Hibiscus from garden center

[Elizabeth Tully]

New Russian tortoise. Several months old. I heard hibiscus was good. I bought one from my local garden center but worry it was probably sprayed with chemicals. Is washing the leaves before feeding good enough?

 

[wellington]

No, as it most likely was grown in fertilizers and possibly pesticides and will be within the leaves and flowers. Remove it from its dirt and wash away as much of the dirt remaining on it. Replant using organize soil with no fertilizers or pesticides. Then let it grow out for about 3 months before feeding only the new growth at that time.

 

[Alaskamike]

No, as it most likely was grown in fertilizers and possibly pesticides and will be within the leaves and flowers. Remove it from its dirt and wash away as much of the dirt remaining on it. Replant using organize soil with no fertilizers or pesticides. Then let it grow out for about 3 months before feeding only the new growth at that time.

Good advice.
I've done this many times, & wait at least 4 months of new growth before feeding.

Their are 2 problems with nursery stock. One is the pesticide spraying of leaves , the other is a fertilizer that has a pesticide in it that gets pulled up into the leaves.

IMO plain old fertilizer does no harm . I use it to grow them,

Fertilizer in the soil feeds the plant. That's all it does. As long as it's not mixed with a pesticide to pull up into the plant it is fine.

Of course , you don't want torts eating fertilizer pellets so I don't use them. Just a liquified fertilizer in soil.

If someone knows why a basic fertilizer or compost damages feeding leaves let me know & I'll correct myself.