A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 HELP! MY HIBISCUS BROKE

Last nights storm proved to much for my hibiscus. It's about 6 feet tall with about a 1 1/2 in main stem. It is very soft and has trouble staying upright this whole summer because of how full it is on top but now it snapped in half. Can it be saved. Thank you. Momma D

Can it be saved.
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No problem Momma. Just trim it back to a shape that you like and it will reshoot next spring. You can use the top piece to grow cuttings and get more of the same plant too.
It'll probably do better now that it's not so top heavy. Give it a tip pruning after it flowers and keep it more bushy and it will get stronger.

I can't trim it back to a shape I like - it was a tree - nothing but stem and then rounded on top - it broke about 18 or 20 inches from the ground - there is nothing but a stick - do I have to cut off the whole top? Sorry, I don't understand -

As I understand it there are no naturally occurring hibiscus trees. Therefore, you have either a regular hibiscus shrub that was previously trained and pruned into a tree shape, or a hibiscus was grafted onto a base tree as they do with some fruit trees.

My guess is that it was trained that way. If so, it will probably recover on its own, but will likely not retain the shape and fullness it previously had.

No need to worry, Momma D. I bring my hibiscus plants in during the winter months to enjoy the greenery and this past summer the potted hibiscus plants were in my pots and we had a severe wind storm that caused much destruction to our home in addition to my poor plants. The pots toppled over and the branches broke similar to your story. I watered it and fertilized it as I normally did and new shoots grew in just like Longy said! You'll have a more abundant "shrub" next year when the new shoots come in. They'll thicken up the main part of the "trunk" and you'll notice many more flowers once you cut back those branches after they flower!
Hibiscus lover with you,
Annette