How to manage domestic hibiscus in winter

Hibiscus winter care: appropriate amount of fertilizer

Potted hibiscus prefers loose, fertile, well-drained slightly acidic soil, but the temperature is low in winter and the plant's demand for fertilizer decreases accordingly, so fertilization should be controlled starting in October. You can sprinkle a thin layer of dry fertilizer on the surface of the potting soil, such as coarse cake powder, sauce residue powder, etc. It is necessary to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizer to avoid excessive growth of branches and leaves, which will affect physiological dormancy. If the leaves turn yellow, apply a 0.3% ferrous sulfate aqueous solution to improve the physical and chemical properties of the soil.

Hibiscus winter care: control watering

When hibiscus spends the winter indoors, the soil in the pot should be relatively dry and avoid being wet, so you need to control watering to keep the soil slightly moist. Generally, water the plant once every 5 to 10 days. The amount of water should not be too much, so as to avoid root rot caused by the low temperature and high humidity soil environment. The climate in the north is dry in winter, and the leaves often turn pale yellow and the leaf edges dry out, so you should pay attention to increasing the indoor air humidity. You can take measures such as spraying branches and leaves or covering them with plastic film to increase the air humidity around the plants and create suitable humidity conditions for their growth.

Hibiscus winter care: maintain temperature

The suitable dormancy temperature for hibiscus in winter is 5℃～15℃. If the room temperature is higher than 15℃, the plant will not be able to fully dormant, which will inevitably affect its flowering next year; if it is lower than 5℃, it will be prone to frost damage. In addition, pay attention to the temperature of the water when watering. If the water temperature is too different from the air temperature (more than 5°C), it will easily damage the root system. Therefore, it is best to air the water for watering for a day and then use it when the water temperature is close to the indoor temperature.

Hibiscus winter care: reasonable pruning

Pruning can adjust the shape of the tree, form a reasonable tree structure, control unnecessary nutritional growth, and promote tissue enrichment. Therefore, hibiscus should be heavily pruned at least once half a month after being brought indoors and before being taken out of the room in the spring of the following year. Generally, leave about 10 cm of branches and cut the rest of the branches short. After germination, select 2 side branches on each branch and cut off the rest of the branches.

For older plants, extremely severe pruning can be performed, that is, only 2 to 3 buds are retained at the base of each side branch, and the upper part is completely cut off. When pruning, pay attention to the inward and outward orientation of the buds in order to control the future growth direction of the branches.

Hibiscus winter care: prevention and control of diseases and insect pests

After hibiscus is brought indoors in winter, if the indoor ventilation is poor and the light is insufficient, it is easy to be harmed by aphids and scale insects. Attention should be paid to improving the ventilation and light conditions of the indoor environment, and combined with drug prevention and control. If you find a small number of scale insects on the plant, you can gently brush them off with a brush.