Hibiscus buds turning yellow and never flowering.

elaineJ_CsrWri · March 2021

I have a hibiscus, several years old, whose buds go yellow and then drop off without flowering. I can't see any insect damage. Any ideas what I might try or should I give up on it.

Dovefromabove · March 2021

Could it be that it’s too dry at the roots?

Obelixx · March 2021

Do you mean an indoor hibiscus or a hardy outdoor one?

The most usual reason for a plant to drop its flowers is it because it has inadequate resources to support them ie hunger and/or thirst. Have you fed it at all and how often and how do you water it?

I have two indoor plants which get a weekly shower to rinse down their foliage and keep it clean of dust plus a good soaking of their pot which is then allowed to drain fully before going back on display. I feed them with little batons for flowering plants pushed into their compost and occasionally a liquid feed. Both have big fat flower buds about to open.

I also have several hardy, outdoor hibiscus in the garden and they get an annual feed of pelleted chicken manure and, when I see some, a dollop of granular fertiliser for roses or tomatoes to promote flowering. They will start showing leaf buds in the next 2 or 3 weeks and then flower later in summer. In my last garden - much colder - it could be June before they got their leaves.

elaineJ_CsrWri · March 2021

Thank you for your reply. Its an outdoor plant and quite large. I haven't fed it very much over the years so I will try what you suggest. It seems otherwise healthy. You've been very helpful. Thanks again.

Obelixx · March 2021

I suggest you check the soil around the base of the plant for competition from grass or weeds and clear a space round it then, in April, gently work in some slow release fertiliser for roses or tomatoes using a hand fork so you don't damage the roots then give it a good drink of water - 15 litres poured slowly so it sinks in.

Once it starts greening up, give it a good drink of liquid seaweed or tomato fertiliser to act as an instant tonic and boost.

Our Belgian garden could get seriously cold in winter so only the common or garden blue forms were really happy and self seeded. I'd have to prune dead wood every May or sometimes June. The pink, white and red forms are less hardy I think and often later.

Here I have one large blue one that needs a good trim this year and several very happy pink, deep red and white ones. They do suffer with thirst in hot, dry spells so I water them, deeply, once or twice a week in heatwaves which seem to be more frequent and earlier.

Hibiscus buds turning yellow and never flowering.

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