[withhope2010]

I have a Hibiscus Plant for two years which I had inside the house. I live in Canada and this summer I put it outside. I enjoyed the beautiful daily flowers. But now the temperature is dropping and although it still has blooms, they are taking longer to open. I took it inside today and placed it in the bathtub and sprayed it with a mixture of insecticidal soap and water as I noticed some assorted teeny insects and a bit of white mealy?bug stuff - as I wish to bring it in, but am worried because of my other indoor plants which are very very healthy with no bugs at all. I placed my Hibiscus in a large bag and sealed it and put it on the balcony. Do I need to rinse the soap off - and if yes, how long do I leave it on? Is it ok to be in a sealed bag.... (I thought it may be a bit warmer as it is approx. 50degrees now, near noontime, but in the evenings it gets cooler, I.e. Between 32 and 40). At what temperature do I need to bring my plant indoors? Is it ok to cut it down now? Are there insects in the soil and if yes, can I spray the soap on top also? Thanks. I appreciate any advice and suggestions!

[suprazboy]

Firstly, is it a perennial Hibiscus? If so, you shouldn't need to keep it in a bag over the winter, just make sure your house is warm (no less than 8 degrees at night, no less than 18 during the day (celsius)) and keep it in place with at least 8 hours of light a day. As to the soap, the excess on the leaves will come off over time if you lightly mist the leaves once a week. As to the root pests, there is nothing you can do really but water the plant when it needs it and sit there and wait for them to come to the surface to pick them off, but there are possibly none in there anyway and most bugs in the soil are not a serious threat. You can pick the bugs off by hand on the leaves too.