Hibiscus

[WaianaeCrider]

For at least 15 years we've had this one orange hibiscus in a pot.  All of a sudden my lady decided she likes hibiscus flowers and we began buying a few.  Most are it pots, only 3 in the ground right now.  As I clear my horribal spreading hedge of Thrinax excelsia I'll be replacing w/hibiscus and perhaps some native plants.

[Kailua_Krish]

There is a lady up in Mokuleia who hybridizes them and has some amazing ones that are well adapted to Hawaii (she uses the natives in the crosses). I’ve got several from here but my favorites are Madame Pele and Emmalani

[Reyes Vargas]

I love hibiscus with all the exotic colors but the hibiscus mealy bug love them as much or more than I do.  They suck the life out of my hibiscus.

I do have this one that doesn't seem to be bothered by the mealy bug.

[WaianaeCrider]

2 hours ago, Kailua_Krish said:

There is a lady up in Mokuleia who hybridizes them and has some amazing ones that are well adapted to Hawaii (she uses the natives in the crosses). I’ve got several from here but my favorites are Madame Pele and Emmalani

Yea were are planning to visit her but Covid makes it difficult.  Waiting until she "opens" the gate.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Reyes Vargas said:

I love hibiscus with all the exotic colors but the hibiscus mealy bug love them as much or more than I do.  They suck the life out of my hibiscus.

I do have this one that doesn't seem to be bothered by the mealy bug.

Pretty sure this is Hibiscus schizopetalus, from Tropical East Africa.

A couple pictures of that " i forget the cultivar name atm " Hibiscus of mine. Weeping variety w/ hanging flowers. I'll look back over past threads to recall the name later. It and a smaller plant in a 1gal are the only Hibiscus that have survived life in a container here.  Green thing peeking up behind the flower in pict. #2 is Florida native Marlberry ( Ardisia escallonioides ), another .." how the heck has this survived here " plant.




Your mention of Hibiscus Mealys goaded me to check mine.. A little one, possibly a cutting i took off this plant gets them almost every year but the bigger one usually doesn't.  Anyway, low and behold, one of the smaller branchlets on the bigger plant was caked in them.  Some Rubbing Alcohol and an eye dropper took care of them pretty quickly. Also apparently a death sentence for some Sharp shooters that make their yearly appearance on various things in the yard.  A drop or two on the head seems to do the trick, pretty quickly too..

Likely a gazillion pages back, there was a huge hibiscus thread made here years ago.. Can't remember her name but there was someone over on Hawaii who had shared some stunning plants from her personal collection.. Not sure why but she stopped posting.

[Reyes Vargas]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

A couple pictures of that " i forget the cultivar name atm " Hibiscus of mine.

That is a nice looking flower.  If you can find the cultivar I would like to know.

 

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Some Rubbing Alcohol and an eye dropper took care of them pretty quickly.

I didn't know about rubbing alcohol to take care of mealy bugs.  Would rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle work or are you trying to avoid getting alcohol on the leaves?

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, Reyes Vargas said:

That is a nice looking flower.  If you can find the cultivar I would like to know.

 

I didn't know about rubbing alcohol to take care of mealy bugs.  Would rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle work or are you trying to avoid getting alcohol on the leaves?

I just used an eye dropper to target the specific spot where the Mealys were on the plant, have seen people use a Q- Tip to dab it on the bugs.  Going to wait and see how it effects the stem itself..

Most recommend diluting it w/ water, and testing on a leaf or two first..  We'll see if i regret not mixing w/ water and using it full strength. Tough to avoid any leaves when the darn things were tucked into the tip on that stem though i tried as best as possible not to hit anything else..

Would definitely research how safe it would be to apply on Cacti/ other succulents before doing so..

[EJ;)]

These are seriously beautiful!!!!

i think it is something desperately missing from my tropical landscape. 

I have tried growing a few. but they do not like my yard for some reason?!?

HELP what am i doing wrong! the tag always says full sun. but i have a feeling in my 

sunny California spot (100 degree summers) , full sun is too much for them! any clues?

[Silas_Sancona]

Found the original Hibiscus thread.. Wish the author was still posting. @Brad Mondel  How  are yours looking this year..

 

[Silas_Sancona]

14 minutes ago, EJ;) said:

These are seriously beautiful!!!!

i think it is something desperately missing from my tropical landscape. 

I have tried growing a few. but they do not like my yard for some reason?!?

HELP what am i doing wrong! the tag always says full sun. but i have a feeling in my 

sunny California spot (100 degree summers) , full sun is too much for them! any clues?

Part sun in really hot places is best for a lot of the cultivars. Think single red, white, yellow are the best for more sun. ( pretty much the only colors you see in -any- sun here )

Best to purchase Hibiscus from specialty nurseries -if possible- since bb store grown plants can be weak from the start ( Greenhouse grown,  overfed, often w/ wayyy too much Phosphorus.. Hibiscus HATE Phosphorus in high amounts, and take sometime to show how much they don't like it. K < Potassium > is what they like. Same w/ Plumeria.  )

[EJ;)]

thank you!

[JubaeaMan138]

Me and my wife have acquired some rather nice looking hibiscus . Mostly all from hidden valley hibiscus this is one is Night magic .

[JubaeaMan138]

Here is one planted in more sun . Love how lighting changes the flower color 

[Nj Palms]

My ‘Summer shore’ (first pic) and ‘Zeak Advil’ (second pic). Temperatures and sun really vary the flower color on these two.

[Silas_Sancona]

On 6/9/2021 at 6:05 PM, Reyes Vargas said:

That is a nice looking flower.  If you can find the cultivar I would like to know.

Found it... Cultivar name is " Hawaiian Salmon "

Fyi.. As for the experiment i did using rubbing alcohol full strength for the Mealys? Not seeing any damage to the plant where i'd treated it, nor any on the other thing i'd treated.. Would still follow the overall opinion of " dilute w/ water " advice but, if you have something that isn't especially valuable / easily replaced, or a small stem that hangs well away from the center of the plant..  maybe test using it full strength on that before attempting on anything else.  

 Using the eye dropper was the most effective way to carefully target specific spots on the plants.. and only apply a few drops onto where the bugs were.  Noticed w/ the mealys, which were all clustered on the same branchlet, a drop or two  ( of the Alcohol ) seemed to be enough to soak every bugger on that stem.  I then knocked / scraped them off that stem into a plastic container and observed for a few minutes to see that the Alcohol had indeed killed them. If i saw anything start to move, squeezed another drop on 'em.  A 1/2 inch Chip Paintbrush would work well for removing the bugs from where they're hanging out... Obviously easier to do on potted plants vs. something that might be much bigger in the ground.

[philinsydney]

My Alyogyne huegellii West Coast gem has flowered for the first time.

[WaianaeCrider]

My Ma`o-hau-hele  (Hibiscus brackenridgii) is about to go crazy w/color. First pua of the year was facing the wrong way to photo it on the plant. Follow up w/plenty pua should be in a few days.  I have two next to each other and they are about 6 feet tall and each about 4 feet wide.

[Kailua_Krish]

13 hours ago, WaianaeCrider said:

My Ma`o-hau-hele  (Hibiscus brackenridgii) is about to go crazy w/color. First pua of the year was facing the wrong way to photo it on the plant. Follow up w/plenty pua should be in a few days.  I have two next to each other and they are about 6 feet tall and each about 4 feet wide.

Really beautiful plant Steve! Looks like it loves growing in its native home. All the ones here on the east side look terrible, the other native hibiscus do better over here.