AboutDarlene K. Kittle Expertise I have been a Master Gardener for 19 years and I raise around 300 houseplants a year including tropicals, succulents, and cacti.
Experience She is also studying the Japanese art of bonsai with tropical plants and is President of the Fort Wayne, IN Bonsai Club.
Question I have my hybiscus indoors. The leaves are turning yellow and the plant is shedding it's leaves. The plant sits by a window that faces west, it is about two feet from a air conditioning vent. The plant is about 5 feet tall, and has many pink blosomes. What am I doing wrong or what do I need to do.
Thanks
Answer Janae,
Move it outdoors in the sun and heat. This is a tropical plant from south Florida and tropical islands. It likes and needs hot intense sun. You may also be overwatering it. It needs to dry out well between waterings. Insert a bamboo skewer into the soil and check it when you think it is ready for water and only water it if the skewer shows that ONLY the bottom 1 inch of soil is moist. If you keep it wet constantly or leave it sitting with it's drain tray full of water all the time the roots will rot and the plant will die. So give it some sun and be careful about the water. The yellow leavesw will fall off or you can go ahead and remove them. Out in the sun the plant will soon replace them.
If you cannot take it outside turn the air conditioning down or off, leave the window covering totally open from dawn to dark and put a supplemental flourescent light fixture above it and leave that on all day also to give it enough light to equal the outside light. You can get one that will hang fron chain about 12 inches above the plant or you can hang a spotlight on the wall and put a flourescent daylight bulb in it pointed at the plant and keep it on a timer to come on at 7 am and go off at 9 pm.
