Hibiscus plants are known for their large, colorful flowers. However, it can be alarming when the leaves on your prized hibiscus start drooping and wilting.
Wilting leaves are usually a sign that something is wrong with your plant The trick is figuring out the cause so you can take action to revive your hibiscus,
Here are the 9 most common reasons why hibiscus wilt along with tips to get your plant healthy again
1. Underwatering
Hibiscus need consistently moist soil. If the soil dries out completely, the plant responds by wilting its leaves. This serves as an early warning sign of drought stress.
Check the soil moisture by sticking your finger into the pot. If the soil is bone dry more than 1-2 inches down, your hibiscus needs water immediately.
Thoroughly soak the soil until water drains from the bottom of the pot. This ensures all the roots get hydrated. The leaves should perk up within a few hours.
Going forward, check the soil daily and water when the top few inches become dry. Hibiscus prefer evenly moist soil at all times.
2. Overwatering
While hibiscus dislike dry soil, they also cannot tolerate wet feet for extended periods.
If you allow water to pool in the saucer under the pot, the roots will sit in soggy conditions. This suffocates the roots and causes them to rot.
Rotting roots are unable to take up water properly. So even though the soil is wet, the damaged roots prevent water from reaching the leaves. The foliage then wilts from lack of water.
Always dump out excess water in the saucer shortly after watering. And use a pot with drainage holes to prevent saturation.
Repotting into fresh, well-draining soil can help revive an overwatered plant. Trim off any black, mushy roots before repotting.
3. Root rot
Root rot is one of the most common causes of wilting in hibiscus. It’s a fungal disease that thrives in perpetually wet soil.
Infected roots turn brown or black, get mushy, and start dying off. This prevents them from absorbing enough water for the leaves.
To check for root rot, gently remove the plant from its pot. Look for discolored, rotten roots in the root ball. A foul odor is another giveaway.
If more than 20% of the roots are affected, the prognosis is poor. It’s best to discard the plant and start over with a new, healthy hibiscus.
You can try to save less severely infected plants by pruning off all damaged roots. Repot in sterile soil and water sparingly until new growth appears.
4. Bacterial wilt
Unlike root rot, bacterial wilt can occur even in well-drained soil. It’s caused by a pathogen called Ralstonia solanacearum.
This aggressive bacterium colonizes the vascular system that transports water within the plant. It clogs up and destroys the plant’s circulatory system.
At first, just one or two branches wilt. But it quickly spreads to the entire plant, causing rapid collapse. The foliage takes on a dried out, scorched look.
There is no cure once bacterial wilt sets in. Infected plants should be discarded far away from other hibiscus to prevent spreading. Avoid overhead watering, which splashes bacteria around.
Sterilize tools after pruning diseased hibiscus. And buy new plants only from reputable sources to reduce risk.
5. Fungal wilt diseases
Besides bacterial wilt, hibiscus are also susceptible to fungal wilts like Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt.
These soil-borne pathogens enter through the roots. The fungi grow into the plant’s vascular system and disrupt water transport.
Affected branches or whole plants will wilt suddenly, even when soil moisture is adequate. Leaves turn yellow then brown. Reddish-purple discoloration may appear on stems.
Carefully uproot the plant and inspect the roots and lower stems. Dark streaking inside diseased vascular tissue is characteristic of fungal wilt diseases.
Infected plants cannot be saved. Remove and destroy them immediately to prevent spreading. Improve drainage and avoid excessive fertilization, which encourage fungal pathogens.
6. Pests
Sap-sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs can all cause hibiscus leaves to wilt and curl.
These tiny pests feed on the sap in the plant’s vascular system. As they extract the sap, leaves deprived of fluids will droop.
Check the undersides of leaves and stems for clusters of small insects. Sticky honeydew and black sooty mold are also telltale signs of sap-sucking pests.
Wiping leaves down with neem oil or insecticidal soap can help get rid of infestations. Release ladybugs or lacewings to feed on the pests.
Be diligent about checking for recurring infestations, as pests can spread quickly on hibiscus. Catch them early before population explosions.
7. Chemical damage
Exposure to certain chemicals can also make hibiscus leaves wilt. This includes:
- Pesticides or herbicides that drift onto the foliage
- Overapplication of fertilizer, especially nitrogen-heavy formulas
- Chlorine and fluorides in tap water (use distilled or rainwater instead)
- Gasoline, paint thinner, and other solvents
If you suspect chemical damage, thoroughly flush the soil by watering heavily. Move the plant to fresh air and give it a gentle shower to rinse the leaves.
Prune off any severely damaged foliage so the plant can focus energy on new growth. Avoid using any chemicals around sensitive hibiscus plants.
8. Transplant shock
Hibiscus are extremely sensitive to being disturbed. Repotting, transplanting, or even heavy pruning can send the plant into shock.
The abrupt change in conditions disrupts the root system. Until new root growth occurs, the disturbed roots cannot supply enough water to all the foliage. The leaves then droop and wilt.
Prevent transplant shock by being gentle whenever you handle or replant hibiscus. Water lightly but frequently while it re-establishes. Shelter from harsh sun and wind, which exacerbate stress.
With proper aftercare, the foliage should revive within a week or two as the roots recover. Remove any wilted leaves to focus energy on new growth.
9. Environmental stress
Hibiscus prefer warm, tropical conditions. If temperatures drop below 50°F or rise above 90°F, the leaves can wilt in response to the stress.
Other environmental factors like low humidity, insufficient light, and intense winds also make hibiscus prone to wilting.
Try moving the plant to a more favorable spot. Increase humidity around the plant by misting daily or using a pebble tray. Filter intense sunlight and provide windbreaks.
With improvements in growing conditions, hibiscus leaves should perk back up. But environmental stresses weaken the plant and make it more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Reviving a Wilted Hibiscus
Catching and addressing wilting early gives the best chance of nursing your hibiscus back to health. At the first signs of drooping, take these steps:
- Check soil moisture and water if needed
- Look for signs of pests or diseases
- Feel roots to check for rotting
- Inspect stems and leaves for abnormalities
- Review recent changes in care or environment
Once you’ve diagnosed the cause, take corrective action immediately. Remove diseased parts, treat pests, adjust watering or light conditions.
With quick intervention, you can get your hibiscus thriving again in no time!
Wilt Disease from Root Rot
The other way you will see wilted leaves on your hibiscus plants is from root rot. There are a few main differences that will help you tell the difference between root rot and systemic wilt from cold shock. If your plant starts to wilt in the summer, that’s obviously a sign that something is wrong with its roots. If the roots wilt from rot, pathogens from the fungus or mold in the soil will spread into the roots of your hibiscus and make it harder for the plant to take in nutrients. Your plant will lose more nutrients over time, and since it can’t carry as many to the whole plant, the effects will start to show.
The first sign of this is usually seeing that your plant’s leaves, especially the leaves on the tips of its branches, start to look veiny and pale. You will then notice your hibiscus will start to lose the lower leaves on it’s branches. Over time, the plant’s leaves will slowly become limp and fall off, leaving only the top leaves on the branches. In the last stage, the plant will not get enough nutrients to keep the branches alive, so the tips of the branches will start to die back. It is a slow and torturous process your plant will go through. It takes months or even years to get to this sad end, though. That’s the important thing to remember. Unfortunately, hibiscus roots are very weak and need a lot of air all the time, so this is how they usually die. Seasonally, winter is the worst for this because it is wet and cool, which makes these nasty pathogens more active and dangerous. Remember that hibiscus plants evolved in tropical areas, so they don’t have many defenses against cold weather and the risks that come with it, like pathogens that grow when your plant is already having a hard time with weather it wasn’t meant to be in.
You can see that the top leaves of this hibiscus are beginning to look veiny, even though the plant as a whole looks good. The key is that there are wilted leaves down low and this is slowly spreading up over time.
The plant is abandoning these branches due to the lack of nutrients from the internal rot infection. You can see how the branches are now dying down as well.
Even though the branch looks find the leaves are showing the effects of insufficient nutrients being delivered.
The leaves are both turning yellow and becoming limp. As the plant tries to grow new leaves, it is failing because it doesn’t have enough nutrients, and the new leaves are quickly becoming limp too.
Hibiscus plants will lose more leaves as you keep cutting off the weak ones. This makes it much less able to make food through photosynthesis, which means it needs a lot more nutrients to stay alive. You can now see the bottom branches are starting to completely die back.
Two types of wilt for hibiscus
All of a sudden, all of your hibiscus plant’s leaves will start to wilt from top to bottom. This is a sign of cold shock. When it comes to cold weather and/or not enough air in the soil, your plant has reached the limit of what it can handle. This can happen overnight. If your plant looked healthy and strong the day before, it might be completely wilted in the morning. You may also see this happen over a few weeks, with the wilting getting worse every day until all the leaves are dead. See this happen during the warmer months of the year? Your hibiscus plant may be drowning because it has been overwatered to the point where the soil has gone from having a lot of air in it to having none in a very short amount of time.
First signs of systemic cold wilt. Day before the plant looked like it’s neighbors now the leaves look a bit limp.
You can see that this hibiscus’s top leaves are pale, don’t have that waxy shine, and are a bit limp. The lower leaves have already become non viable to the point where they have been removed.
Another example of the entire plant wilting at once. Note how it is sandwiched between two much larger plants. During the cold months it just can’t get enough heat and eventually this becomes a catastrophic problem. This is why you should space hibiscus plants at least three feet apart so they can get enough sun and heat. Don’t forget sun angles change throughout the year.
If you have a hibiscus plant in a pot and it is experiencing systemic cold shock, move it right away to a place with as much heat and humidity as possible. Many growers in this situation will bring the plant inside their residence. What’s wrong with this is that the heaters we use to heat our homes dry out the air to very low humidity levels during the winter. Then, this will be yet another big problem for your hibiscus, which is already in a very bad way. When plants are brought inside after going into cold shock, most of them die from the two bad weather conditions at the same time. So be aware of this risk and make sure your plant gets the heat and humidity it needs to stabilize so it can eventually wake up again.
Do not cut off or prune down branches at this point. That is like amputating an arm on a person who has pneumonia. Your plant does not need any more trauma or negative inputs. It’s more likely for smaller plants to die from systemic cold shock, so during the winter, keep all small hibiscus indoors and away from cold temperatures. Hibiscus plants also suffer from strong winds in places like Southern California. These winds are just as bad for them as the cold because they are often very cold and have very low humidity levels. Just that combination is enough to send your plant into systemic cold shock in one night.
To keep these plants warm and moist inside during the winter, you should get creative and think of new ways to do it. As you may have seen on other pages, this is a simple way to get plants that have shut down or are having a hard time to start growing again. Even better, you can make sure they never have to deal with these problems and they will do great all winter. Get creative, there are many ways to achieve a happy indoor growing space for your hibiscus.
Wilting Hibiscus
FAQ
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