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February brings an urge to hibiscus gardeners to launch into a major pruning of their plants. The symptoms of the malady include a gripping of the hands as though pruning shears were in each of them. It is not a pretty sight.
Legend has it that Sally Golby (and Sally is a legend) said pruning can start after Valentine’s Day. Eric Golby has said wait a couple weeks longer. But then, he has written, "After the 20th ... pruning can begin – but I would rather wait. We have had light frosts as late as March 9th."
Where you live in Manatee and Sarasota Counties will have a lot to do with your approach to gardening including when it will make sense to prune heavily. Those living on the islands are pretty much freeze/frost free while 20 miles east, frost is relatively common and freezes do occur – almost annually. To illustrate, as of mid-January, those east of I-75 have been living dangerously if they haven’t protected their tender plants at least three times this winter. And how many times have Tom and Jean Tourt, who live on Holmes Beach, covered their plants this winter? We’d wager – none, that is zip, zero. Therefore, Tom and Jean’s approach to the timing of their pruning could differ considerably from Mike and Trudy Topolosky who live in Mill Creek.
For the purposes of discussion here, we are going to err, if we must, on the safe side and write as though everyone lived close to I75. That being the case, we urge readers to wait until late February/early March before starting your pruning. And then begin the process only after paying close attention to the weather forecasts to assure there isn’t a late winter storm brewing up north that could mean cold weather here. Since we are playing like that’s when the major annual pruning will take place we will discuss pruning, repotting, and up-potting in the March section.
Let’s talk about other general February hibiscus gardening issues. In addition to being a relatively cool month, February tends to be one of our driest. Therefore gardeners need to be prepared both to protect their plants from the cold and from drying out.
Eric has recommended in the past that after the 20th a light fertilization – half strength – will help plants phase out of the dormant stage. He has also said that it would be good, at about the same time, to make an application of a granular minor element mix on the ground around each plant. Follow label directions. On the islands/keys a second application should be made in July.
On the subject of winter fertilizing, we were taught, and we will probably continue to abide by the rule of no fertilizer between about the first of November to the latter part of February. Curt Sinclair has another view of winter fertilization as outlined in response to a question on the subject on The Hibiscus Mail List. Curt recommended continuing to fertilize at the same frequency but at half strength. "Can vary some with the weather. Real cold, hold back … slow release fertilizers do not release under certain temperatures. Check the labels. As a rule of thumb, I would not count on them under 60 degrees." Curt makes a good point in regard to slow release fertilizers. They may be responsive to temperatures, both high and low – and to water amounts. While the label on the fertilizers Curt purchases in large quantities may give information about the effect different factors have on release rates – the small containers the home gardener purchases tend to be mute on the point. Wish they weren’t.
January March
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