Hibiscus: Queen Of My Garden!

This blog is dedicated to all hibiscus lovers. Here I am writing about a brief history of hibiscus and how I went gaga for this lovely blossom. I stay in the western coast of India. Right now, I own 36 varieties of hibiscus and searching for new varieties in the nursery and also online sites. Plz, help me in my endeavor.

I searched many websites for different varieties of hibiscus but unable to find any useful sites. There are some sites which offer common varieties but the price ranges between Rs.250 to Rs.500. I found one useful site which offers many varieties, but the price is over my budget as they are selling it in dollars. If you want to check, then this is the link.

Normally, I buy all of my garden plants from a nearby nursery. Each hibiscus plant costs Rs. 50 each (without pots). These plants are always in a healthy condition and have lots of buds.

These are the photos of hibiscus which I own.

History

Lets know about a brief history of hibiscus. Hibiscus is a perennial plant and belongs to the family Malvaceae. It can grow up to 10meters. There are about 300 species of hibiscus. The exact origin of hibiscus is unknown but they are found throughout the tropic.

Unknown Facts

These lovely flowers in addition to adding beauty to your garden also have many benefits. The leaves and flowers of hibiscus plants are used in many herbal shampoos and conditioners. They also have medicinal properties and are used in many Ayurvedic medicines especially the white flowers. Even we use the leaves and flowers of white hibiscus for our hair. We boil it and then apply that lukewarm water to our scalp and leave it for 20 minutes. It reduces hair fall, makes hair smooth, and also absorbs heat and you will feel very relaxed.

depends on the season. In the rainy season, the rainwater is enough, so I don’t go for watering. In winter they require very less water i.e. once in a day. Early morning is the best time to water this plant. Since it will be very cold outside, so I prefer evening as it also suits my schedule. In summer, hibiscus require a large amount of water. I water them twice a day early in the morning and late evening.

Fertilizer

I always prefer organic farming as I don’t want to pollute the soil as well as the environment. I use kitchen waste like vegetables, eggshells, used tea, fish water, and coconut shells. Apart from this I also use an organic fertilizer which I buy from the nursery. They sell it for Rs. 20/kg. I use this fertilizer once in a week (on Sunday as I have a holiday). I use about one tablespoon for each plant.

Pest control

This is a major part of any plant care. If you do proper watering and used good fertilizer but not done anything for pest control, then your efforts will be in vain. The main pests which affect your hibiscus plants are aphid, mealybugs, thrips, caterpillar and ants.

Aphid: These pets are usually found in clusters and are black, white or green in color. They suck the juices from foliage. If you do not control these pests, they will kill your entire plant. Four of my hibiscus plants died because of this pest.

Mealybugs: These little unwanted guests will destroy your entire garden. Hibiscus foliage is their favorite food. These pests not only kill hibiscus but also affect other plants like rose, tomato and eggplant. Very difficult to control.

Thrips: These pests cause hibiscus buds to drop before flowering as they lay eggs inside the buds. I faced this problem a lot. These pests are difficult to detect as your plant will be in a healthy condition and you cannot see these pests. Only when you open the fallen bud you can see the patches inside it that also with a magnifying glass.

Caterpillar: These will affect your plant during the rainy season. They will eat away all the leaves within few hours. Sometime the leaves will be folded. When you open this fold, you can see tiny green caterpillar.

Ants: These won’t directly affect your plant, but they help in the propagation of above-mentioned pests.

For all these pests I am using neem oil and cow urine as pesticides. I mix 1 tablespoon of cow urine or neem oil in 500ml of water and spray it on entire plant once in a week. This works as a precautionary measure but won’t help your plants if it is badly affected by pests.

In such case you have to use soap water or shampoo water. When my plant was affected with mealy bugs, I tried this method and it worked. As I told you that I always do organic farming, so I am using herbal shampoo once in a week. Again, the spray includes 1 tablespoon of herbal shampoo in 500ml of water.

If you still can’t get rid of these pests, then pruning is the only option. Prune the affected leaves and branches and throw it in far places or burry them as there are chances that they may return through wind or ants.

Encourage beneficial insects like lady bugs (only work with temperatures 62-88°F) which eats about 50 aphids a day. There are other useful insects like green lacewing and pirate bugs which helps in controlling the harmful pests in a natural way.

Thank you so many guys for reading this post. I hope this information is useful to you. If you know any website or nursery which deliver plants to Goa, plz give me information regarding that. Plz, add your suggestions in the comment box. Tell me how many hibiscus plants you have and from where you bought these plants. Plz, share photos of your hibiscus flowers too.

Happy Gardening!!!