Hibiscus Help

[heatherbear10]

Hey, all. I've got a hibiscus plant that's been struggling for a couple years now. It's a double red flower. The problem is that it appears to have rotted on the main trunk just above the ground. Hubby dug it up today and the larger roots underground seemed to be rotting as well. Bark was sort of "mealy" and brown/yellowish. There do appear to be some healthy sucker roots much smaller growing off the main larger rotting roots. Does anyone have any info on how I could save these two plants? I've cut off all leaves and stems down to the main trunks. Hubby wants to throw them out, but I just can't bring myself to throw out something that's still alive, even if not doing well.

Does anyone think I could cut off the larger main rotten roots, and replant in new soil w/ just the smaller sucker roots, or do they sound like goners?

Help!

[Fabolusus]

I'm assuming it's a trpoical hibiscus (as opposed to a hardy one) since you're in florida. I would not have cut all the leaves off. That may be the thing that ultimately kills it. If the root system is really bad, you could make a number of cuttings. Is there any green parts left at all?

[heatherbear10]

I've started about 10 cuttings, we'll see how those come out. The roots look almost like alligator skin, and the square peices peel off.

Yes, tropical, not hardy.