Gardenia care
The glossy dark green leaves and fragrant milky white flowers of the gardenia plant make it an irresistible plant to grow. Usually sold in bloom or bud, the intoxicating fragrance entices us to make it a must have plant but gardenia can be finicky and a challenge to grow in indoors. In fact, some treat it as a disposable plant and discard it after blooming.
Gardenia (Cape jasmine) requires loose well-drained, acidic (ph4.5-6.2) soil, bright indoor sun 6-8 hrs and dappled shade (morning sun) when outdoors in the summer. It prefers high humidity and moist but not soggy soil. Feed it with a 1/2 strength acid fertilizer every 2-4 weeks from March-October.
For winter care: Provide a cool bright location, humidity and keep away from heating vents. Do not fertilize and water less by allowing the top 1-2 inches to dry before watering again.
Blooming: Gardenias require an even temperature of 62-63 F and high humidity during bud formation. To increase humidity place plant in a water pebble tray or close to a humidifier. When the buds are formed, provide consistent cool nights (58-60F) and warm days (70-75F). A 10-15 degree temperature differential is needed to keep the buds from dropping off (bud blast). Opened flowers should last 3-8 days and bruise easily when touched.
Prune after the blooming cycle has ended, or when the plant is actively growing and needs a trim. Don’t prune during winter.
Propagation: Take 3-4 inch semi-woody tip cutting from a non-flowering shoot in early spring. Remove lower leaves, dip in rooting hormone and insert cutting in moist peat, vermiculite mix. It should root in 4-6 weeks.
Troubleshooting
Gardenias attract a number of insects: aphids, mealy bugs, scale, red spider mites and thrips. They are also susceptible to root rot, bud drop and yellow leaves.
In the south and west coastal areas (zone 7b), semi-tropical gardenias are grown outdoors as evergreen shrubs. Varieties can differ in size, growth habit and blooming season. ‘Mystery’ a California favorite gets up to 8′ tall and produces large double flowers.
The Daisy Gardenia that i have did good for 1 year, about March 12th of this year the leaves are turning brown and falling off Please help
I live in Northern Virginia and propagated some gardenia clippings from a beautiful and hardy outside plant in NC, a very similar climate to mine. I planted them in April and they are doing pretty well. I have them in a pot outside, and am wondering what I should do with them now that it is getting cold. My ultimate goal is to plant them outside in the ground. Should I bring them in for the winter? At what point should I plant them in the ground, ie how big should they be and what time of year? I have tried several times to grow gardenias inside and have failed miserably, so am worried about killing the new plants if I bring them inside.
Thanks!!
Scale
My gardenia has started dropping buds. I noticed that there is a white sticky substance where the bud meets the stem. I think this is causing the bud to die. Do you know what this is and what I can do?
I use to grow gardenias and had problems with teeny tiny red insects. My neih or has gardenias and has these same pests. These are now in my petunias. What are these pests? I live in Georgia. These bugs move really fast and seem to also jump. They are barely visable, especially to me without my readers! They seem to stay in the flowering part if the plant.
Thanks
Nan,
Hey, they are actually called red bugs. it is a common bug and easy to kill. they sell a concentrate at Lowes that you mix in a sprayer that will take care of this for you, but you are right, they are hard to see, they jump and they bite too. the do tend to spread quickly so the sooner the better.
Two years ago I moved into condo in So. Fla. with a gardina plant outside. It bloomed for the first time this year and we enjoyed bringin cut flowere into the kitchen. Now all the blooms are turning brown. Any ideas of the problem and fix.
Hi Rich
Which flowers are turning brown? The cut flowers or the ones outside?
I bought a Gardenia at a local farmers market 2 years ago. It was small, but had 3 buds, which fell off. I changed to a larger pot, & it looks good , except that the leaves are turning up. which i brought in last week. what causes the leaves to turn up, it stll looks good.thank you:)
I brought my gardenia inside for the winter. It was a newplant I kept in a pot outside. It never bloomed this summer but I knew I had to bring it in and changed the pot. I used Miracle Grow soil and I put rocks in the bottom to make sure the roots didnt get “wet Feet”. The leaves are curling up and alot have fallen off and I am scared. What could I have done wrong? I snipped off the branches that I think were dead because there was no way the leaves would come back. I knew the branches were dead because when I clipped them, they broke off and there was no green left inside. Is there ANYTHING I can do to save this plant. My mother in law used to have one of these and it was huge.It was the only plant she had and it always bloomed and she never did anything to it but water it. When I changed the soil, I noticed there were a few little bugs in the soil outside (in the pot), so I changed the soil completely. PLEASE HELP!!!!! Thank you very much..
Scale
My Gardenia is covered with sticky white spots. I’ve only noticed this since bringing it indoors for the winter. What treatment options should I consider? Thanks!!
Bud drop
My gardenia in a pot has lots of buds but then drops and does not flower?
I have a small gardenia tree. It is new to me and it just bloomed abouy 14 beautiful flowers. When trimming what do I do with the “pod” that the flower grew in? Do I cut that back like I would a dead rose or just leave it alone?
All the instructions re trimming are for shaping but nothing about this question. Thanks
winterover gardenia
I have a gardenia (7 yrs old and huge) in a pot which stays indoors in the winter and outside on the deck in the summer (I leave in the northeast) Obviously it is way too cold in the winters for the gardenia to be outside during that time. Since it has gotten so huge, I am trying to figure out what to do. Can I put it in a portable greenhouse on the deck in the winter months? Would it survive?
Sean,
Everything I read about gardenias says not to mist them as they are susceptible to mold. I’m just starting out with mine so I have a lot to learn I’m sure. Good luck!
Hardy gardenia
I live in central Massachusetts and gardenias are my favorite flower. I’ve heard there are cold hardy varieties, will any of them make it through our winters?
I live in Las Vegas, NV, and have a potted, bush-type Gardenia plant. It was purchased several months ago, and had a happy time blooming outdoors, with lush green foliage, and vigorous blooming when the days were about 60-70, and the nights b/n 50 and 60.
Several weeks ago, it started showing classic symptoms of pH imbalance w/ the yellowing b/n veins, along w/ leaves going bright yellow all over, so i applied the acidic-fertilizer w/ a gallon of water to let it soak in. Leaves continued to turn yellow for a bit, so it was repotted to a larger pot w/ fresh soil. The progression of the yellowing seems to have stopped, however the plants leaves have almost all become dry, curled, and crispy.
Over the past few weeks, the temperatures have been spiking around and above 100.
I’ve tried to keep watering it regularly, without panicking and over watering it, and several of the leaves on the plant (old growth at the top, and new growth at the bottom) look like they are starting to perk up again, getting fleshier. However, the majority (>99%) of the leaves remain curled and crispy. I stick my finger down into the dirt as far as i can near the base of the gardenia, and the soil feels cool/wet. I’m scared to keep watering it, even though it looks like it’s starving for water.
Can the heat during the day be causing all this trouble? It is kept outdoors where it receives morning sunlight, and remains in the shade all afternoon.
None of the branches look “dead”, or are completely devoid of leaves, in fact some of the branches are bright green where some of the more perkier growth is occurring.
Should I knock off all the crispy green leaves, or hope that they will perk back up? (I’m assuming the yellow leaves can be gotten rid of)