Ours have been grown in 50% sun/shade and so should be started in your world in a shady area until it is established.

Planting: Make sure that the roots are covered completely with dirt and that there are no air pockets in the root system. An air pocket will kill part of or the entire young tree.

The soil should be rich in organic matter and well drained to do its best. They seem to grow well in 6.5 - 7 pH. So soil should not be a problem for most growers. It will even grow directly in shallow water – See Below, but if you're not using it as a bog plant, it should be well draining when possible. This plant is not particular about its soil although I have not tried it in clay.  

Water it in very well and keep the soil moist for the first month until you see new growth. You actually should experience new leaves within a week after planting and even some plant height. 

You may add a slow release fertilizer to the soil mix if you desire and sprinkle some on the top of the root zone after planting. 

     Grown for Bog and wetland type environments:

The African Rose Mallow can grow in wet feet/bog situations with roots directly covered in water continually. At least for 2 months as we have experimented with this ourselves successfully. Once they are established in any soil it can also take a little drought once established. 

Once new growth begins, add fertilizer, a slow release is better, but liquid can be used about every month when watering. Keep watering to about once per week once it begins to grow. This will force the new root growth to grow stronger as they venture out looking for moist soil. Don’t allow the soil to stay dry for very long until you are ready to plant it in the ground if this is your plan.

Pruning: Remember that this is a woody ornamental. Should be treated as an arbor type grower. You may begin pruning after the sapling has grown and become established after transplanting. Depending on how tall you would prefer it to grow, when reaches about 2-3 feet you can begin pruning the outside branches. This will help it grow taller. Once it reaches the height that you would enjoy it to be stabilized, snip the top 3-4 inches off the main leader about an 1/2 Inch from the node (leaving about a half inch above the node). The 1/2" will die and leaving this much should be perfect without causing any rot issues or halting the lower node from forming new branches. This will force it to create new lower branches all down the plant and make it bushier overall. This also promotes more root growth acting as a stimulant as it uses energy to create the branches. The more branches you have, the more blooms you will have simultaneously.

Once you allow those branches to reach about 8-12" or longer how ever wide you would like your plant to be, do another snip of those tips and that will force flush new branches from that. I say 8-12" because you will want those new branches to be able to grow without placing un-needed stress to the new branches came from the first topping. Use this as a rule when pruning this type of plant. Again, the more end points you have, the more blooms you will have and you can train this plant to make many blooms. It's fun to me just to see the practice work. You don't want to over prune it and after that last prune, I would leave it to see what the outcome is and how the plant responds.

I haven't tried but I'm sure even at the size we are shipping, they would make an excellent bonsai specimen. All red? I think so! Would definitely add color to the patio. I will be writing up a section on how to bonsai as time and life permits. It's easy.

     If left to itself it will grow taller and grow more wild and leggy in appearance. If you desire for it to grow taller, faster, then keep the lower branches trimmed as it grows leaving the top 7 or 8. If your plant is a young plant and you are the one who is pruning to achieve a certain personal appeal, it can be pruned at anytime during its growing season. Normally, it should be done in early spring but as they grow very rapidly throughout the summer into the fall you should be able to prune with success up until about a month before the growing season ends. I would prune the top 2-3 inches when you’re ready, but please wait until the roots have established in your world first.  This will force flush new growth at most nodes below the cut. You should see results in fewer than two weeks during the growing season.

Blooming: The African Marsh Mallow usually produces multiple buds at each branch tip. During the blooming period (which is any time of the year as weather conditions permit), you should add a fertilizer with more phosphorus than anything in the NPK ratio. Up until that point a balanced NPK is suggested.