Question Planting a Hardy Hibiscus bush

MrsCat21 · ‎03-13-2010

My husband is planting 4 Hardy Hibiscus bushes along the side of our house. I think that he put them in alittle too deep and that they should have been ground level.

Will it be ok if we leave them deeper? Also, Can I fertilize them with Miracle Gro Bloom Booster or do I need a special fertilizer for Hibiscus...

hoosieroriginal · ‎03-04-2012

I got my Hibiscuses from QVC - so they were very small. My front yard doesn't drain well, and I found the Hibiscus about the only plant I can grow out there, although they did not do well this year. Not sure about bigger plants. Last year my plants were about 5 feet tall, this year only one plant bloomed - we had a ton of rain in June and July and I think it did them in.

JustJazzmom · ‎03-09-2010

@MrsCat21 wrote:
My husband is planting 4 Hardy Hibiscus bushes along the side of our house. I think that he put them in alittle too deep and that they should have been ground level.

Will it be ok if we leave them deeper? Also, Can I fertilize them with Miracle Gro Bloom Booster or do I need a special fertilizer for Hibiscus...

If they were in pots, they can be planted at the level they were in the pot. How deep you talking? 1" 4"?

You can use a simple fertilizer like Plant Tone-- some of those Bloom Boosters like Miracle Gro have too high a nitrogen level-- the 1st number on the bag. The 2nd number the Phosphorus should be higher than the nitrogen or else you will get foliage. Just remember that hardy hibiscus are one of the last perennials to emerge from the ground and figure about late May you should see stems emerge. You may bet blooms 1st year or not but that's okay-- they are setting their roots down which is more important in terms of survivability.

As the years go by, you will see more and more stems emerge in late May. Some hardy hibiscus need staking and I use 5' green PVC stakes to hold them upright so they do not flop over other shrubs and perennials.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

Hardy hibiscus are pretty tough plants, so it's unlikely they'll have any serious issues with planting depth. As a rule though, you're better off planting most plants a tick higher than they were rather than deeper. As for fertilizer, they'll do fine with pretty much any, or none at all. Just don't over fertilize. Personally, I wouldn't fertilize all if the soil is even reasonable. If you're gardening in a very sandy soil you may have to, but in most cases most plants do fine without extra fertilization. We're getting pretty late in the growing season now, so it's wiser to hold off adding fertilizer now.

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