Hibiscus is a flowering plant that undeniably brings more life and color to one’s garden especially with its flowers’ wide range of colors including red, yellow, purple, peach, orange, and pink.
Aside from its fascinating beauty, hibiscus is also now used as a natural beverage, specifically as tea.
Whether it’s the plant’s blooms or leaves, hibiscus sure brings plenty of health benefits to a person.
With this, you’re surely convinced by now that planting hibiscus in your own garden is a smart move to make.
That is why it really is devastating to see that it’s producing smaller leaves than usual, indicating that something is wrong with your hibiscus.
If you want to know what causes this problem and what you can do to fix it, read the entire article.
Causes of small hibiscus leaves
- Too much or too little water
What to look out for:
Dried up/soggy soil; yellowish leaves
What to do:
Watering your hibiscus plant with too little or too much water can cause stress on your plant that will hinder its growth, resulting in small and thin leaves. Thuis, it is essential to supply your hibiscus with sufficient amounts of water. Especially during the summer when extreme heat strikes your plant, it is recommended to water your hibiscus everyday.
2. Extreme temperatures
What to look out for
Wilted leaves, dry soil
What to do:
If you notice that your hibiscus plant is not at its best during the summer or winter and produces little to no large leaves, it is probably because of the extreme temperatures, either hot or cold. In order to address this concern, it is best that you keep the soil moist during the hot weather. Conversely, you can protect your hibiscus plant from the stress of too much cold by transferring it indoors for a warmer temperature.
3. Inappropriate type of fertilizer
What to look out for:
Small leaves, no new growth, leaf scorch
What to do:
Choosing the right type of fertilizer is also an important factor to avoid your hibiscus plant from producing small leaves. For instance, if you are applying phosphorus fertilizer, it will help your plant to develop flowers, fruits, and roots, as well as the production of oils. Applying too much or too little of this can also disrupt the growth of your hibiscus which can lead to production of small leaves.
With this, it is essential to choose the right kind of fertilizer that will help your hibiscus plant to grow vigorously and robustly. Applying organic matter onto the surface of the soil will also encourage more leaf production and larger leaves.
Other growing problems and diseases
Hibiscus surely is a wonderful plant especially when it starts to blooms and bright red, yellow, or white flowers are showing. However, like any other plant, hibiscus is also prone to some diseases caused by different factors.
- Bacterial blight
These bacterial blight is caused by pathogens that are commonly established by sowing infected seeds. A hibiscus plant that has this type of bacterial disease easily shows symptoms like leaf discoloration, leaf dropping, leaf distortion, withering, dying of fruits, flowers, etc.
What you can do to address this problem is to cut back the infected branches and leaves and move your plant to an area with better air flow. It will also be helpful if you prune your hibiscus plant during the dry season when the fungus is less prevalent, water at the surface of the soil or at the base of the plant instead of overhead, and avoid overfeeding your hibiscus with too much fertilizer.
- Leaf fungus
If you notice some irregular black spots spreading all over the foliage, it could be a sign that your hibiscus is manifesting a fungal disease. When not prevented, these fungal diseases will cause your hibiscus leaves to fall off, leaving your plant bare.
When this happens, the first thing that you should do is remove all the infected leaves from the branch to avoid the fungus from spreading any further and eventually kill your entire plant.
- Viruses
While viruses do not cause extreme damages to your hibiscus plant, it can hinder the growth of your plant. This is also another reason why the leaves of your hibiscus plant exhibit slight distortion and discoloration.
Unfortunately, there is still no official treatment or cure for this type of hibiscus disease. But, this can be totally prevented as long as you keep your plant healthy by supplying ample amounts of water, sunlight, and fertilizer. You can also avoid growing virus-prone hibiscus by purchasing certified nursery stocks.
- Ant infestation
Due to hibiscus’ naturally sweet and fruity aroma and flavor, it has become one of ants’ favorite plants. These ants do not directly feed on the plant itself but rather on the insects that are actually known as beneficial to hibiscus. Due to this, sap-sucking pests such as aphids, scales, and mealybugs are retained causing damage to the entire plant.
- Thrips
This type of pest specifically damages the hibiscus buds by laying eggs inside of it. As a result, the buds fall off the plant just before it is supposed to bloom. Aside from laying eggs, thrips also feed on the buds which also cause the same damage. Using some organic insecticide could help get rid of these tiny pests that usually come in green, black, or white.
Tips on growing hibiscus properly
No plant is totally free from all growing problems whether it is pest infestation, fungal disease, inappropriate growing condition, or man-made mistake. While some of these may be inevitable, there are still plenty of things that you can do in order to minimize the damage caused by these factors and save your plant from possible death.
- Make sure that your hibiscus is planted in a well-draining soil.
For starters, it is best that you plant your hibiscus in a lightweight and loamy soil since loam provides good drainage. If you are planting your hibiscus in a pot or container, you have to make sure that it has plenty of drainage holes underneath to prevent your plant from possible root rot.
Keeping the soil moist but not too soggy is also essential in growing your hibiscus properly especially during the warm weather. You can check the condition of the soil by touching the surface. If it is still damp, there is no need for you to water the plant, otherwise pour only a sufficient amount of water.
- Supply your hibiscus plant with warm water.
When watering your hibiscus plant, it is important that you use warm water, preferably with a temperature of 95°F (35°C). Do not use cold or overly hot water as it may disrupt your plant’s growth. To make sure that you have the right water temperature, you can either check it with your hands or use a thermometer for accuracy.
- Regularly feed your hibiscus with fertilizer
If you want to achieve a rich and heavily blooming hibiscus, you must invest in a balanced or slow-release fertilizer. For optimum growth, set a regular schedule for applying fertilizers. Preferably, you should feed your hibiscus with slow-release fertilizer four times in a year. Once during the early spring, post the first bloom, in the middle of the summer, and at the early phase of winter.
Meanwhile, if you are using soluble fertilizer, it requires more frequent time to be applied, thus you will need to feed your plant once every two weeks and preferably during the summer and spring. During the cooler months, you can reduce the fertilizing schedule to just once a month.
- Provide your hibiscus with an adequate amount of sun exposure daily.
While hibiscus does not necessarily require direct and full sun exposure all throughout the day, it is still important that it receives enough sunlight, about 1 to 2 hours per day to enhance its blooming capacity. In case you are growing your hibiscus indoors, make sure that you place it near the windows or somewhere where sunlight can conveniently pass through. But, see to it that you keep it at least an inch away from the window glass, or else the hot glass will damage the plant’s leaves and buds. When given an ample amount of sunlight, your hibiscus plant will bloom not only in spring but until fall.
- Prune old blooms.
If you are growing hibiscus for its flowers, the best way to encourage new growth is by getting rid of the old ones by pruning. You can also do this by means of shearing which is definitely more convenient and fast. All you have to do is cut back about ⅓ of the stem or just above the bud or leaf. Apart from encouraging new growth, pruning old blooms will also make your hibiscus plant a lot more attractive and fresh-looking.
Benefits of hibiscus leaves
Unbeknown to many, Hibiscus leaves bring a lot of health benefits especially when consumed as an herbal tea. Some of these are as follows:
- Cold reliever
Since hibiscus is rich in Vitamin C, it has enough capacity to fight viruses and bring instant relief from cold. It is also a good and healthy remedy for sore throat, mild headache, and cough.
- Weight loss
Apart from vitamin C, hibiscus also contains plenty of antioxidants that flushes out toxins as well as excess fats and calories. Drinking hibiscus leaf extract also helps in increasing your metabolism, thus a healthy solution for weight loss.
- Regulates blood pressure
Drinking hibiscus leaf extract or tea is also a good way to regulate blood pressure and lower cholesterol level.
- Skin enhancement
Apart from brewing hibiscus to make tea, fresh hibiscus leaves are also used as an organic skin cleanser that effectively removes blackheads, pimples, and dry skin when rubbed against the face and neck.
