[kelmund]

Ah Kee, on May 14 2009, 09:51 PM, said:

my husband was asking me, how come no flower got fruit ... hahahaa
har, still a few more weeks? neck very long liao ... hahhaaa

be patient till the pink flowers come.
you will not regret the pink hibiscus from the roselle flower.
its both a beauty as well as heavenly flavour.
tart and stringy with a tang in the end.
mine flowers in the wee morning and fade in the noon.
still got no fruit as the multi-buds got no power.
patience for a Roselle in the shade can flower,
but it will be less prolific then the one in full sun's in wower.
so i can Sis, wait and be patience for its star shower.

kelmund

[Wisteria]

Troubleshooting checklist:

(1) Plant is very short and leaves are discoloured --> the problem mainly lies with the soil (ie. the soil isn't sterile).

(2) Plant is tall & healthy but it is taking very long to start budding --> Plant isn't getting enough sun or you are using a fertiliser that promotes excessive foliage growth.

(3) Developing flower buds turn yellow & fall off; very small flowers that can't open fully; poor fruit setting as spent flowers are aborted --> Plants may be root bound & don't have the energy to support bigger flowers & subsequently regular-sized fruits. If the plants are grown in the ground, then the location chosen isn't sunny enough or the problem lies with the soil.

For those who can't differentiate between roselle flower buds & fruits, please see post #33 (Pg 2) for pictorial guide. A regular-sized roselle flower's diameter is at least 6cm.

This post has been edited by Wisteria: 16 May 2009 - 09:34 AM

[Wisteria]

solanum & prana

Check out this website:
http://www.ukm.my/po...news270409.html

3 new roselle variants developed from the "Arab" cultivar. One of these new cultivars has green calyces.

[solanum]

Very pretty but I still prefer the original "Arab"... But where to get the seeds from???

[Wisteria]

I guess the drinks made from the unique green roselle calyces would look something like lime juice & taste just as sour.

The first time I drank the iced karkade (roselle drink) was in 1996 during my trip to Egypt. Karkade was served as a welcome drink almost everywhere we went in Egypt.

[xbliss]

just came back from my 1 wk holiday and my roselle which was shifted to the corridor from my kitchen is budding! happy me!

[kelmund]

http://photos.friendster.com/photos/39/58/3688593/1_475793248l.jpg

[xbliss]

alas, i think it's time to give my roselle a bigger home/pot. The small buds have fallen off without becoming flowers. :(/>

[xbliss]

did 2 hours of pruning today and totally worked out myself.. gardening is very healthy!

i repotted the roselle plant which is abt 1.5m tall by now into a bigger pot. Remember i had left this plant in the corridor (together with my neighbor's bug infested plants) because i went on holiday? So yes, it has become a home to 3 spiders (dunno wat species, but they like to shake their butts quite a bit), black ants, and naturally the black ants' good friend - the mealy bugS. It underwent major trimming and cleaning and has been given a wonderful new home at my aircon ledge where it will get great sun. I shall leave it to settle for the time being before fertilising it 2 weeks later. A happy roselle = a happy me now!

btw, the buds never did make it. but it still continues to bud like nobody's biz. I hope the new pot would make it happy!

[elwingo]

hi wisteria

an update on the roselle plants grown from your seeds. many thanks once again. i planted 4 in the ground; 3 of them are doing well of which one is flowering now (pls see pic below) but one lone ranger not doing too well cos it's shaded by a ubi kayu plant. once i get some nice fresh fruits, i'll try out your tea recipe with honey. i dont think i'll make any jams though and i'm happy just looking at the beautiful flowers and weird-looking fruits..

http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss143/elwingo/Image025.jpg

[kelmund]

beautiful :)/>

[Gaku70]

Hi All,

I am interested to restart growing Roselle because the last pot of Roselle didn't manage to make it.

If you have spare seeds, do pm me. Thank you very much.

[michaelveg]

dandelion, on Sep 17 2008, 11:03 PM, said:

Hi

My own experience is not to put them under the sun till they reach abt 25cm. Keep the soil moist (NOT wet);
I mist the leaves daily with very low dosage of liquid fertilisers.
My rosella now is 2m tall and i hv reaped one round of harvest so i got seeds to spare.

Dandelion

Hi
would love to grow some roselle as well.
wonder if anyone has any more roselle seeds to spare?
is it possible to keep the roselle to a shorter height so that it would be easier to harvest?

thanks
michael

[Wisteria]

Is anyone growing the roselle varieties with white or yellow flowers?

This post has been edited by Wisteria: 16 June 2009 - 08:30 PM

[xbliss]

my roselle has produced tons of flowers.. they bloom and then the flower drops off in a day. The calyx drops off in another 2-3 days. those calyxes that dropped, can they still be used to make the tea? i was having the idea that i would cut them as and when i need to make the tea, and when i went to the plant, i found out they had dropped already!

the insides are still green.

[Wisteria]

Those 2-3 days old dropped calyces are very small. You can put a few of them into your mug & add boiling water just to test the taste. The water may not turn dark red & the drink may be tasteless.

Once in a while, even 2-3 weeks old calyces won't have much red colouring when hot water is added & the drink just tastes like plain water.

My plants become so messy & ugly that I have already removed a few of them. I will be growing fewer new roselle plants this time round as I need to allot some space for my false roselle plants.

[xbliss]

yup yup wisteria, u are spot on! the calyxes that dropped are small.. say about 3cm in height and 2cm in width.
is there a reason for their dropping? something i am not doing right? i'm confused if i need to help pollinate them, but i read online they can cross fertilise within the same flower..

by the time i saw the small calyxes, they don't look that good cos there was a heavy rain (i suspect they got blown off by the wind).. so i shall wait for bigger ones to harvest and drink :)/>

False roselle?! this is so interesting.. u mean there is another plant that looks like roselle?! pardon my ignorance here k? i find it hard to believe that the roselle can have a look alike for such a unique plant!

[Wisteria]

How big are your flowers? Average diameter is over 6cm.

There's no need to hand-pollinate roselle flowers. It's normal if only the first few spent flowers are aborted. However, if the calyces keep dropping off prematurely, the plant may be weak or it is root-bound.

Here's a write-up on false roselle by Wilson:
http://gardeningwithwilson.com/2008/12/16/...cus-acetosella/

My false roselle plant has dull green leaves with red veins.

This post has been edited by Wisteria: 25 July 2009 - 10:21 AM

[xbliss]

thanks for the write up link, wisteria. the false roselle is so alike, except that it is so red all over in wilson's pics. if yours have green leaves, then they will definitely look like a real roselle! best is both of them real or fake, are edible in most of their parts..i dun tink i will dare to try the leaves.. they look so thick!

my roselle flowers are about 6cm or more for the big calyxes, small calyxes have smaller blooms about 5cm or less. They are sooooooo pretty i wished they would stay longer on the branches.. but alas! they drop sp fast! the last time i fertilised was about 3 wks ago with organic fertiliser. i will fertilise lightly again tomorrow with the organic fert and the red pellets (from horti for flowering) and see if the flowers can get any bigger. Very itchy to wan to try the roselle tea already but resisting to pluck off the immature calyxes!

[Wisteria]

xbliss, on Jul 25 2009, 10:32 AM, said:

the false roselle is so alike, except that it is so red all over in wilson's pics. if yours have green leaves, then they will definitely look like a real roselle! best is both of them real or fake, are edible in most of their parts..i dun tink i will dare to try the leaves.. they look so thick!

I also don't dare to eat the leaves of true roselle & false roselle. The foliage of my false roselle is supposed to be copper colour. The new leaves have a copper tone but subsequently they will turn an unattractive dull green with prominent red veins. This colour tone is very different from the green leaves of roselle. Will wait till the plant is much taller & bigger to see if the foliage will stay copper colour.