How to germinate Hibiscus seeds? – Complete guide

Hibiscus are a genus of shrubs and little trees whose flowers are stupendous. Although they remain open for only a short time, they are so brightly colored that it is impossible not to stop to look at them. Therefore, it is not surprising that they decorate our gardens and those of our city or town if the weather allows it.

But How to germinate Hibiscus seeds? If you want to get new specimens for a much lower price than the plants that are marketed, then we will give you several tips so that you can achieve your goal.

When is the hibiscus planted?

Hibiscus is the name given to a series of species of evergreen or deciduous shrubs and trees belonging to the genus Hibiscus. Some are native to areas where the climate is tropical or subtropical, such as the Hibiscus rosa-sinensisso they bloom throughout the year; However, there are others like the Syrian hibiscuswhich only produce flowers in spring and especially in summer, since in autumn / winter they lose their foliage when temperatures drop.

What is the use of knowing when they bloom? Well, the answer is very simple: when we talk about hibiscus, and actually any type of angiosperm plant, it must be clear that there can be no flowers without seeds. In addition, this type of plant is usually dioecious, that is, it has the male and female reproductive organs in different flowers of different specimens.

The hibiscus seeds will be inside small capsules, which take a while to mature, but once they do, they open spontaneously. However, In order for them to germinate well, the ideal is to sow them in autumn, if they are species from temperate climates, or in spring if they are tropical or subtropical.. Therefore, it is not always a good idea to plant them as soon as they are ready.

How to get hibiscus seeds?

To get your plant to bear fruit you just have to do the following:

1. First, take a small brush brush.
2. Then run it through a flower and immediately afterwards through another from another plant.

Repeat these steps once or twice a day, until you see that the fruit, that is, the capsule, begins to form. Once it is ripe, you can harvest it and extract the seeds.

How to germinate hibiscus seeds?

Everything will depend on the type of hibiscus you have. If it is evergreen, it can be sown one way, and if it is deciduous, another. And there are hibiscus that live in climates without frost (which is why they remain always green all year round), and others that, on the contrary, have evolved to survive without leaves during the coldest season.

Therefore, before proceeding to step by step, we have to know which are the tropical and which are not (note: the most cultivated species in Spain are named):

• Evergreen hibiscus (tropical):
  • moss hibiscus
  • Hibiscus sabdariffa
  • red hibiscus
  • Hibiscus tiliaceus
  • Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
  • shining hibiscus
  • Hibiscus indicus
• Deciduous (temperate) hibiscus:
  • Syrian hibiscus
  • Hibiscus changeable (it is semi-deciduous, that is, it partially loses its leaves)

That said, now it is time to find out how one and the other are planted.

Planting tropical hibiscus

Tropical hibiscus germinate well when temperatures stay above 15-18ºC, so if you live in a place where the four seasons are very well differentiated, you will have to sow them in spring. The step by step to follow is the following:

1. First, put the seeds in a glass of water for 24 hours. This time is crucial to know if they are viable, that is, to know if they sink, or if on the contrary they will not germinate.
2. The next day, you have to prepare the seedbed. As such you can use pots (like this one they sell here!), peat pellets, or milk containers as long as they are clean. We recommend the seedling trays (for sale here!) since they will allow you to have better control, both of the seeds and their germination.
3. As soon as you have the seedbed, fill it with specific substrate (for sale here!) and water conscientiously.
4. Next, spread the seeds on the surface of the substrate. It is VERY important that they are as far apart as possible. In fact, the ideal is that only 2 or 3 are put in each seedbed (or alveolus, if you opt for the tray).
5. Finally, cover them with a little substrate, and put the seedbed outside, in semi-shade.

If everything goes as you expect, they will germinate in a few weeks, maximum one month.

Sowing temperate hibiscus

Sowing seeds of deciduous or semi-deciduous hibiscus is quite similar to that of tropical ones, but if we are in an area where there is no frost, we will have to do something else if we want them to germinate. Because, the steps to follow are:

1. The first thing is to get the seeds to go a little cold. To do this, we can do several things:
   • Plant them in pots and leave them outside for the winter. This is highly recommended only if the temperature drops below 0 degrees in our area.
   • Sow them in pots, and put these in transparent plastic bags and then put them in the fridge (in the area of ​​yogurts, fruit, etc. NEVER in the freezer). We will have them there for a month, reviewing them once a week.
2. Later, we will sow them, for example, in seedling trays, with specific substrates. They do not have to be buried a lot: they only have to be covered a little so that they are not exposed to the elements.
3. Finally, it is interesting to put a little copper on the substrate. In this way, fungal infections are prevented.

These seeds will take a little longer to germinate, but before summer most must have sprouted.

As you have seen, it is not very difficult to get hibiscus seeds to germinate. But it is true that if the things that we have said here are not taken into account (if it is evergreen or deciduous, ideal planting time, etc.) we could get some other upset. What’s more, it is necessary to get quality seedsso none will be better than what our own plants can produce.

We hope you have a very happy planting.