Sturdy hibiscus

[Zemedelec]

40 degree nights and my variegated hibiscus is still putting out a blossom or two. Last winter a freeze killled it to the ground, but during summer it grew three feet and proportionately wide. Could the gradually cold, but not freezing temps be hardening it off? zemedelec

[Mike Gilmore]

Beware! You don't specify your plant sufficiently. Your temps are on the borderline of too cold for many cultivars. But, if for example you have a cultivars based on H. syriacus you are a long way from being too cold at

40F for a plant that take freezing temps with ease. Make sure at your current tempertures it does not suffer water-logging which almost certainly will kill it by spring. If you can cover it with a wigwam of fleece it will surely be more likely to pull through and come back into growth with greater ease (earlier than it would otherwise next year). Regards Mike Gilmore WinsfordWalledGarden, SW England, USDA Zone9a

[Zemedelec]

Thanks for all the information. I hope to have a sturdy bush for many years to come. zemedelec

[T.L.Miller]

Using a low nitrogen fertilizer is a primary way of hardening it off. Covering the plant to trap the ground heat is your best way of protecting your tropical hibiscus

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