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Is Your Hibiscus Drooping Leaves? (4 Things to Check)

Is Your Hibiscus Drooping Leaves? (4 Things to Check)

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Hibiscus plants are very popular, and many people use them as houseplants these days. They are tropical plants that look very beautiful overall, and they’re able to survive in places where they usually wouldn’t due to being brought indoors.

If you have recently acquired a hibiscus plant of your own, you might be trying to learn the ropes as far as taking care of it. Overall, taking care of a hibiscus isn’t something that should give you an abundance of problems, but many new plant owners will wind up experiencing a few issues.

For instance, lots of plant owners wind up noticing that their hibiscus plants will start drooping. This is certainly a troubling sign, and it’s good not to ignore it because you want to figure out what is wrong.

Keep reading to get all of the information about hibiscus plants and why their leaves might start to droop. Once you know what is going wrong, it should be easy enough to remedy things so that you can get the plant back to normal.

1 – Watering Issues

Filling Watering Can With Tap Water

The most common reason why a hibiscus plant is going to start drooping is due to water issues. When a hibiscus isn’t being watered enough, it might start to droop as a sign that it needs water badly.

You might not be using a proper watering schedule as things stand right now. You should be able to easily tell if your hibiscus plant needs more water by taking the time to check the soil.

If the soil is very dry, you definitely need to give it some water to see if that will solve the issue. Otherwise, it’s possible that it might be another problem.

You aren’t done learning about potential water issues just yet, though. You see, it’s possible that watering a hibiscus plant too much will cause it to have drooping leaves.

Some people who are just getting used to caring for hibiscus plants will water them more than they need to, and this will cause quite a few problems.

Watering a hibiscus needs to be done right to get the optimal results that you’re looking for. If the weather is warm, then you’re going to want to keep the soil from drying out completely, and this means watering it a bit more often.

Colder weather is a different story, though, and you’re supposed to let the soil get close to being dry without letting it truly dry out. In the winter, there should only be a little moisture when you check the soil at a one-inch depth.

2 – Problems with Nutrients and Soil

Compost For Garden

Problems with nutrients and soil can also lead to drooping leaves, but you’re going to need to check things out to see what is going on. Generally, any type of decent gardening soil is going to be fine for a hibiscus plant, but it does need to be soil that will drain well.

Some types of heavy soil will be too much for the hibiscus because they won’t provide adequate drainage. This will eventually make it tough for the plant to dry out, and it might even wind up causing significant stress to the hibiscus.

A plant can experience wilting or drooping leaves when it is not draining properly. You should be able to solve this issue by repotting the plant with better soil that is going to drain well enough.

Nutrient deficiencies can also cause a hibiscus plant to experience drooping leaves. Sometimes you might need to help your plant by giving it some of the nutrients that it needs.

You might currently be using an alkaline soil that is not allowing the hibiscus to absorb iron like it needs to. Changing the soil can help you out with this quite a bit, and it makes sense to do so.

Fertilizing regularly can also be a great solution, and this is going to help your plant get the right nutrients. You should consider fertilizing your hibiscus plants on a schedule that will have you feeding the plant four times each year.

Generally, the schedule is going to have you fertilizing in the early spring, late spring, middle of summer, and either the very late autumn or early days of winter. Just be sure to buy a fertilizer that is properly formulated for hibiscus plants and everything will turn out nicely.

3 – Possible Light Issues

Hibiscus In Bloom

Another thing that plants need to be able to thrive is sunlight. You could have your hibiscus in a position indoors that isn’t allowing it to get the proper amount of sunlight that it needs.

When a plant isn’t getting enough sunlight, it isn’t going to be able to thrive. A hibiscus plant really wants to have around 13 hours of sunlight per day, but that might not always be possible in an indoor environment.

This is why many people have started using grow lights for their hibiscus plants. You can easily set up grow lights to ensure that they are getting a good amount of light even during the winter months.

Of course, you can also just try to move the plants to a sunnier portion of your house. If this is the issue, then a few weeks of improved lighting conditions should help to turn the drooping leaves back to normal.

4 – The Potential of Disease

The potential of disease is also something that needs to be touched on since it can cause hibiscus leaves to droop. Hibiscus plants can be attacked by a disease known as verticillium wilt that will cause the plant to wilt over time.

Usually, this disease will start showing signs on the leaves of the plant. You might notice the leaves drooping a bit, and then they will start to turn yellow.

The best way to deal with this is to prune away sections that appear to be wilting. It’s possible that your hibiscus could bounce back from this, but it can be fairly problematic.

Try to maintain a healthy watering schedule when your hibiscus is showing signs of verticillium wilt. You should also keep feeding it on its normal schedule while giving it the proper amount of sun.

If you do all of this, it’ll definitely give your hibiscus the best chance possible of getting back to normal. It can take time, but this is the best strategy for managing a plant disease like this.

When you don’t take the necessary actions, it will become possible that the hibiscus plant will die. If you wish to save your plant, then you need to be as proactive as possible.

Final Thoughts

There are several potential causes of drooping hibiscus leaves, and now you’re aware of them. Knowing why the leaves are drooping will involve making some observations, but you should be able to determine what is going on.

Take the necessary steps to try to fix what is wrong with your hibiscus so that you can keep on enjoying the plant. It shouldn’t be too hard to correct things when you have a better idea of what you should be doing, and you’re going to be glad that you took the time to learn.

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Oaklynn

Sunday 26th of March 2023

I really need some help with my hibiscus. I got a snipping of one last summer and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Help I can go into more detail later and send pictures as well