3 Hibiscus - Catavki, Wilders White, Flower Girl

[BonsaiElmo]

Picked up 3 cheap hibiscus today at a local nursery.

I have been looking at some of the threads and see there are a few enthusiasts on the board.

Just wondering how well they heal, I read they can be cut back hard and will shoot, though will the scars heal over in a reasonable time frame?

I am assuming they can be cut back and re-potted at the same time, people seem to treat them much like figs with full defoliation so I am assuming they are tough.

tree 1 - Catavki

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (1).jpg

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (4).jpg

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (5).jpg

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (14).jpg

I quite like the gnarled root on this one

tree 2 - Wilders White

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (6).jpg

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (7).jpg

tree 3 - Flower Girl

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (8).jpg

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (9).jpg

Any suggestions are welcome though I was likely going to cut down relatively low keeping a few branches maybe and see what then shoots.

Cheers Ben

[BonsaiElmo]

This is where I was thinking of making the cuts on the 2 larger plants.

tree 1 - leave the back branch to be the main trunk and give some taper.

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (5) cuts.jpg

tree 2 - option 1: chop down low and chose a new shoot

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (6) - cuts.jpg

option 2: chop side branches keep a bit more trunk and use the existing small shoot as new trunk.

2011-10-01 hibiscus bought (6) - cuts 2.jpg

[kcpoole]

Hi Elmo nice find

You can cut back as hard as you like and they will shoot back everywhere. You can do root work at that same time too. I use cut paste and the wounds roll over eventually and do not take that long.

As the leave are large and do not reduce much you have 2 choices, A larger tree that makes the leaves look OK or, ( like i do), constant trimming of the larger leaves to keep them small
If you want to have them larger, put in a grow pot and leave some of the upper branches as the new leader so you can develop a much larger tree.

Ken

[BonsaiElmo]

Thanks for the heads up Ken.

I will look to repot and cut back sometime this week, think I will keep them small and keep on top of the larger leaves.

Do you have them in the usual mix of diatomite and zeolite, or do they have special requirements?

Cheers
Ben

[kcpoole]

Hi Ben
I just have them in my Standard Diatomite / Zeolite and they love it
Heaps of Fert just like figs.

Ken

[BonsaiElmo]

No worries, good to know most of my trees have the same fertilizer regime; ficus, hibiscus and celtis. Loads and of the stuff... I should buy some dynamic lifter.

Gave the Catavki a chop already, thinking I like this rounded branch as a possible new trunk. Might even lose the side branches, though will wait to see.

2011-10-02 Hibiscus Catavki (1).jpg

Cheers
Ben

[kcpoole]

I would lose the branches and pot that leaning to the left to bring the top up

ken