Today we are sharing some super easy tips for potted hibiscus anyone can follow!
Everyone seemed to really enjoy my four easy tips on potted geraniums, so I wanted to bring you another post on my next favorite plant. You can read all about those easy geranium tips here. I hope some of you now have some geraniums growing beautifully in pots!
Now, I want to share some tips on how I have kept my hibiscus plants alive for years in pots.
Five Easy Tips on Potted Hibiscus
Hibiscus is another one of my all time favorite plants to grow in pots. Similar story to my first geranium, I purchased my first hibiscus when we lived in California and it just sprouted out of control. My entire neighborhood was full of huge Hibiscus bushes growing wild on the side of the road too. Truly a perfect climate for a tropical plant.
Texas is absolutely not that type of climate. After growing these plants in pots for 8 years, I have discovered the best tips to make them thrive. As a kid, my mom had a red hibiscus in a pot by our little pool. Each time we emptied out our pool, that plant would get completely drenched, but I have never seen blooms that large because it loved all that water! To this day, when I see a red hibiscus plant, I think of those sweet summer days of long ago.
Quick chemist note before we start → Horticulture was something I studied along with chemistry. Horticulture actually involves some chemistry which is why I loved it so much. But here at Chemistry Cachet, I am bringing you those technical tips in an easier way. You definitely don’t have to know anything about horticulture or chemistry to grow these beautiful plants with my easy tips. 🙂
This is a TWO part series, the next in this series is a step by step guide on how to pot them. Follow on bloglovin so you don’t miss out on the next installment. Okay, here are my five easy tips on potted Hibiscus:
1. Use a large pot
The larger, the better when it comes to Hibiscus. Why? They love water, but get root rot very easy. They definitely need a large area for draining. In the picture below, my pot is too small, so I had to move it to a larger pot. They do grow fast with proper care 🙂
2. Provide proper drainage.
Along the same lines as the large pot, it is very important to have an area at the bottom of the pot for drainage. I always fill the bottom few inches with rocks, wood pieces, and other organic matter to provide air pockets and space for the water to drain.
3. Water often.
In the warmer weather, water daily. This is especially true if you live in an area that gets really hot in the summer! Like here in Texas, the 100+ degree days mean this tropical plant needs significant amounts of water. I heavily water mine every morning in the summer.
4. They like shade, and a little sun.
Again, summer can be rough on this plant so they need ample amounts of shade with a little morning sunlight. If the day is temperate, they can have a little more sunlight, but I have the best luck when they have more shade than anything. Although, in the spring and fall, the sunlight is more gentle, so I would do half sun, half shade.
5. Bring them inside in the winter!
We can have some pretty rough winters in Texas too, so I keep my Hibiscus plants alive in the winter by bringing them inside when it gets below freezing. During the winter, they need very little water or they will get root rot. If you notice they are looking pretty bad, bring them into some sunlight and lightly dampen the soil.
I have had the same hibiscus plants for years by following these tips. These plants get so big in the summer, it is like my own tropical paradise on the patio. Just for fun, I wanted to show you a picture of my first Hibiscus plant below. We lived in a tiny apartment, so I turned my balcony into a garden paradise.
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Such beautiful flowers! We had a hibiscus a few years back…but didn’t bring it in during the winter so it’s no longer. These pictures made me reconsidering trying again. 🙂
Thanks for linking up at Tuesday Talk!
Yes, they are beautiful! I hope you can get another one, they are so pretty in the summer 🙂
I always cut mine back for winter. And I give it a feeding of systemic rose food with the insecticide in it before bringing it in for the winter. I find that keeps it from having pest problems during the winter. This has worked well for me for years, I give all my plants a feeding of this when I bring them in for winter and it really helps keep the pests off!
I love that you are doing this series. I love gardening (in fact just came in from potting about 15 pots of impatiens). I’m not sur how hibiscus would do in my climate but I really do love them and they always make me think of tropical climates!
Oh I love impatiens too! They actually don’t grow well in Texas, but I still have them in pots around the house 🙂 I bet you could have a hibiscus, but you would have to bring it in all winter for sure!
Ah! I need these tips. I love hibiscus, but have never owned one because we’re in an apartment. As soon as we have a house, you better believe I’m planing one of these babies–my mom had them when I was growing up!
Thank you! I Hope you can use these tips when you get one! They are the best summer flowers!
Hibiscus are my favourite – it’s a rare find to buy one up here, but I bought a hibiscus tree last year. It really brightened up the house, but died eventually. Pinning these tips so I can have a fighting chance next year!
I love hibiscus too, they are just so beautiful! I hope these tips can help you have one next year 🙂
Fabulous post, my dear! I truly appreciate you sharing your loveliness with Roses of Inspiration and it’s always a joy to visit you.
For some reason my comments have not been going through which is why you have not been hearing from me…I am sorry about that. I thought maybe by clicking on “reply” it would work 🙂
Again, thanks for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. Hugs to you!
Thank you Stephanie! I am so sorry about the comments not working! I appreciate you taking the time to comment for me 🙂 Have a great day!
Pinning this for later. I love Hibiscus and haven’t had much luck growing them. This will help. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Pretty Pintastic.
Thank you Rebecca, I hope it will help you grow some!
Hello Gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm, so we can party with you! Lou Lou Girls
Thank you! Will be linking up again with you 🙂
I’m about to plant my hibiscus in the ground, actually, but these are great tips! Thanks so much for taking the time to link up with us over at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again on Friday! Feel free to bring a friend 🙂
Thank you Kristen! You can use the tips for the ground too..they don’t grow well in Texas due to the heat, so I have to use pots. But they are so beautiful in the ground!
I love hibiscus plants! We’ve managed to grow some nice ones here in AZ, but they have to be in the right place. I may have to consider adding more in pots. Thanks for the tips and idea! 🙂
Pots are definitely my favorite way to grow them. Texas winters and summers are a bad combo when they are in the ground! Hope you can use these tips 🙂 Thank you!
I followed you here from Hometalk….great tips. One is coming along with new buds but the second one none so far. Here’s hoping.
Oh good, I hope the second one can come to live soon too!
Great tips! My potted plants struggle under my care. I’ve always killed hibiscus, and now I know why.
Thank you! Hibiscus can be tricky, but these tips always allow mine to keep thriving (even in the horrible texas heat 🙂 )
What type of fertilizer do you give Hibiscus?
Hi Paul, I typically use my own mixture of compost, coffee grounds, and egg shells. I also have had great luck with Mircale Grow All – Purpose water soluble plant food. I just make sure to dilute it a little more than usual in the summer so it doesn’t burn the plant.
I received one from my mothers funeral. Is it possible to grow my hisbiscus tree inside? Right now all the leaves are turning yellow. I don’t want to lose this plant my mother loves them. Help what am I doing wrong
Hi Fennesa, I am sorry to hear about your mother first of all. For your hibiscus plant, the best way to make sure it will live a long health life is to keep it outside in the warmer months. It thrives best off of sunshine and that will make sure it gets all the nutrients it needs. I am not sure what size pot it is in, but it will definitely need a good size pot so that it can get a lot of water right now too. I have a large hibiscus in a really large pot, and in the summer I water it daily until it is soaked. I have good drainage on it though, so I don’t have to worry about root rot. If your pot isn’t very large, just make sure to keep it in partial shade/partial sun and keep it moist. Remove yellowed leaves when you see them.
Before it freezes, you can move your pot inside near a window during the cold weather. It will require much less water at that point and may even go a little dormate. They don’t like being away from sunshine. But just make sure to keep it a little damp in the winter. Once spring hits, you can move it back outside. Let me know if you have further questions and I would love to help!
Hi Alexuis, This is my first time growing a Hibiscious plant. I got it as a Get Well gift. It had real pretty red blooms at first and about a month later I noticed no blooms at all. I did everything I thought I needed to do to try to get it to bloom again. I gave it more sun and started watering it every day because at first I only watered it once or twice a week. I bought miracle grow soil and replanted it in a bigger pot. I also bought miracle grow plant food. My plant still has no blooms and leaves have become real droopy. Any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong? Thanks.
Where are you located? Depending on climate, hibiscus plants will not bloom very often. Mine stops blooming this time of year in Texas, but if you live more north it won’t bloom much past the early season. I also have an older hibiscus plant that only does one set of blooms each year, then it stops. This could be your situation. Other than that, sounds like you are doing all the right things
I have found that using planters called “self watering” work well to prevent root rot. However, I still water my plants from the top. The pots have a deep well in the bottom, which provides good drainage. I let the well empty before I water the plants again. If you can find hanging versions of these pots, they work well outside. No need to water everyday. I usually water every other or every second day with the hanging planters during hot summer weather. I also wanted to thank you for the “miracle grow’ recipe. It will save me money. I will have to try the compost, coffee grounds and egg shells mixture. How much of each do you use?
Self watering options are definitely great! For the homemade plant food, just once per month in small doses. For my compost mix, I usually do that every few weeks depending on how much rain we have had. If it has been rainy, I will do it more often since it washes it away. This time of year, we don’t have much of that, so I typically do it every 3 weeks.
Hi Alex, great information. Can you tell me what is the mixture of egg shells, compost and coffee grounds. how many parts of each?
I don’t do any exact measurements. I just sprinkle a thin layer of each on the soil 🙂 It will depend on the size of your pot, but usually just a thin layer evenly distributed is a good rule of thumb! 🙂
Alexis, I live in Richmond which has pretty tempered weather most of the time. I actually planted my Hibiscus in my yard and it has flourished. Should I dig it up and put it in a pot for winter? Also, can I divide it into more than one pot safely?
Do you get many freezes? Our winters vary. Some years we get really hard freezes and plants like hibiscus die right away. The last few winters we have only had one or two freezes, so they would have been fine. You can protect them in the ground by wrapping them in burlap and placing thick mulch over root area before a freeze
Our winters vary too, so the I think I’ll try to burlap and mulch idea just in case. Thank you so much for the information. I just recently found you blog/website and love it.
Thanks Robin! So happy you found it too. Let me know if you have other questions 🙂
hello from from cold snowy canada!
I have a 45 year old hibiscus that has grown inside all this time. 2 years ago it was discovered by aphids. i have been struggling to kill the aphids and keep the plant alive. i have tried many things including diatomaceous earth, pyrethrum, oil/alcohol mixtures etc. I even pick the aphids off every few days. can you recommend anything else? the plant is now one third the size and is showing signs of suffering. te aphids especially like the new young shoots on the plant.
(the email address below should be in lower case. for some reason i cannot turn off the caps!)
I haven’t dealt with aphids on my hibiscus, so I am not sure what would work best. Things I have used for aphids on other plants is rosemary oil and insecticidal soap. You will want to coat the entire plant well and it may need multiple treatments. I have used this on other potted plants with luck, but haven’t tried it for hibiscus. It is worth a shot though! It is safe
When do you prune yours? Fall or Spring? How much do you cut?
I trim it lightly in both seasons. I don’t prune it back much, but I will cut a little more back in the early spring after winter is over.
Thank you Alexis.
Lovely Hibiscus. The leaves on mine keeps turning yellow. Not sure to why that is. I water regularly.
Sometimes over watering can lead to yellowing leaves. I just remove mine when they turn that way. As long as the plant is still healthy, it’s nothing to worry about.
Thank you for your reply. Luckily plant is healthy and producing lots of white flowers so far. I usually just remove the yellow leaves regularly.
Sharon
So glad your tip popped up in my feed. We moved from the Blue Ridge of Virginia to Austin a year ago at our children’s insistence. We are getting older though not quite feeble yet. We just received a lovely braided hibiscus & your advice to keep it in a pot is appreciated. We are enjoying planting Texas natives in our new garden but this hibiscus will be lovely on our porch, in front of some jasmine that climbs up latticework! We are loving living in here in Austin & definitely don’t miss the harsh winters back home. (It’s totally worth the heat!) Thanks for this post.
Hi Lisa! Hibiscus is such a great potted plant for Texas. It has the prettiest blooms all the way into November 🙂
Need your help to get my newly bought healthy Hibiscus pot plant from Home Depot.
Transferred the hibiscus pot plant (with flower and lots buds in it) to bigger pot next day.
Added miracle grow potting soil then watered it liberally in sink to drain out excess water.
Noticed after a week it was shedding few buds and the flower dried out.
What should I do to keep the plant healthy to keep budding and flowering optimally?
Appreciate your expert advise on this special plant.
Sometimes when you move it to another pot, it can go into a little shock. It should be okay though. Make sure to not fertilize it right now, but keep it watered well. Make sure it gets good sunlight each day. It is normal for hibiscus plants to lose buds quickly. Their blooms will only last one day, then dry out and fall. If this is happening, it is normal. As long as the leaves are dark green and looking healthy, the plant is good
Do you prune your Hibiscus?
I don’t prune the potted hibiscus. If it goes dormant in the winter, I might trim a few dead branches after it leaves out in the spring
I live in Dothan Al…..very hot humid…..can I grow hibiscus?
Hibiscus is a tropical plant, they love hot and humid weather 🙂 I live in Texas and they still do well in the 100+ degree weather
I bought a beautiful hibiscus, and after re-potting it dried out. After about a week it had new leaves coming and a month later, it looked healthy and buds came out, but are not opening and fell off unopened. I just noticed that the plant is infected with aphids. What can I do to get rid of this pest? We live in central Florida.
You will need to apply an insecticide quickly and it will take awhile to get rid of them. Aphids are very hard to deal with. I would go to your local nursery and talk with them about the best treatment for these in your area. I will just use a common insecticide I get at the nursery. They might have something that works specific for aphids too.
Thank you for your suggestion, Alexis. All my plants have improved after treating it with Neem oil, but I still have to fight the aphids, and some of them loose the buds without opening :(.
Sometimes I trim the infected area of the plant to get rid of the bugs, I’ve had my pink, red and peach hibiscus for some years now, I had them growing up in South America they are beautiful and bring back childhood memories. One time one of my plants had a black fungus growing on after coming inside for the winter I got rid of that part of the bud and it didn’t come back.
Thanks for the tips!
Hi Alexis! Hi Can you give me some tips for arthritis, my sister in law is always complaining about her hands hurting is lemon water good for that and is apple cider vinegar good or is it a myth? Also I was wondering if you can recommend an eye make up remover. And the best secret for cleaning my bathroom I have white tiles and is a pain to clean! Thanks for all the tips!
Lemon water and apple cider vinegar are pretty much myths. They have benefits for energy, but they do not cure or help arthritis. Does she have rheumatoid or osteo? This makes a difference because RA is an autoimmune disease, but osteo is mechanical. Both are treated differently. We have many arthritis tips in our tab here. Here are my tips on removing makeup and eye makeup. And here is my post for bathroom cleaner. I hope this helps!! 🙂
Hi, your article was very helpful. But I guess I am a real beginner. The rock idea sounds good for drainage but I could’ve sworn in your article you said the top of the planter and I would think the rocks would go at the bottom but I’m probably wrong.
Yes, rocks and wood pieces go in the bottom before soil to help with drainage. I usually add enough to go about an inch or two up
Your pictures are beautiful. I have lost my favorite plant to yellowing leaves. Another is losing leaves. Some turn yellow and then shrivel up and die. I am heartbroken, Can you tell me how to get back on track to beautiful plants?
Yellowing of the leaves is usually from over watering or under watering. One of my older Hibiscus plants starts yellowing in the summer when it is 100 degrees, so I start to water it more and make sure it is getting more shade. It depends on your climate too. You might need to add in some good quality potting soil for nourishment when soil gets older and dried out. Hibiscus plants loves water and love huge deep pots with extra room to grow deep. I am not sure if any of these tips might help, but it is usually what helps mine