Hibiscus keepers

[SYeretzian]

Can you overwater a hibiscus?

I know they like it warm, do they need good light?

Do you have to fertilize for them to flower?

Do they need drainage or do they like it wet?

The Home Depot has some huge ones for sale by my house. The last one I had did ok but it flowered and dropped all its leaves, the chameleon really liked it. I want to get a scheff or a ficus but Ihave not been able to find any around here.

Thanks,
Shahe

 

[Syn]

They are REALLY hard to take care of. You need a plant light for one, needs a bit of water.. etc.

 

[alhickabee]

They really need to be rotated between the cage and outside. I have a 18" florescent plant light and the hibiscus I had died in a couple of weeks. They need A LOT of light.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

They really need to be rotated between the cage and outside. I have a 18" florescent plant light and the hibiscus I had died in a couple of weeks. They need A LOT of light.

I agree that they need lots of light, but disagree about the need to rotate them.
I have had the same hibiscus in Kitty's enclosure for two years ... it has never come out of there, even during cleaning and it is doing great!
My chameleons live in the basement where there are NO windows.
I use double tube fixtures with a Phillips grow light and a repti-sun 5.0 over all four of my veiled enclosures.
Bougainvillea does well in them too.

-Brad

 

[ttshibby]

I agree that they need lots of light, but disagree about the need to rotate them.
I have had the same hibiscus in Kitty's enclosure for two years ... it has never come out of there, even during cleaning and it is doing great!
My chameleons live in the basement where there are NO windows.
I use double tube fixtures with a Phillips grow light and a repti-sun 5.0 over all four of my veiled enclosures.
Bougainvillea does well in them too.

-Brad

SAme here, I have no problems keeping them.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Show offs
I've killed several I think either lack of light or too much water. I'm going to try again, now that I'm using a larger double tube fixture - I'll do as Brad indicates and use one big repti-sun and one grow light.
fingers crossed

 

[SYeretzian]

Well the cage is by a window that gets morning sun but after noon there is no sunlight comming in, if the blinds are open its still bright.

The other hibiscus I had did fine there it just dropped all its leaves, I dont think it was dead...but me being a "great" greenthumb figured it was. At that time I did not know plants could drop leaves and make a come back.

Im going to give them another shot, thanks for the replies. Besides the flowers are amazing.

Shahe

 

[alhickabee]

I agree that they need lots of light, but disagree about the need to rotate them.
I have had the same hibiscus in Kitty's enclosure for two years ... it has never come out of there, even during cleaning and it is doing great!
My chameleons live in the basement where there are NO windows.
I use double tube fixtures with a Phillips grow light and a repti-sun 5.0 over all four of my veiled enclosures.
Bougainvillea does well in them too.

-Brad

I'll have to switch my bulb out for a Phillips one and give it another shot. I'm pretty sure it's some generic brand currently. I guess I could have been over watering mine. Between the dripper and mistings my plants have a lot of water running through them, but they do have about 3-4 hours to dry out a during the middle of the day. Dante sure did love munchin down on those hibiscus leaves, maybe this time I can keep one alive lol.

 

[nightcrawler]

i had to put broken pots in the bottom of my hibiscus plant so that the roots can dry out and my plant was doing great and i had only a reptisun 5.0and 3 light lamps on it. it got infested with like white worms and i had to change the soil and i repotted it and it died the next day. well all the leaves and everything fell off and i had to take it out. i put it next to the heater and left it to see if it will ever come back but i havent been home because of school. i think the big part is making sure the soil drys out and having enough light. i had to prune it like crazy tho, but thats a good thing.

mine also bloomed twice after the first initial blooming and whenever it did bloom my cham would eat the red flowers, so dont think that they will last.

 

[chameleon97]

i dont even have a grow light and mine is doing great! barely drops leaves, and grows like crazy! i dont rotate, or water it. spraying down the cage is enough.

btw its 11 years old

 

[Hilikus311]

btw its 11 years old

HA! That's kinda funny

 

[Zilla]

I use double tube fixtures with a Phillips grow light and a repti-sun 5.0 over all four of my veiled enclosures.

-Brad

this answers my question I was going to ask "can you keep a grow light in your setup?" I recently added a hibiscus and realized it needed a lot of light. Thanks for the info, and the search menu actually works!!! wohoo. lol

 

[DeFishy]

I find they drop all of their leaves if there is any major change in environment (or even small ones). Simply moving the plant will encourage it to drop everything. Mine did and now, a few weeks later, it is blooming like mad.

 

[VeiledGirl]

what type of bulb do you use exactly (wattage and everything)? Will any tube plant lights work? Do the lights produce a lot of heat? What type of hibiscus plant works best? I really want to put a hibiscus in my enclosure but I dont want it to die!

 

[OldSkoolxReasons]

I use 48inch tube plant grow lights r natural sunlight lights from home depot in with the UVB bulbs and I have yet to lose any of my 4 hibiscus. The three tree type ones are flowering and the bushy one is starting to get buds. If you fertilize the soil with fish emulsions and don't water too often it will help the plant grow and fish emulsions cause no threat to a chameleon, except they smell for like 24 hours after you use the liquid.


justin

 

[VeiledGirl]

I use 48inch tube plant grow lights r natural sunlight lights from home depot in with the UVB bulbs and I have yet to lose any of my 4 hibiscus. The three tree type ones are flowering and the bushy one is starting to get buds. If you fertilize the soil with fish emulsions and don't water too often it will help the plant grow and fish emulsions cause no threat to a chameleon, except they smell for like 24 hours after you use the liquid.


justin

Do you know how many K it puts out or anything like that?

 

[DGray]

Hibiscus 101

Can you overwater a hibiscus?

I know they like it warm, do they need good light?

Do you have to fertilize for them to flower?

Do they need drainage or do they like it wet?

The Home Depot has some huge ones for sale by my house. The last one I had did ok but it flowered and dropped all its leaves, the chameleon really liked it. I want to get a scheff or a ficus but I have not been able to find any around here.

Thanks,
Shahe

Cliff's Notes:
Yes. Super bright light. Best for the plant is at least a half a day of direct sun. Note that placing the cage so the plants get this may not be good for your chameleons. Strong artificial lights can give good results too; try to have at least 4 tubes and get the tops of the plants within 4" (10cm) of the lights.

Yes. Any plant the produces lots of flowers need nutrients to keep making them. You can use a food made for roses every 3-5 waterings. I use a food with extra iron and magnesium.

Yes and Yes. They do need to have a pot that drains freely, and they do like lots of water. They should be watered frequently, before they even begin to dry. The soil mix must retain some moisture, but allow the excess to flow away.

Any commercially-grown plants need to be washed to remove pesticides and fungicides on the leaves before letting the cham eat them.

I'm writing an article on hibiscus and the major cham plants; watch for it in the plant sp. database section.

 

[summoner12]

I have hibiscus growing in my free range with Zoo Med repisun 10.0 lamps and 6500K color temp lamps.

My plants flower with these lights, I am told they won't do this if there isn't enough light....