Hibiscus cultivation methods and precautions

Flower Pot Selection

It is best to use unglazed pots or wooden barrels for potted hibiscus. These two types of pots have good air permeability, which is conducive to the breathing of hibiscus roots and the absorption of water and fertilizer. Although the flowering period of hibiscus is relatively long, the flowering period of each flower is very short. In the hot and dry summer weather, it can only bloom for more than a day. When it is rainy and the temperature drops in late summer and early autumn, each flower can only bloom for 2 to 3 days.

Watering method

Because hibiscus has many flower buds, it requires plenty of water, fertilizer and sufficient sunlight. Especially in summer when the flowers bloom the most, you should water it 1 to 2 times a day depending on the temperature and the dryness and wetness of the potting soil. Water it when it is dry enough and water it thoroughly when it is watered. At noon, you can spray water on the leaves and around the flower pots to cool down and maintain air humidity. Never spray water on the flowers because under the scorching sun in midsummer, it will damage the flowers and affect their viewing.

Fertilization method

It is best to use homemade fertilizer for fertilization, which is easily absorbed and effective quickly. Use a plastic bucket with a lid. Pour the inedible intestines and other waste from slaughtering chickens and fish at home, as well as the waste water from washing chicken, fish and meat, and the water from washing rice, into the bucket. Add an appropriate amount of alum (ferrous sulfate), tighten the lid and ferment it. It usually takes 2 months in summer and 3 months in autumn to ferment into fertilizer water. When using, be sure to add an appropriate amount of water, not too concentrated to avoid damaging the roots. If you are worried that the alum water will have a bad smell, you can put an appropriate amount of vinegar or orange peel into the bucket. You can also go directly to the flower market to buy bags of prepared acidic flower fertilizer, put it in the flowerpot, bury it shallowly in the soil, and then water it to eliminate the odor.

Wintering method

When the temperature drops to 6℃, move the hibiscus indoors to prevent frostbite. You can also cover the hibiscus with a plastic bag and poke a few small holes in the plastic bag to allow it to breathe. Just be sure to keep the soil in the pot slightly moist. Because hibiscus has a hibernation habit, do not water it too much to prevent human-caused frost damage.

Pruning and bud removal

When growing potted hibiscus at home, one must prevent the plant from becoming too large and too tall, making it difficult to move and affecting its placement, while also ensuring that its branches are lush and that it blooms more. This is a problem that everyone wants to solve. The best way to solve this problem is to shorten the main stalk of Hibiscus to about 10 cm above the ground (shorten the annual branches and leave some branches to grow), retain 3 to 5 main branches, and each main branch retain 2 to 3 branches, and trim them into a cluster shape.

Second, bud removal should be carried out in time (bud removal is also called bud breaking, which means removing the extra buds after the fruit trees sprout and before they bloom). The specific requirements for bud removal are usually: remove sick and weak buds and keep strong buds; remove overlapping buds and keep sparse buds; remove inner buds and keep outer buds.