Advice on Hibiscus from seed

[Ananke]

I sowed a pinch of Hibiscus - Simply Love a few days ago. Instructions say to germinate in the dark so I put them into a cupboard near the hot water tank. When 3 of the seedlings had emerged, looking all pale with being in the dark, I put the whole seed tray onto the kitchen window ledge but the seedlings keeled over.

I've put the lid back on the seed tray and put it back into the cupboard to see if the other seeds come up and I'll then move them to the living room window, which is a bit warmer than the kitchen, to see if that makes a difference.

Hopefully this will work but wondering if anyone has any other advice they could offer?

Thanks

[nickdub]

Sounds a bit like "damping off".

Keep an eagle eye on your current lot and if any more emerge, lift each very carefully out of the current compost and put it in a pot of separately.

If you do decide to try again with more seed, I usually germinate stuff like this on damp kitchen roll in a sealed plastic container - then transfer each seed to compost when the root starts. You can use a knife point or a toothpick to pick them up.

[boatsman]

It's a lot easier to propagate hibiscus from a cutting dipped in rooting compound and then stuck in potting mix in a flower pot.

[nickdub]

It's a lot easier to propagate hibiscus from a cutting dipped in rooting compound and then stuck in potting mix in a flower pot.

I'd agree in general - on the other-hand I've had a lot of fun and a few successes growing shrubs and trees from seed over the years. Probably depends how much time you want to devote to it - its a relatively cheap hobby, but you do get a fair few failures.

[Ananke]

Thanks for the replies.

If nothing comes up I'll try again, germinating on kitchen roll.

I totally agree Boatsman, cuttings would be a better option but no parent plant to take a cutting from so I thought I'd try seed.

[Zelenina]

Hi Ananke. I'm familiar with the common hibiscus or Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) which seems to thrive on the cold winters and hot summers here in Slovakia. But I checked your variety and it turns out to be a different species, Hibiscus trionum, which comes from warmer parts of the world, so it doesn't like to get cold and is killed by frost.

It's said to be easy to grow from seed, but slow to germinate. And it's easy enough to find a warm dark place to germinate it. But the problem then is to give the young plants enough warmth and light to grow on healthily. This is especially difficult this time of year when days are short and gloomy and nights are cold. And even more so when you are as far north as Glasgow. So I suspect that low temperature is the problem.

Maybe they would do better in the warmer room. But even in a warm room the temperature on a window sill can plunge down low when it gets cold outside, especially if it's a single glazed window. If more seeds do germinate you can try putting them there, but maybe moving them away from the windowsill at night.

If you don't have any more success with this batch, I suggest you wait until later in the spring before trying again. Some of the seed suppliers recommend sowing about 6 weeks before your last expected frost date.

[Ananke]

Thanks Zelenina.

I've no experience with any varieties of Hibiscus but I did notice, when I was googling, that this variety seemed to be different. I was given the seeds by a friend, who doesn't grow, so wanted to give them a try and give her back a plant if I could.

I am inclined to agree with you that the temperature is probably the issue here. Not only was the kitchen cold, there was a gale blowing and the window blind was moving. Even though it's double glazing, I think the draught was coming through the vent.

Taking them off the living room window ledge at night is a good idea, I'll try that.

The packet says sow from January but I'll take your advice, if nothing more comes up, I'll leave it until things heat up a bit