Hi all,

I've had this braided hibiscus tree for the past 4-5 weeks. It's in a pot on our patio, a good 6-8 hours of sun per day, in well-draining soil. Over the past 4-5 days, I've noticed a leaf discoloration pattern I've never seen before. I suspect it's some sort of infectious cause but that's an uneducated guess Google hasn't been able to help much with. I've attached photos below. As of now, I've probably lost about 10% of the leaves on the tree.

I just seen this, wondering if you figured out what was wrong? Maybe it is an iron deficiency?

I grew a load of Hibiscus in Florida and I saw this a lot. I don't think it is a big deal. Hibiscus for me do not hold on to their leaves for a very long period of time. Mine were always shedding two year old leaves as they are fast growing plants. Old leaves get shaded out perhaps by newer leaves. they do not hold onto leaves for 4, 5 or 6 years. They do not grow like that.
I fertilized mine once every 6-8 weeks with 20-20-20 plant food, water soluble, 1/4 tsp. per gallon.

They are very prone to aphid attack on the new shoots and buds. Be on guard for those. AND False spider mites along with boisduval scale love to feed on hibiscus plants. The scale makes a whitish covering on the stem in extreme cases. False Spider mites attack in lower humidity on the undersides of the leaves. They are extremely small critters whose numbers can explode almost overnight!!!

https://www.hiddenvalleyhibisc...

This link may be helpful.

I agree with BigBill. I think a lot of plants in the Hibiscus family will sometimes have that yellow splotch thing going on. I sometimes see it with my Malvaviscus & it isn't gorgeous, but it just goes away after a few weeks.

It may just be a sign of stress, which is a normal reaction if there's weird weather or some other stressor. In your case the plant is fairly new to your garden, and that's a stressor, especially if you repotted it. Give it some time, and it should be fine.

If it doesn't recover soon, you might want to check that it's getting enough but not too much water or sun or food or whatever, but I'd wait a bit before worrying.

What makes the seed pod fall off the plant before the seed develop.

if it was not pollinated, the plant drops it.
If you have any type of bug that sucks moisture out of the parts, they fall off, lots of different kinds of bugs do that.
If the plant is needing water, it may abort seed development

maybe there are other things I'm not aware of that other members can sugest. Do you have a photo of one of them that fell off? Can you see tiny holes in it or does it look shriveled?