If your hibiscus is dying, it usually means there is a factor within its environment that is causing it stress. Sometimes a slight change to the plant’s living conditions is enough to trigger unwanted symptoms.
These tropical plants like to live in places with high humidity, a warm climate, moist soil, lots of sun, and no drafts or strong winds.
The most common causes of a dying hibiscus are low humidity, drafts, underwatering, overwatering, cold weather, nutritional deficiency and insufficient sunlight.
In this article, we will discuss the various causes of a dying hibiscus, and how to save it.
Why is my hibiscus dying?
Low humidity
Hibiscus plants love high humidity conditions because that is what they are used to in their natural habitat. Your hibiscus may lose its leaves because of too much wind or due to low humidity. Both these factors dry out the leaves by depleting their moisture, and can lead to the plant dying from drought stress.
In the winter when the plant is brought indoors to protect it from the cold, the low humidity indoors, as well as drafts from vents or cracks in windows, can be enough to cause defoliation in hibiscus plants. Because it is losing a lot of moisture, the plant will drop its older leaves and prioritize its younger leaves to receive the limited available water.
Save your dying hibiscus by misting it with water from a spray bottle when it is kept indoors. This will make the area around the plant humid for a certain period. When the leaves are wet, the moisture loss due to drafts and low humidity is reduced.
If you keep your hibiscus outdoors, try to place it in an area where it will not be subjected to a lot of wind. Place it near a wall, or on your patio. If the plant is kept indoors, pick a spot where there will be no airflow from air conditioning or heating vents.
Keep the plant well-hydrated without oversaturating it. The soil should be moist, but not soggy.
Underwatering
Hibiscus plants want their soil to be moist, with a high content of organic matter. This is the soil they would enjoy in their natural habitat.
When the soil around the roots dries out, the plant’s leaves will turn yellow and become wilted. This is because the plant is not getting enough water through its roots to make up for all the water it is losing through transpiration. Eventually, the plant will lose most of its leaves to conserve what little is left of its moisture.
You are either not watering your hibiscus enough or watering only the top layer of the soil. You could also be using a pot that is way too small, making the soil dry out too quickly under the sun. The soil you are using could also be too fast-draining, and not giving the plant enough time to absorb the water that it needs. This can be the case if you use sandy soil that does not contain enough organic matter.
Save your underwatered hibiscus by making sure it is watered well, in conditions that make it able to retain sufficient moisture.
Water the plant as much as it needs, which is enough to make sure the soil is moist but not soggy. Take into account the local climate and weather to determine how often your plant needs watering. To know when to water, touch the top inch of the soil. If the soil is dry, water the plant, but if the soil is still moist, wait one or two days and check the soil again.
When watering, make sure you pour enough water on the soil that the excess water flows out of the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. This means that all of the roots have water near them.
Place a lot of leaf mold, compost and rotten manure in the plant’s soil to give it the right moisture balance and plenty of nutrients.
If the plant is kept indoors, you can mist it with water from a spray bottle to keep the leaves slightly wet, to prevent the plant from drying out too quickly.
Nutrient deficiency
These plants like to feed a lot, so they need their soil to be full of their required minerals and nutrients. Sandy soil usually lacks nitrogen, causing the leaves to turn yellow from stress.
Yellowing hibiscus leaves are more commonly seen in potted plants, due to the limited nutrients present in the small volume of soil. If the plant has been in the same potted soil for years, the nutrients have most likely been depleted.
Save your dying hibiscus by repotting it in a bigger pot with fresh gardening soil.
If the plant is in the ground, you can add nutrients to the soil around it by adding mulch. Mulch adds nutrients, improves soil structure and conserves soil moisture. Apply the mulch in the spring and winter.
Cold temperatures
Because hibiscus are tropical plants, they do not do well in cold weather. They need to have a nighttime temperature of at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If the plant is exposed to temperatures lower than 60 degrees for extended periods, this can lead to leaf drop and death.
It is important to take the potted hibiscus indoors during the winter if you live in a place with four seasons. Even if the plant has discolored leaves due to frost, bringing it indoors should allow it to recover by the time spring rolls around.
Sudden changes in temperature can damage even the most resilient hibiscus varieties, but they can recover if the correct cultural practices are observed.
Overwatering
Yes, hibiscus plants like moist soil, but you should also never overwater the plant. If the plant is saturated in wet soil it becomes susceptible to fungal and bacterial diseases. These diseases keep both moisture and nutrients from reaching the leaves. The leaves will turn yellow, drop off and die.
Root rot can be caused by slow-draining soil because water collects around the roots of the plant and stops the plant from respiring. Giving the plant more water than it needs makes the soil boggy and keeps oxygen from reaching the roots. If the pot has no drainage holes at the bottom, this will also cause water to pool at the bottom of the pot.
Save your dying plant by checking their roots. If there are brown or black roots, remove them using sterile scissors to expose the healthy roots. Let the roots air-dry for 24 hours, and when they have dried out, replant the hibiscus in a new pot with drainage holes, using fresh, well-draining soil.
Insufficient sunlight
If your hibiscus does not get enough sunlight, it will not produce as many flowers as normal. The plant needs at least five hours of sunlight each day to remain healthy. If you place it in the shade or anywhere it gets dappled light, the plant will not grow well and will have fewer, discolored, flowers.
This issue plagues indoor plants more than outdoor plants for obvious reasons.
Fortunately, the solution to this is simple. Transfer the plant to an area that gets significantly more sunlight than the old spot.
If the plant is outdoors, check the plants and trees next to it and see if they are obstructing the plant’s access to light. Cut some branches off the obstructing tree or plant so that the hibiscus can get its fair share of sunlight.
Conclusion
If your hibiscus plant is dying, there is an environmental factor that is causing it stress and a decline in its overall health. The first and most important step in saving your dying hibiscus plant is to correctly identify the reason your plant is dying.
The most common causes of a dying hibiscus are low humidity, draughts, underwatering, overwatering, cold weather, nutritional deficiency and insufficient sunlight.
As long as you are able to provide your plant with its basic cultural needs, it should remain healthy and thrive.
Image: istockphoto.com / Theerawan Bangpran