How to Transplant & Care for Hibiscus

Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we are going to talk about how to transplant and take care of a hibiscus. Now hibiscus are one of my favorite tropical flowers. They come in all of the sunset colors those gorgeous burgundies to reds to yellows to oranges to purples they are just a fantastic plant. They are really really pretty to have in your garden. Even when you live in colder climates like the pacific northwest where you, can't leave them outside in the winter because you'll lose them, they still grow really well and they are easy to grow. They are just a root. So when you are growing a hibiscus it's basically just a rooted plant. So if you are transplanting it because you want to move it to another spot, you can just dig around it and make sure not to cut too many of the roots off from the top point but even if some of the lower roots get broken off it's still fine. Leave a few inches around the root at least and just dig it up completely as much as you can. Then turn around and plant it back either in a container or the ground immediately. Make sure that you have your hibiscus in enough sun. They can handle shade quite well too but they need heat. The key is heat and lots of moisture because they never want to dry out, you'll lose them. A lot of hibiscus will do well in part shade if they have enough sun too. They love it near the house, especially a really hot spot or in a container. But again make sure that your containers don't freeze or get too cold because even if hibiscus get underneath 40 degrees they seem to get damaged so you want to keep them as warm as possible at all times. Even in the northwest we just put them outside and have them in the sun all summer long and I just turn around and throw them in my unheated greenhouse for the winter. As long as they are dry they will do really well.You just don't want to leave them too wet at any time, they really like it on the dry side. At the same time the trick is to really soak them when you water them but let them dry out again before you water them the next time because they never want to sit right in water because the roots will rot. They want good drainage just like other plants do. They can get really tall over time too and there are so many different varieties. So if you live in a warmer climate all you have to do if they get to lanky is just trim them back but never trim them down more than one-third of the whole plant at a time. If you have a big hibiscus that's out of control, just trim it down one-half of the whole height of the plant one year and then another one-third the next year. Just train it so that it is more of a circle rather than a instead of a medusa. You can always cut any of the rogue branches out too. It doesn't hurt to cut some of the inner branches out here and there too so that they can fill in really well. The best time to trim them back is after they are done blooming in the fall because once they are blooming you want to enjoy those blooms for as long as possible because they are truly a delight. You don't have to live in Hawaii to have a hibiscus, you can grow them almost anywhere on the planet.