I live in Southern Alabama and bought a really full short hibiscus. When I got it home I realized it has four trunks. Should I have four separate pots for this?

Also, I want them to grow tall with long trunks with no flowers or leaves. Do you prune them a certain way?

They put 4 in a pot intentionally. Makes a nicer show.
Those are tropical plants, they're unlikely to survive the winter if planted outside.

Not sure I understand "no leaves, no flowers". I think you have the wrong plants for that.

There are euphorbia that grow that way.

I just searched "Hoover Alabama"
Up near Birmingham... I wouldn't call that south Alabama... I'd call it Central Alabama.

I think Bumblebug meant s/he wanted to train the hibiscus as a standard, ie in the form of a tree with a single trunk.

Yes, Bumblebug, it can be done and you will want a single plant in a pot unless you plan to braid several together. To my eye, those look too immature to start training so you might transplant one into another pot and wait till next spring or later before starting to prune. And yes you will need to overwinter then indoors unless you obtain a hardier species.

There are so many sites about how to prune and train hibiscus trees that I didn't know which one to choose. I suggest reading and watching several to get ideas. Search how to train a hibiscus tree or similar wording.

Good luck and to NGA!

Edit to add, probably won't hurt to to clip off a few bottom branches now, but refer to instructions before serious training.

Hi Bumblebug, to garden.org!

Growers often plant 3 or more plants together in a single pot for a fuller look but you can indeed divide those Hibiscus and plant them each in their own pot. When you say "I want them to grow tall with long trunks with no flowers or leaves" do you mean that you don't want a bushy, shrub-like habit but rather more of a single stem tree, as shown in the photo on this page?: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Brigh... That single stem, tree-like growth habit is attainable but it requires continuously removing any new growth along the main stem.

It appears that Hoover, Alabama is considered growing zone 8a and Tropical Hibiscuses (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) are only winter viable in zones 9 and higher. Here in Central Florida's zone 9a there are sometimes rare hard frosts and freezes that will severely damage and sometimes kill Tropical Hibiscus. In your area, you can keep the pots outside during the warmer months of spring and summer but you will have to move them indoors for protection during the winter months.

I would leave the 4 plants in that pot and take cuttings to train. Cuttings are very easy to root with tropical hibiscus, and they will be way easier to prune and train as the cuttings put on rapid new growth.

Hi neighbor, and welcome! I think of your location as "up north." ; )

I think the manipulation that has been done to the plants you have to make them short and bushy precludes their appropriateness as potential to train as a standard, if that is your goal. Not that it couldn't be done, but if you are asking how, starting with something that difficult would be a lot to take on as a first manipulation project. It's fun to practice on fast-growing plants like Coleus, Pectranthus, shrubby Begonias, Lantana, weeping fig.

A "standard" is form of topiary that has a length of visible trunk with a poof of foliage at the top. If that is what you want, they sell them already started, usually braided, or you could look for a single-planted specimen with the most possible distance between the soil surface and the lowest branches.

As said, you'll need to keep it small enough to move in/out because staying outside for winter at your location would kill it.

There are Hibiscus that can stay in the landscape all year. If you want one of those, they are around, at stores. Check the zone info on the tag.