The 1st of December last year (2008) I cut some branches from a hibiscus schizopetalus tree which is growing in our yard. It is a tree as it would be at least 15ft high. These branches were about pencil thickness & were brown wood. Had found a good set of easy to follow instructions on the web which said to cut the branches into pieces about 10cms long. Limited myself to three as that was all I would have room for. If they all grew, that is. All the leaves were to be cut off, probably, I imagined, so the cutting could just expend its energy on growing roots rather than the leaves. Making sure each cutting was right end up, I cut the bottom, of each cutting, at an angle to provide more room for roots to grow. It was suggested in these instructions that a sliver or two, roughly about 2.5cms long, of the bark be removed. Again, to provide more room for roots. The cuttings were then dipped into rooting hormone powder & planted into small pots.

Here are ours just after they were potted.



Twenty days later there was, finally, a sign that, at least, one cutting was more than just a stick. Had been starting to lose hope. :(

Another cutting also showed even more signs of life.

Eight days later or four weeks after they were planted, the third cutting, AKA The Stick, sprang into life. Whoopee!!!! So all three of them had taken root. This was great news.



Two days later a second shoot appeared!!!

Meanwhile the other two cuttings were powering ahead. These pics were taken the same day I found the teeny leaf growth on The Stick.





It did seem as though these cuttings would grow, though it was a little early to break out the champagne yet. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] alt="" />

A week later, or more than five weeks after this experiment was started, all three of the cuttings were sprouting more leaves.

The Stick is in the front pot. There is a good sprinkling of slug & snail bait beside them to protedt the tender new leaves from possible predation from these nasty pests.



Two weeks later. The leaves weren't as yellow as it seems in the pic. It was just the sun.

Further images taken the same day.

They were growing very well. We were delighted.

Ten days later they had certainly grown very well.

Nearly two weeks later, it was time for new pots. They had definitely outgrown their little nursery pots.

A few months after repotting, disaster struck in the form of some nasties which were damaging the plants leaves. We had had a great deal of rain with flooding in our yard which, also, covered the back patio to the depth of 3-4ins. I thought it may have been due to slugs &/or snails.

This was terrible. Nearly every leaf on all three plants had been rasped or chomped on.

Could not understand this, as there was slug & snail bait around. Then I read that slaters can cause this exact type of leaf damage if there wasn't enough of their favourite food, which is rotting wood. It made sense, as the plants were situated right beside an area where I had seen slaters & we didn't really have an abundance of rotting wood around. The damage didn't look as though it was caused by slugs or snails, either. So I moved them away from the area they had been in. Slaters don't travel far so a few feet was all that was required to keep them safe from further leaf chomping.

They didn't look very pretty so there aren't any pics of them for a while. Luckily, the plant has a way of repairing itself & before long new leaves were growing at the bases of the chewed leaves.

A month on & there were two flower buds on one of the plants, as well as new leaves. These flowers were the reason I had wanted to see if this particular hibiscus would grow from cuttings.

Three days on.

The next morning.



Early afternoon.

Late afternoon.



Still opening.

The next day. This an extremely beautiful flower. This was a rather small one but then, so is the plant.

More than three weeks later the second bud opened. Both buds flowered in winter.

It was another two months before they flowered again. Two plants had a flower each.

Here is the first to open. These flowers were, now, closer to the size of the parent plant's flowers.

The second flower opened three days later after the other one had finished. The flowers only last two or three days. It is a shame as they are so unusual & pretty.

This pic was taken a month ago & they have grown so much in ten months.

In a month, though, they have grown even more. Still it is spring. Do hope they will have more flowers very soon. All the chomped leaves seem to have dropped off & have been replaced with nice, non-holey ones.

Not bad for three bare sticks.


Did try the growing-sticks-in-water method but even though one stick grew roots, it did not like being placed into potting medium & died. This method is much more time consuming than planting the sticks into pots, as well, for much reduced guarantee of success.

Have, since these pics were taken, pruned the hibiscus schizopetalus plants. Took between 30-45cms off them. They are still rather tall. No pics as something or things has chomped most of their leaves!!!! :affraid: The poor things. Placed slug & snail bait on their potting soil but another critter keeps on eating it. Noticed this happening with other plants where I had sprinkled the bait. It just disappears.Must be mice. Hope it gives them a stomach ache.

Did find one caterpillar but it could not possibly have caused all this damage on the three of them. It did happen several months ago but not as bad as this time. The nasty leaf munching critters must be back. Have sprayed the plants & some new leaves have appeared. Hope they don't get eaten.

Caterpillars are sneaky critters, sometimes so hard to find too they hide and come out at night, little monkeys

I would say these Hibiscus are VERY GOOD for 3 bare sticks