Ask the Experts – Issue 23

Question: Why do the flower buds of my potted hibiscus plant fall off before they can bloom? It is placed under direct sunlight with daily watering and I have tried using different kind of fertilizers from used coffee powder, GardenWell Merah 46 and seaweed liquid fertiliser. - Denmy Answer: The potted hibiscus may be suffering from heat stress. It may be good to re-pot it into a larger pot with soil that is enriched with organic matter and provide some shade (filtered sunlight) to provide the plant with a cooler growing environment. Avoid heavy dosing of fertiliser when buds are forming. Shock can lead to abortion of flower buds, too. Also avoid irregular fluctuations in the growing environment and regime. Hibiscus in bud are well known to react quite badly to changes in growing environment. - Dr Wilson Wong Ask the Expert team is made up of NParks horticultural and gardening experts. If you have any questions on plants or plant-related subjects, please send your question to Ask the Experts at nparks_communications@nparks.gov.sg Photo of hibiscus by Vicky Lim.
Total Comments: 2

Brenda Goh 10/26/2015 12:25:19 PM

Dear Expert, I am keen to obtain moringa seeds to plant, which i have learnt have a whole wealth of nutrition. Please advise where i can get the seeds. Thank you. Brenda

Felix Siew 12/3/2015 11:47:37 AM

Hi Brenda, At present, there are no commercial companies in Singapore selling these seeds in regular seed packets. You may want to visit community gardens around your home or scout around such gardens and see if anyone can spare you a stem-cutting. The moringa plant can be propagated via stem-cuttings easily! All the best in your search!
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