Help, my hibiscus is sick

[Desirai]

HELP! Does my hibiscus have frostbite? Over the past 3 or 4 days I've noticed it has been looking sick. I work so much, today is my first day I don't go in during the morning so I can take pictures. My neighbor has this exact plant and his is doing fine. the only difference is that mine is exposed in the open and his is underneath a tree, so I'm wondering if the tree is providing protection. Should I move this plant? here are pictures

https://desiraidesigns.com/plants/hibiscus/

[bullthistle]

I don't have a clue about your temps but because you are exposed the cold is setting upon your hibiscus first.

[rainbowgardener]

You are in Alabama. Have you had any actual frost? I doubt the hibiscus would be frostbitten unless you had temps at least right next to freezing and windy. They will tolerate even a night or two of light freezes. But they really don't like cold, rainy weather and cold, wet soil. What has your weather been like.

If not the weather, it may be some kind of disease.

[Jaydenz]

We have hibiscus plants too and they are in full sunlight every summer. They even bloom and are healthy when it's 100F and hotter and they don't lose any leafs until it gets way cold. They looked really bad and we thought it was gonna die when mom planted the first one a long time ago. Mom put a bar of ivory soap in hot water and left it all night then she poured that in a gallon of water and added a tablespoon of canola oil and sprayed them with that. She only did that once and they never look bad now.

[john gault]

HELP! Does my hibiscus have frostbite? Over the past 3 or 4 days I've noticed it has been looking sick. I work so much, today is my first day I don't go in during the morning so I can take pictures. My neighbor has this exact plant and his is doing fine. the only difference is that mine is exposed in the open and his is underneath a tree, so I'm wondering if the tree is providing protection. Should I move this plant? here are pictures

https://desiraidesigns.com/plants/hibiscus/

I've had a hibiscus for quite a few years now and they are fairly cold hardy. I doubt the cold is affecting it, unless you're having really cold temps there in your part of Alabama. They can even handle a few freezes, it's the day-after-day of cold freezing temps that gets them.

The last 3 very cold winters killed my very healthy Hibiscus, but those were very cold and long-lasting winters, not normal for this area. This would kill the plant every winter, but it would come back in the spring; sadly only growing to about 2 ft until being killed again. But now it's well over 4 ft high and doing very well; I'm sure it'll be 6ft by the spring -- as it was before being killed every winter.

So in your case, I have two questions: 1. How long has it been in this location? 2. You say it's under a tree. So how much sun does it receive?

They need full-sun conditions.

[rainbowgardener]

"2. You say it's under a tree. So how much sun does it receive? "

Read a little closer. OP said her NEIGHBOR's hibiscus was under a tree and hers was out in the open.

"My neighbor has this exact plant and his is doing fine. the only difference is that mine is exposed in the open and his is underneath a tree,"

[john gault]

Thanks RBG, I missed the "his". Why is it that you're the one always catching me missing something

That makes me wonder how much sun your neighbor's plant is receiving, but depending of orientation it can still receive sufficient sun.

Actually this reminds me of something I read about micro-climates, the temps under a well-shaded tree can actually be a little warmer, because it traps (or at least slows down) escaping heat built up over the day, much like cloud cover can make for a warmer night. However, I digress, I'm still pretty confident your local temps are not the primary culprit, unless of course you're in the mountains and it is getting very cold?.?

But my original questions still stand:
1. How long has you're plant been there? AND How much sun does it receive?

[john gault]

This is one of them forums with out an "Edit" function.

You say this, "HELP! Does my hibiscus have frostbite? Over the past 3 or 4 days I've noticed it has been looking sick."

I've noticed that also when my Hibiscus was getting very cold. Basically it was brown spots all over the leaves. I believe at that point it would have cleard up if the temps warmed, but that never happened and it died after that point.

So what do you mean by, "looking sick"?

[gardeningman]

For some reason the image of your Hibiscus does not open.

This is nothing new, but Hibiscus naturally grow in warm, moist areas. And you have to emulate these conditions. Definitely keep it away from cold.

Hibiscus will tolerate some shade during the day, but avoid planting them near or under trees.

[rainbowgardener]

JG -- "Thanks RBG, I missed the "his". Why is it that you're the one always catching me missing something "

because I'm obsessive compulsive and nitpicky!!