted the plant to feed my tortoise (she was a little surprized!) and I asked about fertilizers/pesticides. She said that the plants are watered with a Miracle Grow solution added to the water, but that it's safe for humans to consume any fruit or veggies that it's been used on. Would this plant be safe? I haven't bought it yet. I've been feeding my tort mostly spring mix and dandelion greens, so I'd like to find some hibiscus to mix in there!



I wouldn't use it right away, not if it's store bought or given to you, or gotten off something like craigslist. They do use fertiliziers that are bad. If you do buy one, you'd have to transplant it to regular soil or organic soil (make sure it's trully organic). And then wait about 6-8months to start feeding your tort.

As far as I know, Hibiscus are grown from cuttings mainly. So I doubt you will find anything that isn't already started and having to wait 6+months for the fertiliziers to wear off AFTER transplanting.

I'm in the same boat as you. I got a Hibiscus and have to wait now to feed him it. Bright red/pink colors. I went to about 6-7 different plant shops nearby and none had any cuttings/seeds.


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## Yvonne G (Jul 15, 2009)

I doubt you will be able to find seeds. Mostly they are propagated by cuttings. You can purchase the hibiscus, then gently tap most of the dirt off the roots and re-plant it in clean, pesticide & fertilizer-free soil. It might be a good idea to also purchase a rooting compound so you don't stress the plant when you transplant. Then you just need to water it for a month or so and it would be good to go.

Personally, I think we tend to go overboard on the don't-feed-nursery-plants-to-tortoises-for-a-year thing. I have bought banana trees and rose of sharon plants only to have the tortoises knock them over and eat them before I could transplant the plants. No ill effects to the tortoises.

I realize that horses are different from tortoises, but I fertilize the horse pasture with a chemical compound then keep the horses off it for two weeks while I water the chemicals down into the soil. After two weeks the horses are back out there eating nice green grass and not getting sick.

I believe the plant takes in the chemical and converts it to the compounds required for healthy growth. The same chemical that goes into the root is NOT the same when it is in the plant's leaves. Just as the food you put into your mouth is NOT the same when it comes out the other end. 

But pesticides are a different story. Some pesticides are called "systemic." This means that the plant takes up the pesticide into its leaves and when a bug eats the leaf it gets the full dose of the pesticide. You DO NOT want your tortoise to eat a systemically treated plant.

Yvonne


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## Seiryu (Jul 15, 2009)

emysemys said:


> I doubt you will be able to find seeds. Mostly they are propagated by cuttings. You can purchase the hibiscus, then gently tap most of the dirt off the roots and re-plant it in clean, pesticide & fertilizer-free soil. It might be a good idea to also purchase a rooting compound so you don't stress the plant when you transplant. Then you just need to water it for a month or so and it would be good to go.
> 
> Personally, I think we tend to go overboard on the don't-feed-nursery-plants-to-tortoises-for-a-year thing. I have bought banana trees and rose of sharon plants only to have the tortoises knock them over and eat them before I could transplant the plants. No ill effects to the tortoises.
> 
> ...



Interesting Yvonne. So are plants at like Home Depot, Wal-Mart etc treated with pesticides? or would these all be good to do what you said and transplant for roughly a month and then feed them it?


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## Crazy1 (Jul 15, 2009)

Rob, I too have done 'the knock the dirt off and replant then let the plant sit for about a month'. Most plants actually have all the chemicals leached out by 3 months. Pesitisides I rinse the plant after transplanting and fingure in a month the pestisides are gone also. I sometimes give my plants a year because of the time I get them, some torts are going into hibernations, and some plants are very sinsitive and I want to give them a really good start before I start plucking things off them. This includes Home Depot and Wal-Mart plants I get. 

Sonja, Hybiscus plants can be delt with the same as Yvonne has suggested. You can also find them online here http://www.exotic-hibiscus.com/


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## tofuqueen (Jul 15, 2009)

Thank you! I think I will go buy the plant tomorrow so I can get it replanted asap and start the wait period. Once the plant is ready to go, should I clip off flowers and leaves to feed Pablo, or put the plant in his enclosure and let him graze when he wants? I'd like to add some plants to his enclosure anyway, so if hibiscus isn't good to keep in there all the time, can anyone suggest some plants that would be okay to grow and leave in there?


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## Seiryu (Jul 15, 2009)

tofuqueen said:


> Thank you! I think I will go buy the plant tomorrow so I can get it replanted asap and start the wait period. Once the plant is ready to go, should I clip off flowers and leaves to feed Pablo, or put the plant in his enclosure and let him graze when he wants? I'd like to add some plants to his enclosure anyway, so if hibiscus isn't good to keep in there all the time, can anyone suggest some plants that would be okay to grow and leave in there?



I do not know about specifics in terms of plants for russians. But I do know Hibiscus don't do too well in the cold weather. I plan to leave mine in a flower pot and feed him petals ocassionally and then bring it in for the winter.

I imagine www.russiantortoise.org has a list of plants to use. And if I had to guess I imagine anything for a leopard tortoise is fine for a russian in terms of plants/flowers. So you could also check out africantortoise.com


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## York1 (Jul 17, 2009)

You can buy the seeds off ebay. Ive done it before and grown them from seeds


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## tofuqueen (Jul 17, 2009)

Ahhh! Ebay to the rescue! Thanks York1!! I didn't realize how many different types of hibiscus there are! Is one better than another? What type of hibiscus does everyone have?


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## Maggie Cummings (Jul 17, 2009)

I have Rose of Sharon, it freezes in the winter and comes back in the spring...


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## dmmj (Jul 17, 2009)

I have about a dozen or so hib, plants, I got most of mine from stores like wal mart and my local garden store, I just pluck the flower off the plant and throw it in for my russians to eat, also a side note, cut your plant after the fall and you will get a bushier plant, with more flowers.


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## tortoisenerd (Jul 18, 2009)

I've also heard that you want a cold hearty Hibiscus such as the Rose of Sharon.


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## Crazy1 (Jul 18, 2009)

I love Hibiscus here is some of the quick info I found on Hibiscus plants. 

There are over two hundred different types of Hibiscus plants available with various flower colors, cone sizes and foliage http://www.ehow.com/about_4683227_types-hibiscus-plants.html

The three I mostly see are:
*Tropical hibiscus:* Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. 
http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/

*Hardy Hibiscus:* Hibiscus moscheutosÃ¢â‚¬â€Rose Mallow, Swamp Hibiscus. 
http://www.archaeolink.com/grow_tropical_or_hardy_hibiscus.htm
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/hardy-hibiscus/index.html

and

*Rose of Sharon,*
Hibiscus Syriacus http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/jul02/art1jul.html 
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/788/


Here is a site that has lots of links for growing and caring for hibiscus
http://www.archaeolink.com/grow_tropical_or_hardy_hibiscus.htm

I have about 16 plants all but 2 in pots. I pick leaves and flowers to feed.


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## tortoisenerd (Jul 18, 2009)

Can anyone comment how easy or difficult it is to grow Hibiscus from seeds? I can't find an organic plant and even have doubts I could keep a non-0rganic one alive for 6 months until I could feed it. I already killed my trays of tort greens. Eek. I've given up on gardening and thankfully I live in an area with great grocery produce selection. Someday I'll have a yard but not for a few years at least.


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## Seiryu (Jul 18, 2009)

tortoisenerd said:


> Can anyone comment how easy or difficult it is to grow Hibiscus from seeds? I can't find an organic plant and even have doubts I could keep a non-0rganic one alive for 6 months until I could feed it. I already killed my trays of tort greens. Eek. I've given up on gardening and thankfully I live in an area with great grocery produce selection. Someday I'll have a yard but not for a few years at least.



I too was researching how hard Hibiscus were to grow. It was when I looking at what plants I could use for my outdoor enclosure. I didn't want to buy already started plants. However, from what I've read on a lot of sites, they seem to be VERY difficult to keep alive and growing if you start them from seeds/cuttings.

As long as it has shade, sun and water then you should be fine. If the soil is still moist from previous water, you shouldn't need to water again. Until it *starts* to dry up, not when it's totally dry already though.

I got this one here.





and





I plan to wait until the few months are up before feeding. And then in the fall, trim it back and possibly try to grow some from cuttings. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I doubt it will be easy.


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## Jacqui (Jul 18, 2009)

You wanted to know what kinds folks have? I live in Nebraska with it's cold winters, so the tropical ones have to spend most of their life inside. I also have a black thumb for houseplants, so for me, the tropicals are usually only alive for the one season.  I buy new ones as early in the spring as I can and move them in and out of the house until it's warm enough for them to stay out...sorta like I do the tortoises.  I usually have about 6-8 of those and my neighbors love them..lol. I get these at WalMart and Home Depot type places.

I have the Althea bush also known as Rose of Sharon. I have four established plants and this spring planted in another 9 (or 12). I found a really good price on ones about 12-24" in this spring at a local Orshceln's which is a farm supply store. I have plans for getting a couple of more this fall from a nursery (Earl May's). 

I also have 4 established Hardy Hibiscus. These die down and are cut back in the fall/winter. Bad thing is they are very late to start growing in the spring (so you start thinking they are dead ). They have these huge huge blooms that are eye catchers. I bought another 8 or so this spring from a drug store that has a plant greenhouse in the spring.

What I try doing, is making an enclosure in the fall to place tortoises in the next spring. Then I can get the cheaper fall clearance sells on the plants. Plus fall is a great time to plant. It then also gives the plants a chance to get "clean" and to become established.

I have both the hardy and Althea bush plants within the tortoise enclosures. The tropicals I keep potted and not in the tortoise pens. If a plant is too new, I put them behind fences/bricks until I feel they are safe for the tortoises (that is after atleast a month of being with me). Nothing goes from a store shelf directly into a tortoise area.

For me, the Althea doesn't do as well as I see it does for most everybody else (fewer blooms), but they are pretty hardy. I have one in the "nursery" pen that for several years in a row, I managed to wack off over 2/3 of the plant each summer. I was as tall as the grass and until I would cut it down, I would space it off as I hand cut the grass/weeds in the pen. Once I started reusing the pen again, I have not cut it down. Finally it's tall enough to be noticed.  It even started blooming to reward me for not cutting it any more. 

I have as bad of luck with growing from seeds, as I do with houseplants, so I have not tried starting them that way. I have noticed thaqt none of mine have reseeded themselves...unlike the hollyhocks that are taking over.


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## tortoisenerd (Jul 18, 2009)

Beautiful! I killed weeds so I think hibuscus could be beyond my skill level...


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## Jacqui (Jul 18, 2009)

tortoisenerd said:


> Beautiful! I killed weeds so I think hibuscus could be beyond my skill level...



I am sure you could raise them. When I am gone, my children care for them outside and they survive.  Nice thing with plants is, if you kill the first one just recheck what you did and try again...lol. The first tropical one I owned had a really short life.... I learned from it and so would you.


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## Seiryu (Jul 18, 2009)

tortoisenerd said:


> Beautiful! I killed weeds so I think hibuscus could be beyond my skill level...



haha. Really it isn't that hard. Also it helps to pull off dead leaves and even dead actual flowers. Generally the dead looking ones don't come back. If you pull the dead stuff, then it gives more nutrients to the ones that are thriving. 

So some tips:
1. water regularly when soil starts to dry up and isn't as moist.
2. pull dead leaves/flowers off.
3. make sure it has shade and sun throughout the day.
4. I suggest using an organic soil like the miracle grow stuff I have to start it off, it helps.

You can see some yellower leaves on mine, i've pulled those already and nothing looks dead at the moment. It has about 12-15 flowers on it that alternate opening up. Hopefully Thor likes it because he doesn't like Day lillies or anything red it seems. He seems to ignore red romaine as well. Goes for the green stuff everytime, mainly the endive and leaf lattuce.


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## dmmj (Jul 18, 2009)

I have never used seeds, but my great grandpa showed me how to do cuttings for plants, and I can affirm the diffuculty of hib. cuttings I have a very very low success rate, and people tell me I have a green thumb. My sucess rate is around 5% or so I usually do 20 or more cuttings at a time. I personally have never tried seeds so I can not talk about that.


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