My Roselle SPLIT And It Still Looks Like THIS!
Roselle is one of our most favorite Florida summer plants to grow. It can take massive downpours of rain, sweltering heat and FULL blazing summer sun, and even the strong winds of our thunderstorm microbursts. Once established, it will grow rapidly throughout the entire summer, without any work from you at all! It grows so rapidly, in fact, that it will often lean or tip over, unless you go through the effort of staking it up (don't go any less than a 6' T-Post!).
We did that one year, and it grew SO tall that we needed a ladder to get to the top. However, while it provided a source of support, it’s important to note that the branches will continue to grow rapidly out sideways, and those will continue to branch out, become heavy, and tip down; so to really contain the whole plant and keep it from splitting, we had to encircle it and secure it to the T-Post.
I digress. After that year, I decided to try something new; just let it do it’s THANG. Yes, the plant will tip over. Yes, it has a risk of splitting, but to be honest this doesn’t happen often to me. Most often, the plant gradually tips over under the weight of its hundreds of leaves and branches. The supple stem and branches will bend and conform, the bush will reorient itself to it’s new angle, and it will continue to send branches (and more branches!) up towards the sky.
Once those daylight hours change – WATCH OUT! Each of those branches will turn into brilliant flowers that will turn into juicy, tangy edible calyxes that can be used in SO many delicious ways!
This year, we DID have one of our bushes split, and I thought it was a goner. As seen in the video, it split three ways down the very center of the main stem. To my utter shock, I am massively impressed and pleased to say the bush is still going strong, as if nothing at all happened.
You can see where the split is trying to heal itself, and actually has even more growth on it than the other bushes behind it! It’ll be interesting to see what this one will offer as the season goes on.
Some food for thought; if you’re nervous about the plant splitting, you can try to initially plant your Roselle at an angle to begin with. Another option would be to encircle the roselle bush with some wide fencing, so as the branches grow through the squares they would be supported. Yes, you can prune your bushes, but I personally find bette results and NO limit of branches by just letting it grow naturally. Stay tuned for some awesome Roselle recipes later in the year!
Learn more about growing, growth habits, flowering stages, harvesting, and more in our Roselle Video Play list on YouTube (click above).
Roselle Recipes
(Coming Soon!) It’s not just for tea! Check out all the delicious ways you can use Roselle in your kitchen!