A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 prune hibiscus?

My hibiscus was finally starting to be happy last month. We went on vacation 2 weeks ago. I left a neighbour in charge & wrapped the pot in a plastic bag to help with moisture in case she couldn't get in to water everyday. While we were away she was hospitalized & the bag was never opened. We returned to find the pot covered in mold & mold growing up the stem. I removed the bag and moldy soil, added fresh soil with cornmeal & washed the trunk with cornmeal tea. Only a handful of branches have leaves now & I'm sure it will recover (they are nice, green & shiny) - is this a good time to prune or should I wait? will it encourage new growth on the empty stems? should I leave some leaves on the plant - if I cut them all will it kill it? should I prune part and leave the branches with leaves alone for now? I'm also in the process of moving it indoors for the winter. Any thoughts?
Elisabeth

I'd only trim back what you know is dead.
It has had a shock, so don't prune it back - I would think that would stress it even more.
Remember, tropical hibiscus don't actually HAVE to be trimmed, one just does it for size control and shaping.
Good luck and I hope your friend's doing better.
Barb

are the leaves green and shiny? doesn't that mean it is a tropical hibiscus?

anyway - I have a beautiful tropical hibiscus and moved it from a bed that was getting too much water to a pot. Right after the transplant, it lost almost all of its leaves (and here I thought I was going to "help" it). I was almost ready to dump it when I noticed new leaves... now it is full again of new leaves.. its only been a month. Be patient, it just may have went into shock.

I have been watching it carefully over the last bit. All the dead leaves are off now. It is a braided hibiscus and tropical. I have observed that all the green leaves are on one of the stems and the other two are bare and are now beginning to shrivel. I am considering cutting one or two of the shrivelling branches to see if they are alive at any point.
I have been continuing to battle the mold. At this point I have removed the dirt I put back on and left the top roots bare for a couple days. This seems to be helping and in a few days I will add fresh dirt.
Elisabeth