I have two hardy hibiscus plants growing in large 20 gallon pots that I roll into my garage during the cold winters. They aren't big (about 18-24 inches tall at full growth in the summer) but they have been reasonably healthy. However, last year their growth was much slower than before and they produced almost zero flowers so I'm thinking that even though the pots are more than big enough for the size of the plants, they might need some nutritional assistance.
Doing some searching online, many hibiscus growers recommend fertilizer with high nitrogen, low phosphorus, and very high potassium. In particular, quite a few specifically recommend Jack's Classic Tropical Food to promote stem and leaf growth and flower production, and I was wondering if it would be OK to put some of that into the soil in the pots and still have it be safe to give the leaves and flowers to my Hermann's tortoise. Or would it be better to fertilize the plants this year to get them healthier again and wait until next year before letting him eat anything from those plants.
Doing some searching online, many hibiscus growers recommend fertilizer with high nitrogen, low phosphorus, and very high potassium. In particular, quite a few specifically recommend Jack's Classic Tropical Food to promote stem and leaf growth and flower production, and I was wondering if it would be OK to put some of that into the soil in the pots and still have it be safe to give the leaves and flowers to my Hermann's tortoise. Or would it be better to fertilize the plants this year to get them healthier again and wait until next year before letting him eat anything from those plants.
