Over-wintering Hibisci!

[Yellow Turtle01]

@Prairie Mom said it would be a great idea to good a little thing about this, so here we go!

It gets very cold here in the winter, so if I don't bring in my hibiscus bushes, well, they'll die! but I've worked out a nice solution for my tree and my shrub.
When your weather starts to get 50-40'f at night, (you lucky people who live in warmer climates!) slowly start decreasing the amount of water you give your plant. Hibiscuses do not like to be bone dry, so don't put a total tap on it!
After about one more week outdoors, bring them inside. Trim all (if they have any) dead branches and leaves. I like to give the bottoms of mine a little crop at this time, so the trunk/dirt can breath a little more.
The ideal place to put them after this is in direct sunlight. A window, a door, just let them have a lot of sun!
Continue your watering pattern for drier dirt.
After a few days indoors, you may notice your plant's leaves wilting/shriveling, or yellow, (or, more likely, all of the above! ) and that is perfectly fine!
What I do is I let mine drop their leaves, and within the winter months (usually 4-5 months inside) they grow them all back, fresh and new, ready for summer again. It keeps my plants smaller and healthier, and discourages them from producing winter flowers.
During this time of leaf-regrowth, increase their water so that only the top inch of soil stays dry.
When your weather allows nights to warm up to 50'f again, slowly start bringing them outdoors in the daytime (even when it's raining) and after a week, they'll be ready to move back out into your yard.
During this season, don't trim your plants. It seems like mine produce more flowers when I let them grow like crazy in the summer!

-My tree has very small yellow flowers, and never produces many, but they're still good for the tortsies
I'm sorry I could not provide many pictures, I didn't get any when I first brought them in!
What do you do? Thank you for being so patient

 

[Odin's Gma]

Excellent tutorial, and very much what I did with my hibiscus. We are still not up to high enough temps to start getting it outside, but it will be soon!

 

[wellington]

My sister who lives in Michigan, keeps her hibicus alive buy placing it in her living room, it gets some sunlight and waters it regularly. Each year she gets more and bigger flowers. She has kept it like this for, geez, at least five years.

Another person I know, that lives here in Chicago, keeps theirs in the basement that is cool and dark. They water it before putting it in the basement and then maybe a couple times during the winter.

Me, I kept mine in the tortoise shed, nice and warm, some sunlight, and watered it sparingly and they died.

Just my two cents.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

This is what's so fun about it! Try different options
Hopefully you can get something your plant likes. Do you have any now?

My sister who lives in Michigan, keeps her hibicus alive buy placing it in her living room, it gets some sunlight and waters it regularly. Each year she gets more and bigger flowers. She has kept it like this for, geez, at least five years.

Another person I know, that lives here in Chicago, keeps theirs in the basement that is cool and dark. They water it before putting it in the basement and then maybe a couple times during the winter.

Me, I kept mine in the tortoise shed, nice and warm, some sunlight, and watered it sparingly and they died.

Just my two cents.

 

[wellington]

Nope, dead. I tried saving two of them. One died right away, the other I thought was going to survive, but then it went too. I have a couple cold hardy ones planted in the yard I am still waiting to see if they were cold hardy enough to make it. My thumbs aren't so green

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Plants are so touchy! Hibiscus come in cold hardy?
No, my plants tend to die as well I'm surprised these have made it!

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I treat mine like a house plant. Full sun in a south facing window in the winter, water regularly, feed occasionally with the water I save from cleaning the turtle filter. It flowers a little through the winter, more now as spring creeps up.

I trimmed it a bit this fall to save space. It's a balance between keeping its shape and keeping the buds.

 

[Prairie Mom]

@Prairie Mom said it would be a great idea to good a little thing about this, so here we go!

It gets very cold here in the winter, so if I don't bring in my hibiscus bushes, well, they'll die! but I've worked out a nice solution for my tree and my shrub.
When your weather starts to get 50-40'f at night, (you lucky people who live in warmer climates!) slowly start decreasing the amount of water you give your plant. Hibiscuses do not like to be bone dry, so don't put a total tap on it!
After about one more week outdoors, bring them inside. Trim all (if they have any) dead branches and leaves. I like to give the bottoms of mine a little crop at this time, so the trunk/dirt can breath a little more.
The ideal place to put them after this is in direct sunlight. A window, a door, just let them have a lot of sun!
Continue your watering pattern for drier dirt.
After a few days indoors, you may notice your plant's leaves wilting/shriveling, or yellow, (or, more likely, all of the above! ) and that is perfectly fine!
What I do is I let mine drop their leaves, and within the winter months (usually 4-5 months inside) they grow them all back, fresh and new, ready for summer again. It keeps my plants smaller and healthier, and discourages them from producing winter flowers.
During this time of leaf-regrowth, increase their water so that only the top inch of soil stays dry.
When your weather allows nights to warm up to 50'f again, slowly start bringing them outdoors in the daytime (even when it's raining) and after a week, they'll be ready to move back out into your yard.
During this season, don't trim your plants. It seems like mine produce more flowers when I let them grow like crazy in the summer!

-My tree has very small yellow flowers, and never produces many, but they're still good for the tortsies
I'm sorry I could not provide many pictures, I didn't get any when I first brought them in!
What do you do? Thank you for being so patient

When you say you "crop" the bottom so it can breath... are you saying you just prune off the bottom row of branches?

That was really helpful! I'm really interested in having some decent shrubs inside for winter feeding. Thanks! You rock!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That is exactly the type of flower that my RF like the most. They almost ignore the fancier varieties.
Do you have the only Hibiscus in Ohio?
I don't crop mine. I should have. The branches are shooting out from right at ground level to about six or seven feet. Productive but not very pretty.

 

[terryo]

What about a Rose of Sharon tree? They grow like weeds around here and my Cherries loved the leaves and flowers. They live through our NY Winters and flower all Summer.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

When you say you "crop" the bottom so it can breath... are you saying you just prune off the bottom row of branches?

That was really helpful! I'm really interested in having some decent shrubs inside for winter feeding. Thanks! You rock!

Yep It looks very clean, too.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

What about a Rose of Sharon tree? They grow like weeds around here and my Cherries loved the leaves and flowers. They live through our NY Winters and flower all Summer.

Yours are so pretty! I've seen them growing here, but we don't have any.
Really? Probably full sun, right?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

That is exactly the type of flower that my RF like the most. They almost ignore the fancier varieties.
Do you have the only Hibiscus in Ohio?
I don't crop mine. I should have. The branches are shooting out from right at ground level to about six or seven feet. Productive but not very pretty.

Do they like the leaves, too? The pink ones are gorgeous.
Funny

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Yes. They eat the leaves off of any hibiscus. They prefer red flowers, too.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

What was the question regarding rose of Sharon? They can be kept indoors over the winter, but probably not indefinitely. I had one in the winter palace for months until the RTs got hungry one weekend when I was away and ate it all. It can be pruned into a shrub. Worth trying, certainly, especially if you have a zillion outdoor volunteers.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

What was the question regarding rose of Sharon? They can be kept indoors over the winter, but probably not indefinitely. I had one in the winter palace for months until the RTs got hungry one weekend when I was away and ate it all. It can be pruned into a shrub. Worth trying, certainly, especially if you have a zillion outdoor volunteers.

Awesome
I was asking if it needs full sun.

 

[Jacqui]

There is also a winter hardy hibiscus. It has huge plate like blooms. It dies down in the winter and comes up late spring.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

There is also a winter hardy hibiscus. It has huge plate like blooms. It dies down in the winter and comes up late spring.

I did not know that! I may have to look into getting more perennials.

 

[Jacqui]

The one you showed is the"tropical" type. The Rose of Sharon can grow quite tall and produces a ton of blooms.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Any outdoor plant you grow indoors needs as much sun as it can get.