My tropical hibiscus (red) is only about a foot tall. I've had it out on my balcony all summer. Nights are getting cool now and I'd like to bring it inside for the winter months. I would like to know if I should transplant it first or give it new soil or anything? I don't know all that much about hibiscus. I noticed that some of the wood stems are bare with leaves only at the top. What should I do about that?
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis are prone to mite infestations indoors, so make sure that isn't what is causing the leaves to drop. If the plant is infested and you bring them inside on the plant, the mite population will explode. Because of the recent hot weather, the greater probability is that the leaf drop is from water stress. Don't repot at this time of year, however -- wait until late spring. As the days get shorter and duller, the plant will slow down, so go easy on the water and hold off on the fertilizer until spring. There isn't much you can do about bare stems now. If the plant was growing vigorously under ideal conditions, pruning the stems back would encourage activation of dormant buds lower down on the stem.