When I brought my tropical hibiscus in this fall, one of them got too dry, and then it got spider mites. Within a month, it had lost all of its leaves. It's still alive, has little green spurs, and some very tiny buds, but it won't leaf out. What can I do to get it to come back to life?

How are they doing now? Looks like I'm a month late.

What I would have suggested: Keep the soil damp - never wet. If the plant is in a sunny spot, leave it there. If not, move it to one if possible. You could spritz it at 4-day intervals with a mix of 2 parts water to 1 part 70% rubbing alcohol with no dye or scents. In case there are still active mites.

2 tips: Hibiscus should be fully repotted every year to be at their best, and they are outliers insofar as their nutritional needs. Both the repotting and how you fertilize have a big impact on how well they are able to bloom.

Al

tapla said: How are they doing now? Looks like I'm a month late.
Al

I'm afraid it's dead. The most promising buds are no longer green. I figured the spider mites starved to death because there was no foliage. Maybe I was wrong, and they sucked the buds dry.

This plant was in a self-watering pot that I had high hopes for. So far I'm unimpressed, especially considering the price. Luckily I took a cutting before it died, but this color is really slow and doesn't like life very much.

Best of with your newest adventure, Rubi!

Things to know about hibiscus:
* They have very aggressive root systems and need repotting to be at their best.
* They are something of an outlier when compared to other plants insofar as their nutritional needs are concerned. They like a more potassium that nitrogen (quite unusual) and will suffer if offered too much phosphorous, so avoid all bloom-booster/ high-phosphorous fertilizers for containerized plants.
They like water, but don't tolerate wet feet well, so a fast-draining, well-aerated grow medium works best. I would avoid self watering pots because they tend to encourage too much water held in the grow medium and promote build-ups of dissolved solids (salts) from fertilizers and tapwater.
* They are sun lovers and do best at temps between 70-80*

Another thought - if you like the color, please don't forgo buying another plant of the same color if your cutting doesn't work out. Trying to propagate a low vitality plant or one in steep decline is always a low odds aspiration, so it's likely that's the obstacle as opposed to the plant's color.

Al