Keeping hibiscus blooming is a way to get it going beyond its normal circle is possible with a little extra care and effort. Unfortunately, the answer to the question “Do hibiscus bloom all year,” is some do, and some don’t.
However, you can extend these blooming periods with some tips and tricks, which we’ll share below, whether you have a species that blooms all year.
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How Do You Keep Hibiscus Blooming?
The right way to keep hibiscus blooming is to make sure you fertilize the plant properly, provide water consistently, allow adequate lighting and temperature conditions, prune when needed, repot at the right time, ensure the soil pH is ideal, and check for diseases and pests regularly.
1. Proper Fertilization
Tropical hibiscus are plants that depend on a lot of nutrients. The more nutrients they get during their active growing season, the more abundant their blooms will be. This is the reason why, you should aim to make sure you provide your plants with routine and proper fertilization aiming to use slow-release granular fertilizers since they are the perfect option for growing hibiscus.
On the other hand, when you try but do not find slow-release granular fertilizers, you can opt for a compost rich in potassium and add it to your soil or use diluted organic liquid fertilizers instead. This is because potassium-rich composts are ideal if you’re growing your plants outdoors.
But if you’re using a water-soluble fertilizer, make sure to get the ratio right before applying it on your plants and apply it once a week during summer and spring. You may also opt to be using organic fertilizers since they don’t have synthetic chemicals that can affect the growth of your flowers.
Just remember that once it’s fall or winter, stop fertilizing your hibiscus trees, whether indoors or outdoors. This is because fall and winter are dormant periods for hibiscus flowers, so they need to shut down to realign the energy required for growth.
2. Consistent Watering
Tropical hibiscus is a heavy drinker, especially when it’s in its blooming stage. This ability makes it easy to over-water them. However, if you stick to a proper and consistent watering routine, you’re sure to extend the blooming cycle of your plant.
What you must be doing here is trying to irrigate your plants every day for the first week after they’ve been potted or planted, then transition to twice a week after.
If there’s no rainfall, keep up the twice-a-week routine; you can utilize the daily watering routine if the climate becomes too dry or hot, to give it a boost, but you must be keen that the soil of your hibiscus plant is as moist as possible. Although hibiscus is a tropical plant, its soil doesn’t have to be soggy or dry.
For this matter, you can easily place your finger about one or two inches into the soil to feel how dry or moist the soil is. If you start to feel that the soil is wet or moist, you can shift watering to the next day. Always be keen to check the soil right before watering or use a soil moisture monitor to determine how wet your soil is.
3. Provide Adequate Temperature
Temperature is another important factor needed to help your hibiscus thrive. As we’ve noted earlier, these plants are tropical plants, so they do well in a certain temperature range and get affected at a certain range.
Ensure that the area is it is located has temperatures between 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal growth and blooms. This is why Make sure the temperatures never hit below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and if they are potted, always move your hibiscus indoors before the first frost week or date in your region.
While your plants are indoors, try to maintain the temperature and prevent fluctuations that can be caused by heating and cooling vents, opening windows and doors, or even placing them near radiators. This is why you can move your plants outside once the night temperature is consistently at or above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Provide Proper Lighting Conditions
Light is another essential factor that contributes to how long your plants bloom. Ensure your plants get a good amount of light every day by providing them with six to almost eight hours of direct sunlight daily so that they can produce flower buds.
If you’re planting your flowers in a garden, make sure they’re planted in a spot where they can get sunlight directly, especially if your region is one with a mild summer or spring climate. But if you are located in a region that has hot or bright sunlight, you can plant them in spots where they can get partial sunlight.
For potted hibiscus plants, you will notice that you have the freedom to switch the position of your plants so they’re able to get direct sunlight when it’s cool and proper shade when the sun is too hot.
You may also try to use grow lights to help plants that are grown in low-light indoor situations. Just make sure your grow lights are full-spectrum lights so you can recreate six to eight hours of sunlight.
5. Prune When Needed
Pruning your plant helps improve growth and blooms, and this is the key reason thwy you want to make sure that you are providing your plants with heavy pruning at regular intervals. So you must get a pair of heavy-duty pruning shears, and use the shears to remove yellow stems, damaged branches, and deadhead or faded flowers. Make sure to always prune your plants during early spring or before the next hibiscus blooming season.
6. Repot Your Plants When Necessary
Unlike many other plants, hibiscus plants need to be repotted only when necessary. This method helps growers improve bud development and avoid needless foliage stress. You can tell that your plants need repotting when it starts losing leaves for no reason; the soil dries up faster than it normally should, the roots sticking out of the drainage holes, or the roots seem tightly knitted together and circling around the soil.
Begin by getting a slightly bigger pot than the one you currently have, and now you can take your plant out of its current home. Trim off the tightly knitted roots and prepare fresh potting soil in the new pot and now you can plant your hibiscus and water it and see more of them grow.
7. Check Your Soil pH
Soil pH is an important factor that can help you improve the blooming cycle of your hibiscus plant. The ideal soil pH allows your plant to enjoy better nutrient consumption, enhancing the blooms you’ll get. So ensure that your soil pH is slightly acidic, sticking between 6.5 and 6.8.
Consistently check the pH levels of your garden soil or pot soil. If the pH levels are lower, add some ground limestone, or lime, to improve its acidity. You can add some soil sulfur to decrease its pH for higher pH levels. Then you must observe the soil for about two weeks, as the soil may take that long to correct its pH.
8. Check for Pests and Diseases
Conducting pest and disease control can also help you keep your hibiscus blooming. There are a variety of different bugs and pests that are attracted to hibiscus plants, including spider mites, whiteflies, aphids, Japanese beetles, and more. If you don’t take care of pests and diseases, young blooms may die prematurely.
Begin by carefully monitoring your hardy hibiscus flowers and leaves so you can catch pests and diseases as soon as they happen. Then, get rid of pests by handpicking them or using organic insecticides. Water your plants less during winter to reduce the risk of fungal diseases. Lastly, check your foliage regularly and utilize organic fungicides once you notice any sign of disease.
Conclusion
With the steps explained above, you’ve learned how to keep hibiscus blooming indoors, how to promote flowering in hibiscus, and answers to questions like “Why has my hibiscus not flowering” Here is a quick sum-up to make sure you have what you need to improve your hibiscus blooms:
- Prune your plants consistently and provide optimal plant care to make way for new growth.
- Check your hibiscus regularly for pests and diseases and treat them as promptly as possible.
- Make sure the plants enjoy ideal lighting and temperature conditions.
- Take care not to overwater your plant to prevent root rot and reduce the risk of diseases.
- Remember to observe the amount of sunlight your plants get and always avoid watering your hibiscus leaves to avoid diseases and fungal infections.
Correctly combining and implementing the steps discussed above should improve your plant’s blooming duration, improve your hibiscus care, and even increase the size of the blooms you get.
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