Growing Rosella, also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle

Hibiscus Subdantta : Malvaceae / the mallow family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec

Not recommended for growing in USA - Zone 5a regions

  • Sow in garden, or start in seed trays. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 68°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 55 inches apart
  • Harvest in 21-25 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Feverfew, Coriander, Nasturtium and Hyssop

Your comments and tips

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17 Jan 16, Timothy (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Richard, I'm looking for this plant, would you be able let me know where can I get them. I live in Melbourne as well. Must appreciated and thank you. Timothy.
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25 Mar 14, Wendy (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Rosella fruit are crimson / burgundy in colour and are ready to pick about 3 weeks after the flower falls off.
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14 Mar 14, Margaret Williams (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
What colour should the Rosella Berries be when ready for harvest?
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05 Mar 14, ALEX LOSEW (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
how to grow rosella in a black soil environment and the best position I live in Kingsthorpe qld
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10 Feb 14, John Campbell (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
This year our plants are not fruiting very well. We planted in November. Friends are having the same trouble. Also fruit has green stripes on them and quite a few centre seeds have been brown and dried up. Does anyone know the cause? We live near Brisbane QLD
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29 Mar 14, Barbara R (Australia - temperate climate)
I had the same problem with later flowering than usual as well as this variegated fruit early on but now my plants are producing really well and more of the calyxes are red, with just the odd striped one. I have been watering them more often and I think that might have helped.
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10 Feb 14, (Australia - arid climate)
We use the handle of an old bicycle pump cut to a length of around 9 inches. Push up from the base of the fruit and the seed will come out.
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01 Feb 14, Jo (Australia - temperate climate)
Has anyone tried growing Rosella plants in Sale, Victoria?
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08 Jan 14, Chris Williams (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
What is the best food to feed rosellas with
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01 Jul 13, Pamela Faye (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Rosellas love the sandy soil of the Sunshine Coast. Given a drink when it's hot and fed slow release fertilizer the bush will produce an abundance of fruit. After taking the advice of Annette McFarlane on ABC radio, the rosella pods were harvested every few days and froze in packets until enough fruit was collected for Nan to make delicious pots of jam. Sharing the bush with one or two small grasshoppers wasn't a problem as the flowers bloomed in abundance in full sunshine. The jam is a treat!
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Showing 181 - 190 of 412 comments
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I have two bushes this year, bought as about 500mm high bushes from Bunnings. The site is very sandy soil on the east coast of Brisbane so I covered it with shadecloth and planted into that through a hole. I put combo fertilser pellets (chicken, cow etc)in the base of the hole. As soon as the bushes were rooting and growing I took out all the centers of the branches to make them bush, and get more flowers. They flowered in 8-10 weeks and of course the calyx was immediately available. We have picked about 2 kilos from the 2 bushes, washed and frozen them as there's plenty still to come. They need to be treated like any other hibiscus. Hibiscus beetles are a nuisance in the flowers but do not seem to cause any problem with the "fruit" .The flowers only last 4 hours, but can be eaten in salads. This year the flowering stems are way high above the main leaves. Approx double the height. I think the fertiliser is the trick.

- Eddie

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