How to prune hibiscus after winter
How to prune hibiscus: to keep them flowering for longer
Learning how to prune hibiscus is easy and will keep your plant in great condition. Hibiscus are beautiful and showy plants with large, bright flowers in a range of colors, from yellow to pink. Highly decorative, the flowers can bring a tropical feel and a pop of color to your garden. The flowers and buds are also edible and make a beautiful sweet tea.
Hibiscus flowers are short-lived, usually only blooming for a single day. However, if you have included them in your flower bed ideas, and prune them correctly, you will have a profusion of flowers and a long-lasting colorful display with new flowers opening every day.
The hibiscus family is a large one including species that are herbaceous perennials, annuals, woody shrubs and even trees. The varieties most commonly found in gardens are Hibiscus syriacus, a hardy deciduous flowering shrub and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, or Chinese Hibiscus, a tender evergreen shrub only grown in the tropics and subtropics.
Follow this easy guide and learn how to prune hibiscus. You will be pleased to know that pruning hibiscus is a whole lot simpler than you might think.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How to prune hibiscus
If you want to know how to prune hibiscus correctly, the first thing you need to establish is what kind of hibiscus you’re dealing with.
There are numerous varieties with a range of characteristics and blooms of different colors. If you choose the right type for your garden and plant it in the right place, and learn how to prune hibiscus in the right way, they will produce a stunning floral show throughout the growing season.
Treat your hibiscus well and you will create a flowering machine – as one day’s flowers fade, so a vigorous array of new flowers will appear to succeed them. With so many colors to choose from, you can include hibiscus in a range of garden color schemes.
How to identify hibiscus
If you planted your hibiscus yourself, chances are you’ll already know which category it falls under.
If, however, you’ve inherited a ready-planted hibiscus in your garden you’ll need to identify at least the category it belongs to in order to know how to prune hibiscus in the right way. Just as you prune rhododendrons in different ways and at different times depending on the variety, the same is true of hibiscus. The outline below will help with both scenarios.
How to prune native hibiscus
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Native hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) – also known as common rose mallow, swamp mallow, or marsh hibiscus – are native to the southeastern US. Choose between pink, red and white flowering varieties. As its name suggests, the swamp mallow prefers marshy wetland habitats, but can tolerate drier spots if kept well watered. The scarlet rose mallow is a beautiful variety, common in Florida, which can grow to 4 to 8 feet tall (1 to 2.5 m.).
According to Gena Lorraine, gardening expert at Fantastic Services , ‘Native hibiscus is very easy to care for but sometimes they can grow a bit leggy and too tall.
To keep a healthy height, you need to make sure you know how to prune hibiscus.
'Make sure to cut its stems back towards the end as they are from the previous season and the plant will not bloom from these. You should do that in late winter or early spring before the new growth. Always use sharp blades and if the plant looks tender and leaning, you can tie it to a supporting stake,’ says Gena.
How to prune tropical hibiscus
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tropical hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), as the name suggests, can only survive permanently in zones 9-11 and suit tropical garden ideas. They have glossy dark green leaves and flowers of rich reds, yellow, orange through to peach, pink and gold. With their showy blooms, they are great as shrubs for the front of the house to increase its curb appeal.
'There are many forms of rosa-sinensis,’ says Byron Martin from Logees Plants in Connecticut. ‘The coloration of the flowers is really extraordinary; there's so much diversity in the color it could take years to become familiar with the amount of beauty that is in this genus,’ he continues.
Tropical hibiscus share some characteristics with the native hibiscus. If you live in a cooler climate, it’s still possible to grow tropical hibiscus, but in this case you will treat it as an annual, or bring it indoors into a conservatory or heated greenhouse before the temperatures start to drop outside.
Gena Lorraine offers the following advice on pruning tropical hibiscus: ‘this type of hibiscus should be pruned until it achieves a tree-like shape but the timing really depends on where you live.
‘In the US the best time to prune is in spring or when the weather starts warming up. Never prune tropical hibiscus in fall as you risk freezing the new and still tender growth. Also, it’s recommended to bring your tropical hibiscus inside in winter if it’s planted in a pot. On the other hand, if you live in a tropical area, you can prune the plant all year round. Start pruning by removing the outer growth and any suckers growing around the base. Of course, keep an eye on diseased branches to avoid spreading.
’
How to prune hardy hibiscus
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus spp) have heart-shaped, dull green leaves and white, pink or red flowers. They are similar in nature to tropical hibiscus, but the main difference lies in where they can grow. Hardy hibiscus are cold tolerant in cooler US zones 5 to 8, hardy hibiscus produce showy flowers in a range of colors.
Known for her step-by-step gardening tutorials, and, describing herself as ‘a native of chilly zone 5, where we love hardy hibiscus’, gardening expert Mary Jane Duford says: ‘Hardy hibiscus is a low-maintenance perennial that needs only basic pruning.’
She adds, ‘This type of hibiscus dies back to the soil surface each winter in the cooler zones in which it thrives. New sprouts appear in the springtime, after most other hardy herbaceous perennials have sprouted. At this point, any remnants of overwintered stems can be trimmed off with sharp, clean pruning shears.’
Pruning is not required during this summer foliage growth period, although stems can be pinched back when under a foot tall if a shrubby form is desired.
Once the plant starts to flower, remove spent blooms as they finish flowering. This plant is known for its incredible flowers, and looks much more attractive when the wilted blooms are removed.
In the late fall, long after flowering is finished, you will need to prune hardy hibiscus stems following a hard frost. If you wish, you can leave 3-6 inches of stem visible to remind you where the plant is. Although Mary Jane Duford adds that stems ‘can also be left standing until early spring to support the local bird population during the winter months.’
(Image credit: John Swithinbank)
How should hibiscus be pruned?
How hibiscus should be pruned depends on the variety you have. Once you have identified the variety of hibiscus that you have, you will be able to choose what is the best way to prune by following this guide.
All pruning should be carried out with a pair of sharp, clean secateurs. A clean cut made by a sharp tool will heal easier than a messy cut.
Using a clean tool will also help to reduce the chances of infection. It is also good practice to prune on a dry day.
How hard can you cut back hibiscus?
You can cut hibiscus right back, but pruning is a matter of choice. Good pruning will promote flowering.
Native hibiscus can get quite tall and start to look a little untidy, so if you want a neater plant with more blooms make sure to prune as directed above. Tropical and hardy hibiscus can be pruned into an attractive tree shape, or kept as a bushy shrub.
Hidden Valley Hibiscus - Pruning Hibiscus
 
Hibiscus Plant Care
| Hibiscus 'Saffron' a few months after a full pruning |
If you grow any kind of plant, shrub, or tree, sooner or later you will have to decide whether or not to prune. But what is pruning really? Do all plants need it? Are there any benefits of pruning? This article should tell you everything you need to know about pruning.
 
What is Pruning?
Pruning is defined as "trimming or cutting branches to improve growth and appearance." There are many different pruning techniques, depending on what you want to achieve. Some people equate pruning with chopping a plant down to the ground. For others it's nipping off the green tip of a branch. Any time you physically interfere with the natural growth of your plant, you're pruning. To make it easier, let us break down pruning into the following categories:
Pinching: This is pruning of the topmost growth tips of branches to encourage a fuller bush. You do this by nipping off the top 1/4"-1" (1-2 cm) of green growth. Pinching works best on younger plants. If you get plants from Hidden Valley Hibiscus (HVH), they may have already been pinched, so there may be no need for any additional pruning during the first summer.
Selective Pruning: As the name indicates, pruning is carried out on selected branches and stems.
At no time are more than one third of all the branches trimmed back. This is usually the best compromise for hibiscus, as it keeps some branches undisturbed and blooming, while letting other new branches develop.Full Prune: Here you cut back all the branches at once down to 2-3 nodes per branch. You have to wait a bit before the next flowers come, true, but this usually yields the best, most harmonious plant. If you want to grow a show plant for your garden (not to be confused with growing for show blooms!) this is the way to go. At HVH the stock plants are pruned this way as a matter of course as we harvest wood for propagation.
Rejuvenating or Hard Prune: This is only carried out on old plants with lots of dead wood and scrawny growth. You cut back rather low down, but no lower than one foot above soil level, and remove much larger branches than in a normal pruning.
Hard pruning is a drastic measure for mature plants that aren't growing or blooming well. It is particularly good for those old plants that are tall with lots of sticks and stems but few leaves and flowers. A hard prune will force the plant to regrow a more compact, rounder bush.Corrective Pruning: This means only pruning those branches that are undesirable or damaged. Pruning off dead tips or branches that have been damaged by cold is one type of corrective pruning. Another type is cutting off very long stray branches that stick out in unattractive ways, or reshaping a lopsided plant. The goal is to prune only enough to create a healthy, balanced plant.
| Hard pruning for an old plant with no bottom growth |
 
Why Prune?
So why prune? We all grow hibiscus primarily for the flowers. We tend to forget how important the bush is. Pruning stimulates branching and makes a fuller bush. Why is that so great? Hibiscus form buds at the end of each branch. The more branches, the more flowers.
It's that simple. If that's not a compelling argument to prune, we don't know what is!
We all hate to prune our plants while they are blooming because we don't want to lose any flowers! But the long-term payoff is that pruning stimulates more side branches on your plants, and every one of these new branches will produce even more blooms eventually. That is the basic equation for pruning - some blooms now if you don't prune or more blooms later if you do. You also get the added benefit of having a better looking bush if you prune.
There are compromises luckily! You don't have to prune all the branches at once. You can selectively prune a few branches at a time, and keep some flowering branches on your plant through the blooming season. Or you can just selectively prune stray, unattractive, or sick branches. Any pruning helps the plant and produces more blooms in the long run.
 
When to Prune
When to prune depends on the specifics of your area and growing conditions.
The main idea is to prune just before a warming trend is coming, so that your hibiscus will grow very actively, and the increasing warmth will pull them forward into lush new growth. Pruning just before very cold weather can be so stressful that it can cause severe dieback, and you can lose more of your plant than you want to. But pruning in extreme heat can be equally stressful. The very best time to prune is times of sunny, mild weather. For some of you, this will mean you can prune any time all summer long. For some of us, it means spring or fall are our optimum times for pruning. Here are some basic guidelines:
For hibiscus planted in the ground in very warm climates where winter freezing is seldom a problem, pruning can be done in the late fall. This forces the plant to put growing energy into roots first, then when spring comes, branches shoot out all over, which means a lot more flowers in the summer.
If your hibiscus are planted in the ground in an area where frost could nip any new growth, don't attempt a fall pruning.
Wait until spring to prune, as soon as the danger of frost is past. The earlier you prune, the sooner you will get flowers in the summer. If your hibiscus are in pots, and you will bring them into sunny windows inside a house, greenhouse, or windowed garage for the winter, go ahead and prune in the fall when you bring the plants inside. If hibiscus get sun, they will regrow very quickly from pruning, and your hibiscus will be ready to burst into bloom as soon as you put them back outside in the spring.
If your hibiscus are in pots, and you will bring them into a dark place, like a basement or unheated garage for the winter, wait until spring to prune. Pruning in cold, dark conditions can cause great stress to the plant. If this is your situation and you have a very short summer, you may want to do selective pruning all through the summer so that your plants can continue to flower on some branches, while you selectively prune other branches.
If you wish to do a hard pruning and cut your plant way back, you should only do this in the spring.
It is the most stressful type of pruning for the plant, and needs to be done only when the warmth and sun are increasing, never when days are becoming shorter and colder. If you have an important event coming up in your garden or yard, you will want to time your pruning around it. It will take 2-4 months after a pruning before you see flowers again on the cut branches. Also you will have a temporarily smaller, shorter, or out of balance plant until the new growth fills in. So you will need to schedule your pruning well before the date when you need your garden to look its very best.
For those of you who are lucky enough to have a sunny greenhouse for your hibiscus in the winter, a hard pruning in January can work very well. We do this even in the coolest parts of our own greenhouse. During the day, the sun warms the greenhouse to a very toasty temperature, while at night the greenhouse protects the hibiscus from any freezing. The pruned plants sprout out with many growing points about 2 weeks after they are cut back to only 8 to 12 inches in height.
As the days lengthen and warm up, these growing points increase their rate of growth and by early spring all the pruned hibiscus have nice bushy green growth. This growth rapidly develops into lush bushes by early summer, and by mid-summer the plants are in full bloom, well ahead of other plants that were pruned later. Last but not least, for the lucky few who live in areas with little to no freezing and who have room to plant their hibiscus in their yards, no pruning at all is an option. We have seen examples in parts of coastal southern California where hibiscus were planted in the yard as small plants, and received no further care other than water and fertilizer. Over 10 years they developed into large, very full bushes with lots of branches, and with the right fertilizer, have bloomed like crazy. Even plants with bushes known to be problematic when grown in pots tend to do well in frost-free gardens when given enough time to develop. We would recommend strategic, corrective pruning to speed up the process of developing shapely bushes, but in these frost-free areas, there is little or no need for major prunings, since most hibiscus will develop well over time in optimum conditions like these.
| A tall skinny hibiscus can be pruned to create a rounder, fuller bush. |
 
First, Take a Good Look at Your Plant
Okay, you're now ready to put the pruners to the plant, but wait a minute. There is one more thing to take into consideration. As you look at the branches, you will see that the leaf nodes (eyes) point in different directions, some in toward the center of the plant, others sideways, outward, and some even downward. You may also have some branches with an almost horizontal or downward pointing growth habit. Perhaps there is a "hole" in the leaf canopy. Where you place your cut will either correct the problem or make it worse.
The general rule of thumb is to make the cut 1/4" (1/2 cm) above an outward pointing node. This works well with staunchly upright plants, as they do need to spread a little. You do want a little spreading of the branches to encourage lateral growth and increase flowering.
This is how the majority of us have learned to prune and in most instances it works very well.
However, if a plant has a spreading growth habit, you don't want it to fall apart but make it more upright. "Spreading" means plants where the majority of the branches point outward at an angle that exceeds 45°. For these plants we recommend cutting 1/4" (1/2 cm) above an inward-pointing node instead. This will force new growth to become more upright.
Tools
| Pruning forces branching, which means more buds & flowers |
For pruning only one tool is generally needed - a pair of good pruning shears, often referred to as pruners. Your pruners need to be sharp and clean. Dull or dirty pruners can spread disease all through your garden. So along with your pruners, get a bottle of alcohol gel hand cleaner, and use it on your pruners every time you move to a new bush, or after every cut of diseased wood.
Learning to Find a Suitable Node
| Hibiscus Nodes One with a Leaf |
So what is a node? A node is a definite bump on the surface of the stem where a leaf has grown or is growing. You can both feel and see it. The best node to choose when cutting is one with a leaf growing from it. If that is not possible due to all the leaves having fallen, don't worry about it. Just choose a node that is pointing in the direction you would like to see a new stem grow in. Usually one pointing outward and upward helps make for an attractive bush. Sometimes, if the plant is too open in appearance, an inward pointing node is best, since it encourages stem growth to fill in the space in the middle of the bush.
Let's Start Pruning!
Thoroughly clean a pair of sharp pruning shears. Wipe the cutting surfaces with a disinfectant such as alcohol gel hand cleaner. Rubbing alcohol, bleach and water, or nursery products such as Physan can all be used to sterilize pruners.
Take your time and leave the sterilizer on the blades. Most sterilizing materials need time to kill disease-causing organisms, so go slowly and let your sterilizer do its job.Take a good look at the plant to be pruned. Because the new growth will start below any cut you make, you want to plan accordingly. Cutting a few inches off the top is usually not a good idea, as the new growth sprouting off the end of the existing branch will not look quite right.
Instead, plan to cut most branches back by about 1/3 or even more. The new growth that emerges will be strong and will blend in with the rest of the plant.
Choose a long or out-of-proportion branch to start with. Look about 1/3 of the way down the branch until you find a leaf node (eye) that is facing the direction you want the new branch to grow. Leaf nodes are dormant growth points that sit at the base of every leaf stem (petiole) where it connects to the branch. If the leaf has fallen off, the node will still be there, visible as a small indention or bump along the trunk.
Up or out is usually better than down or inward facing but let the plant shape guide you.
Make the cut just above the eye that you located, leaving about 1/4" (1/2 cm) of wood between the eye and the cut.
To make a new branch grow to the left,
cut above the node on the left side.
To make a new branch grow to the right,
cut above the node on the right side.If your pruners are sharp, the cut will be smooth and not strip the wood or bark from the stem. Try to avoid doing so if possible.
Move on to the next branch and repeat. Hibiscus are very resilient and will actually grow better after this treatment, so do not hesitate to make those cuts.
Take a final look, as it is still possible to cut the pruned branches even further back if that appears desirable for shaping purposes.
| Nodes without leaves ~ any node works for pruning Choose the node on the side you want the branch to grow from.  |
What about branches that grow almost horizontally or, even worse, flop downward? All isn't lost. For such branches you cut 1/4" (1/2 cm) above an upward pointing node close to the main stem as we want to eliminate as much of this undesirable growth as possible. This will cause the plant to grow in the preferred direction./>
Sometimes there might be sparsely leafed out areas where we want to see more growth. So we look for a sideways pointing node on one of the surrounding branches that faces toward the direction of the empty spot. This node will grow into a new branch, filling the "hole" in the foliage.
 
How to Hard Prune Old Hibiscus
Sometimes you may have a lack of stem growth on the bottom of a plant. This "caney" look is often a sign of an aging plant. It will not grow new branches without encouragement. This is when you may want to do a hard pruning. It might seem strange that cutting off the upper part of the stems will make the plant branch out lower down but when you do so you change the hormone flow in the plant and it will start branching.
Don't be afraid to cut far down the stem, leaving 3-4 nodes on each main branch, but don't cut closer to the ground than one foot. Be sure to leave some leaves on the plant. After a heavy pruning there should still be a dozen or so healthy green leaves to carry on the photosynthesis the plant needs. This rejuvenating process should not be carried out very often - no more than every 3-5 years. In the intervening years follow the general pruning advice above.
 
How to Prune a Hibiscus Tree Standard
| Hibiscus Tree Standards |
Many people enjoy the look and convenience of the "tree standard" form of popular ornamental plants such as roses, miniature citrus trees, and even garden variety hibiscus. The look of plants grown this way is neater, perhaps more sophisticated than the look of a typical potted plant. What characterizes such plants is a straight, bare main stem that supports a "head" of branches, leaves, and flowers.
Such plants are considered easier to grow than regular bushes since there is less foliage to attract insects, they use less water due to less foliage, and have an all around neater appearance. Prune them a little from time to time to keep the shape of the round "head" and that is about it for routine maintenance. Over time a standard will continue to grow taller, until the 2-foot (60 cm) plant purchased in a 6" (15 cm) pot will stand 4-6 feet (1.2-1.8m) tall in a 5-10 gallon (20-40 L) pot. Standards have been grown since Roman times, and are still as popular as ever.
 
How to Create Your Own Hibiscus Standard
Select a plant that has one straight main stem with a minimum height of two feet.
Cut the top off the main trunk about 2-4" (5-10 cm) above where you want the "head" of your tree to be.
Cut away all lower side branches close to the main trunk, leaving only branches within 6" (15 cm) from the top of the main stem.
Prune back the remaining branches that will form the "ball" on top of the standard, leaving 2-3 nodes that will grow out.
Continue trimming off new growth as it appears on the main stem. Make the cut flush with the main stem so it will not regrow from that point.
As the top branches grows out, which will take 2-4 months depending on variety, pinch back the tips on the new growth, leaving 2 to 3 nodes on each branch.
Trim off overlong or lopsided growth wherever it occurs to create a round, well shaped crown. By continuing to trim away any new growth on the main stem and pruning the crown, your standard will keep its shape and appeal for a long time to come.
 
Stimulate New Growth
Now that you're finished pruning, give your hibiscus a healthy dose of nutrition, including fertilizer and ideally a good growth enhancer. This will help prevent any shock or distress to the plant due to the pruning, and it will also jump-start new growth at each of the remaining nodes.
Keep fertilizing and treating with growth enhancer until your plant is fully leafed out, looking beautiful, and starting to bloom.
 
Pruning a Damaged Hibiscus
If your hibiscus has been damaged by a hard freeze or some other damaging event, you will need to do a special kind of pruning.
Be sure to have plenty of water-free hand cleaner with you because you will need to sterilize your pruners after every cut into damaged wood. Once you start pruning, you'll also need to collect all dead, possibly diseased wood and put it in a plastic trash bag. You want to send all bad wood off to the dump in plastic bags rather than leave it lying around where it can spread disease back to your healthy hibiscus plants.
Checking for Live Wood
First check your plants for dead stems and branches. The test is simple enough. Working from the tip of each plant stem down toward the base, use a strong fingernail or a small knife to make a small scratch test (1/4-1/2 inch [1/2-1cm] long).
Scrape away a tiny bit of the brown outer bark of the stem that you are not sure about and look at the color underneath. A live branch will be bright green underneath the bark. If the branch is brown or light tan, it is dead. Some dead stems may be rotten, soft and squishy to the touch. There's no need to do a scratch test on stems that are soft and squishy - they are clearly rotting and dead. Just keep working your way down the stem, doing scratch tests, until you find the point where scratching away the bark reveals bright, healthy, green plant tissue underneath. Plant tissue that is dull green with brown mixed in is not likely to live, so keep moving your way down the branch until you find a bright green patch. Now that we know where the live wood begins, it's time to remove the dead wood.
Removing the Dead Wood - Two Strategies
| Deeply Pruned Hibiscus Branch Cut has clean, white wood inside bark. New growth is sprouting below.  |
When cutting dead or dying wood from the plant, there are two strategies to choose between. The first is to find the highest spot of clean, live wood on a stem and then cut the stem 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) above the next visible node down from that spot. This will eliminate the ugly, dead wood and keep any disease from spreading downward. When you make the cut, the inner core of the stem should be clean and white, not streaked with dark stains. If it isn't, then move further down the stem and keep cutting until you find good, clean, white wood. Keep in mind that the stem is likely to branch out from the node nearest the cut or from the 2-3 nodes just below the cut. Sometimes this is just fine, but other times that might make for a funny-looking plant with stems branching out near the top but not the bottom.
The second pruning strategy is to shape the plant while removing the dead wood. You start the same way, by finding the point where the wood is clean, green, and white.
Instead of cutting just above the first clean, healthy node, the cut is made further down, just above a node that is pointing in the direction you would like a stem to grow. Be sure and cut 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) above the node, so that there is room for the new stem to sprout. If the cut is too high, the remaining wood above the node may rot. If the cut is too close to the node, you may remove the special plant cells that would have sprouted into the new branch. In this second pruning strategy, you remove more wood than is necessary to eliminate the dead wood. Some of what is removed will be white and clean but the idea is to force more stems to sprout lower down on the bush, to help it achieve a full and attractive appearance. You may cut away as much as 2/3 or even more of a branch in order to do this. Don't be afraid to prune back many of the stems severely. The plant will re-grow with more branches than ever before and look fuller than ever before. More branches mean more flowers, too!
Some of the dead wood on a hibiscus bush will just be twigs.
Remove the dead twigs as close to the branch they were growing from as possible without damaging that branch. Throw them in a trash bag in order to dispose of them.
You've Pruned, So Now What?
After cleaning up your hibiscus by removing all dead wood and pruning some branches for shape, what do you do? It will take several weeks, depending on weather, before the new growth will come back. During that time keep the hibiscus evenly moist if possible, and fertilize it at half strength once per week. If you notice any insects on the bushes, it is important to get rid of them so that the tender new shoots that are coming will not be damaged by such insects. I was surprised to find spider mites on one of my outdoor hibiscus only a few weeks after we had freezing nights! You can use forceful water sprays, such as with the Bug Blaster, to wash off any bugs at this time. To help your hibiscus get started growing again, spray it regularly with Wake-Up Spray, and either add Growth Enhancer to your fertilizer or replace your fertilizer with Houseplant Formula until you see strong, lush growth.
Once your hibiscus is growing strong again, with multiple leaves sprouting out everywhere, discontinue the Wake-Up Spray and go back to your regular fertilizer routine.
Hibiscus thrive on attention, and many of the cold-damaged plants from a cold winter will come roaring back to bloom again in the summer if they are given a little tender loving care as they recover from winter. As the temperature warms and summer approaches, increase the fertilizer being used, as well as the amount of water the hibiscus receive. Stay vigilant for insect attack or use routine treatments on the plants as a preventive.
That's it! Pruning hibiscus is not a difficult job, and will produce fantastic results in terms of plant shape, health, and increased blooming. Just follow the simple steps above, and choose the best time of year to do it according to your local weather conditions.
Hibiscus pruning - how to carry out the procedure for indoor and garden species, using cuttings for propagation
How to prune hibiscus, which is known to many as the "Chinese rose" - is a topical issue among flower growers.
This plant is easily recognizable by its beautiful flowers. But, unfortunately, hibiscus can stop blooming buds.
The plant must be pruned to restore lush flowering. How to prune a Chinese rose? This article will tell you about all the nuances of this procedure.
Contents:
- 1 Description of the plant
- 2 How to prune hibiscus?
- 3 How to prune an indoor rose?
- 4 Pruning garden hibiscus
- 5 Propagation of the plant by cut cuttings
Description of the plant
Hibiscus belongs to the mallow family. It is distributed, for example, in the tropics and subtropics. It can be seen in Egypt, Thailand, China.
Hibiscus flower
Hibiscus stem bare. On petioles are alternate leaves. Flowers can be of any color (except black and blue).
Their size varies from 5 to 30 cm. The fruit of this plant is a capsule.
It has 5 wings. The box contains a large number of seeds.
More than 20 years is the lifespan of a hibiscus.
It can grow up to three meters.
Hibiscus is cultivated as an ornamental plant. The most common among us is the so-called "Chinese rose". This is one type of hibiscus. She is decorated with gardens and greenhouses, rooms. "Chinese rose" loves light, warmth and a lot of space.
So, hibiscus is a beautiful plant, which is why it is popular with flower growers.
How to prune hibiscus?
How to prune a Chinese rose? Before you start pruning, you need to understand why it is necessary.
This event is necessary for the following reasons:
- Thanks to this procedure, the hibiscus will have more shoots, which means that the number of flowers on it will increase. Because they only appear at the ends of branches.
- Pruning stimulates plant growth.
- She will help save damaged or dying hibiscus.
- This action gives the plant the desired shape for the grower.
- If the roots of the flower have grown too large, they can also be trimmed carefully.
But this procedure is rarely performed.
Thus, pruning is an obligatory item in the annual care system for this plant.
Expert opinion
Yuliya Yuryevna
I have a large garden and vegetable garden, several greenhouses. I love modern methods of plant cultivation and soil mulching, and I share my experience.
Ask a question
When answering the question of how to prune hibiscus and why it should be done, it should be replaced by the fact that this procedure is required for healing, sanitation of the flower. Like most crops, hibiscus is prone to certain diseases. Excessive bush density impairs ventilation inside the crown, access to sunlight.
For this reason, shoots that thicken the crown and grow inside the bush must be removed. In addition, we recommend spring sanitation and autumn pruning of hibiscus. During this period, weak, thin, damaged branches are removed.
In spring, the plant should be examined during bud swelling.
If some branches look dry, do not have live buds, it is also better to remove them. Such shoots pose the greatest danger due to the fact that pests often settle in them.
You can check whether the shoot needs to be trimmed by breaking off a small piece. If the cut inside is green, juicy, everything is in order with the hibiscus branch. If the break is brown or gray, completely dry, there is no feeling of flexibility, these areas should definitely be cut off.
We would like to note that all work must be carried out with sharp, clean, pre-disinfected tools. To do this, we recommend wiping the secateurs before and after trimming with a solution of manganese, alcohol or bleach. This is especially important if you need to work on dry or diseased branches.
How to prune an indoor rose?
How to prune Chinese rose at home? This procedure is carried out using ordinary scissors. The flower is not afraid of her, so you can safely experiment.
Before starting pruning, you need to decide on the shape and size of the future plant.
After all, one likes a "rose" in the form of a tree, and the other likes bush hibiscus.
Pruning indoor hibiscus - forming a crown
How to trim a Chinese indoor rose? So, to get a tree, you need:
Tie the central shoot to the support so that the trunk straightens.
Remove second generation lateral processes. This will help the stem thicken. Sections are made, stepping back from the node 0.5 cm upwards at an angle of 45 °.
Shorten the top of the head by several buds, forming the crown of the future tree.
If you want to get a bush, then you need to remove the central shoot. A few kidneys located below should be left. Lateral branches will develop from them.
When the upper crown is formed, shoots that appear parallel to the trunk and twigs growing deep into the crown should be removed. This procedure must be performed in order to form a beautiful plant and not waste nutrients on parts it does not need.
After flowering, the hibiscus is also pruned.
This is usually done in autumn or February. Later pruning may result in the plant not blooming in summer.
When transplanting a flower in the spring, it is advisable to cut all its branches so that they become 15 cm long from the root. The crown must be cut to the place where the last lateral branches grow.
By following these simple guidelines, even a beginner can grow a lush plant of the desired shape, which will please with abundant flowering.
Expert opinion
Yuliya Yuryevna
I have a large garden and vegetable garden, several greenhouses. I love modern methods of plant cultivation and soil mulching, and I share my experience.
Ask a question
How to prune indoor hibiscus so that it blooms? It is important not to remove more than 30% of the plant crown at a time. Otherwise, it will spend a lot of energy on the restoration and healing of wounds. Also, it is important to moisten the flower well after completion of work, and after 2 weeks to fertilize.
It is better to use mineral fertilizers with a lot of potassium. This element not only improves the immunity of the plant, but together with phosphorus and boron is responsible for abundant and long flowering.
Hibiscus also has one important feature. Buds are formed only on the upper parts of young shoots. For this reason, indoor hibiscus needs regular pruning or pinching. This stimulates the plant to bush, produce new shoots on which flowers will appear.
Quite often, healthy, overgrown indoor Chinese roses stop blooming precisely because of the lack of pruning.
We would like to add that the lack of flowering of hibiscus can be provoked by insufficient lighting, poor soil or improper feeding regimen.
Also, hibiscus will not bloom in an overly spacious pot. After all, then the plant will spend energy on the development of the rhizome and filling the available space. Another factor is hard chlorinated water for irrigation. It is necessary to use settled filtered or melted moisture.
Pruning garden hibiscus
The main procedure is carried out in February, before the sap flow begins. September is the time of minor pruning. This event is carried out with the help of a knife, garden shears, a lopper and a hand saw.
Use only sharp tools to avoid damaging the plant. They need to be disinfected with a special gardening agent.
There are several types of pruning:
- pinching,
- selective,
- full,
- corrective,
- strong.
Chinese rose - pruning and shaping
The first type is the most gentle pruning. It consists of cutting off the tops of branches above the topmost node to encourage growth. First of all, this procedure is applied to young hibiscus, as they do not need more serious pruning.
The second species is needed to maintain the shape and size of the plant. Selective pruning is subjected to only its desired places.
The cut is made slightly above the node, which is 1/3 from the top of the branch.
Full pruning means shortening each branch to 2 - 3 buds. This procedure is carried out at the beginning of the season. Its goal is the abundant flowering of the plant.
The fourth type involves pruning diseased areas of hibiscus. It is necessary to cut the branch before the appearance of living green wood.
Heavy pruning is applied when the plant is almost dead. You need to leave only that part of the branches whose wood is healthy.
So, knowing the features of these 5 types of pruning will help you properly care for your garden hibiscus.
Propagation of the plant by cut cuttings
The question of how to propagate hibiscus is of particular interest to beginner gardeners. For this, the branches that remained after the spring pruning of the room “rose” are suitable.
It is necessary to adhere to the following technology:
- Take a semi-lignified plant stem about 15 cm long with 4 internodes. The cut at the bottom should be oblique, and the top straight.
- Remove the bottom 2 sheets and cut the rest by ½.
- Place the bottom of the cutting for 2-3 hours in the Epin solution or dip into the root former.
- Spread loose earth into seedling containers. You can mix an equal amount of garden soil, sand and peat for this. It is advisable to add some bone meal to the soil.
- Water the soil.
- Plant a plant.
Put a plastic transparent bag over it to maintain temperature and water balance.
Plant propagated by cuttings
Care must be taken to ensure that there is no excess moisture on the bag. During rooting, the temperature should be more than +24 ° C. In a month, the hibiscus will give its own roots.
You can try another way of rooting. To do this, place the cutting in water with activated carbon, poured into an opaque container.
After the appearance of a root of 0.5 cm, the future plant should be transplanted into a pot.
Hibiscus can certainly be grown from seed.
Then he will please his owner with the first flowers only in the fourth year of life. A plant grown from cuttings will bloom next summer.
Using the theoretical knowledge gained from this article for practical purposes will help decorate your flower collection with beautiful hibiscus.
This surprised me
Garden flowers
Best time to prune indoor hibiscus
- LATEST ENTRIES How to remove a stump from a site Do-it-yourself hedge in the country house Barberry: the brightest varieties Good Cucumber Harvest: Tips for Better Yields
- DIRECTIONS
- Automatic opening, ventilation and watering of greenhouses
- Acrylic paints
- Balcony
- Wood concrete blocks
- Water well drilling
- Well water
- Roof gutter
- Air in the apartment
- Growing at home
- Waterproofing
- Hydrophobization of materials
- Garden paths
- DIY fireplace
- Frame house
- Do-it-yourself oven laying
- Metal roof
- MDF
- Roof installation
- Laminate installation
- Linoleum installation
- Laminate underlay installation
- Stretch ceilings
- Sawdust concrete
- OSB board
- Slope finishing
- Plastering
- Polypropylene pipes
- Material consumption
- Paving slabs
- blind area device
- Insulation
- We insulate the sauna ourselves
- Facade
- Pile foundation
- Cinder block
- Bath Enamel
Hibiscus is the most common indoor plant and is also called Chinese rose.
Such a flower needs proper care, the main step is pruning or forming the crown of the plant. With proper care, the life of the bush reaches twenty years. Consider the basic rules for pruning a plant, why it needs to be done, and in what period.
Why hibiscus pruning?
Indoor hibiscus needs pruning, for this plant this procedure is mandatory. We will find out the reasons why this procedure should be carried out.
-
After some time, shoots may become deformed, uneven or short. To solve this problem, old shoots are cut off, and new ones grow in their place, having the correct shape.
-
Instead of splendor, only old shoots grow on the bush, as a result, the plant has poor greenery. After pruning, the bush begins to develop in full force, gives a lot of new green shoots, and becomes lush. But flowering occurs weakly or it may not be at all, since at first the plant spends all its strength on the renewal of greenery. Thus, the flower will have a beautiful magnificent shape.
-
This procedure is carried out for the purpose of rejuvenation, after a while dry shoots appear on the plant, they must be cut off so that new shoots appear.
-
Pruning may be sanitary in nature, in which case it is necessary to get rid of the affected shoots, while removing a little of the healthy part.
-
In order for the bush to develop well and bloom abundantly, pruning is also performed.
Sometimes the roots of the flower are cut off, this procedure is done very rarely, in such cases, when they have grown too large and do not fit in a pot. This must be done with extreme care so as not to damage the main branches of the roots.
Correct formation of the hibiscus crown
There are two types of hibiscus crown formation, they create a lush or horizontal shape.
A lush crown is formed much more often than a horizontal crown. The form is chosen independently, to whom, what is more like or suits the design of the room.
The main advantage of hibiscus is that it can be grown as a lush bush or tall flowering tree.
Pruning is carried out with ordinary scissors, the branches of the plant are thin, so the procedure is not difficult. Cut off the processes located parallel to the main branches, as well as all the dried elements.
To add splendor to the plant, cut the area above the outward looking leaf by 1/3. Pruning is done annually, in the spring. This procedure is performed in the fall, after active flowering. In the absence of such a procedure, the plant will cease to bloom, since flowers appear only on the shoots of a young species.
It is best not to prune in the summer as the shrub will not produce flowers.
How to pinch indoor hibiscus?
Young shoots need to be pinched, the procedure is performed in early spring. This is done with each young shoot.
Basic rules for trimming
-
The shoot located in the center is tied to a support, this can be a bamboo stick or other solid object suitable for this role.
-
Cut off all shoots of the lateral view, leaving up to 5 leaves. Thus, the trunk of the bush will thicken.
-
During this period, active nitrogen fertilizing is carried out, and when the plant reaches the required height, the crown is pinched, leaving about 6 healthy shoots. They will serve as a crown, which must be periodically cut to obtain new branches.
-
It is mandatory to prune shoots that are parallel to the main trunk and branches growing in the inner part of the crown.
Almost all plants need pruning, and hibiscus, including, such a procedure is able to renew, improve the appearance, and maintain the health of the bush.
Indoor hibiscus pruning is carried out in autumn and spring, after the bush stops flowering, this is done with ordinary scissors. In this case, you can create a lush or horizontal crown.
