Question
I AM SEEING NO FLOWERS.  WE REPLANTED HIBISCUS INTO LARGER POT.  BECAUSE THE POT WE HAD WAS TOO SMALL.  WE ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WITH SPIDER MITES.  WENT DOWN TO HOLDRIGES GOT A LARGER POT LARGE BAG OF POTTING SOIL AND REPLANTED.  WE HAD ALOT OF FLOWERS BEFORE TRANSPLANTING BUT NOT ALOT OF LEAVES. NOW WE HAVE ALOT OF LEAVES THEY ARE SHINY AND STILL WORKING ON THE SPIDER MITES BUT NO FLOWERS.  THIS IS THE SECOND SEASON FOR THE PLANT. IS THEIR ANYTHING I CAN DO OR AM DOING WRONG TO GET FLOWERS AGAIN.  ITS BEAUTIFUL WHEN IT FLOWERS.  THE STEM OF THE PLANT IS ROPE LIKE IF THAT HELPS.  ITS LIKE A TREE.  I DO GET THE YELLOW LEAVES TOO.  HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU WATER PLANT IN THE HOUSE?  I AM NOT QUITE SURE ONLY WATERED ONCE A WEEK THAN WHEN TO TWICE BUT NOT ALOT OF WATER.

Answer
Hi Kathleen,

Like most flowering plants, your braided Hibiscus needs to be quite potbound in order to flower. This is not commonly understood, so many folks inadvertently disrupt the flowering cycle by repotting their flowering plants. If you just recently repotted, you can remedy the problem by removing the soil you added and moving the plant back to its original pot. Otherwise, you will have to wait for the roots to grow and fill the pot before it will flower again. How long that takes depends on how much larger the new pot is.

Yellow leaves are a generic symptom with many possible causes. In this case, it could be that the excess soil you added is keeping the soil moist for too long and the roots are starting to rot. Or it may be that when indoors in winter, it does not get enough light to support so many leaves. Spider mite damage may also account for the yellow leaves.

When a Hibiscus is properly potted, it should be watered thoroughly as soon as the surface of the soil feels dry to the touch and not watered by the calendar. When a plant is repotted unnecessarily, then it is impossible to tell you when to water. The soil around the roots needs to dry out enough to allow oxygen into the root zone. How long it takes for the soil to dry depends on how much soil and the quality of the soil that you added. I can only say that in addition to discouraging flowering, a large pot often leads to root rot, so you will have to allow the soil to dry out more than you ordinarily would.

Spider mites are best treated by spraying them thoroughly with a solution of water with a squirt of liquid soap added. The key is to get all leaf and stem surfaces dipping wet. If a few of the spider mites survive between the spray droplets, they will reproduce and the problem will return again in a couple of months. Plants under stress for other reasons are also more susceptible to plant pests.

My message to everyone reading this is to avoid repotting your plants - especially your flowering plants - unless it is absolutely necessary, which it rarely is.

I have written articles on repotting and plant pests that I will email for free to you (or anyone else) who emails a request to me at [email protected].

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

Visit my website at: A link to PlantCareExperts.com