Comments on: Gardenia care

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:06:03 +0000

Leaf drop
I brought my gardenia inside for the winter…and it was fine at first, but now ALL of the leaves are dropping off. What does that mean?

Hi Megan
Lower light and dryer air can cause your gardenia to drop its leaves. Provide bright filtered light, uniform moisture and humidity (place it on a pebble tray)
Are the leaves turning yellow before dropping ?

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:58:03 +0000

Winterover gardenia indoors
I purchased a blooming gardenia in April, repotted it and put it in a sunny spot outside. I live in Missouri. It’s grown considerably! I only had one bud on it, then we had a rain storm and the bud knocked off (no more buds). Now day temps are only in the mid 60’s with nights in the 40’s. I have doubts that it will survive the winter indoors because windows are east/west exposure. Do you think I could just put it in the basement and let it go dormant for the winter and revive again in the spring? I’ve never had success with indoor gardenias over the winter. H E L P please?

Hi Sylvia
I have never tired it but as a last resort, I think its worth a try. Other tropical plants can be wintered over the same way. Just make sure that the soil doesn’t dry out completely-water it lightly once a month.

Perhaps someone else out there has had some experience with this method.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:50:46 +0000

Hello- We bought a gardenia bush this spring and planted it in a pot–We live in VA and I know it won’t make it for the winter. I also know that bringing it indoors might be a problem due to temp’s in the house and dry air. Could I wrap the plant in burlap and put it under the deck or in the garage? or make a tent for it with plastic sheeting?

By: Tish

Tish — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:54:10 +0000

Hi,
I live in Toronto Canada and I have an indoor gardenia facing North which is the brighest room in my home. My gardenia had a mealybug problem which I think is now controlled, however I have no leaves or buds on my plant but the plant still looks like its alive. Any idea of what I should be doing now. Thank you for this wonderful and informative site. I would love to be able to succeed with my gardenia as I have not had many good results before.
Thank you

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:31:37 +0000

One more variation on the endless yellowing leaves issue: This spring, I planted some Radicans dwarf gardenias in a relatively low-lying bed that has tended to stay damp. Recognizing that, I planted them fairly high, did the best I could to prepare the hole for good drainage (underlying soil is clay), and tried not to irrigate too heavily. Half of the plants seem to be doing well, while the others are thin and have many yellow leaves. Contrary to what I would have expected, the plants doing better are in the section of the bed I think is the dampest. How likely is it the the yellow leaves on the others are due to being UNDER watered? The surface of the soil does dry out between waterings. Any other thoughts? We’ve had our soil tested and it is acidic. Site is mostly sunny, zone 8. Thanks.

Hi Pat
I’m asuming that you checked for insects and nutrition problems. It is possible that the yellow leaves are due to not enough soil moisture. Gardenias like slightly moist soil. Try placing 2 inches of mulch around the root zone of the plant. This will help keep the soil moist longer.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:22:44 +0000

Drying and curling leaves
Hi. I live in Atlanta. I replanted my gardenia last spring. but after i did. the green color of the leaves seems to fadded, it is not losong the green color, very dry leaves and curling at the end. what to do?

Hi Naomi
The drying and curling leaves on a gardenia indicate uneven watering and/or low humidity.

By: seth akshay

seth akshay — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:12:31 +0000

i live in northern va and have just bought a gardenia jasminoides ‘aimee’. It is about 3 feet tall and is potted. As adviced by the nursery i fed it Miracid, however its leaves started getting yellow. i would like to know how to take care of this beautiful plant. The zone of this area is 7b.

HI Seth
Some leaf yellowing is normal. Miracid is a good fertilzer for Gardenia. It may take a week to notice the difference. Are the older leaves turning yellow or the new leaves? You can plant your gardenia outdoors as it it hardy in zone 7b.in afternoon shade. Plant it in rich, well-drained slightly acid soil. Once planted, water well and place 2-3″ of mulch around the plant, keeping it away from the base.

By: rosy

rosy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:56:40 +0000

My gardenia is setting buds.It has green outercvering that is lot longer than appearing tiny buds.Could someone please tell me how the buds look like when they are forming.
Rosy

Hi Rosy
The buds will expand and get plumper and should turn a light green color. As the get larger, they will turn white.

By: rosy

rosy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:41:17 +0000

I have a couple month old gardenia which got infested with spider mites.So, I sprayed it with bayer.The bugs are gone.It has new leaves and setting new buds.But the new buds have green outercovering when opens up but nothing inside i.e. no petals.Please, tell me what to do

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:42:49 +0000

We have a large indoor plant and we have noticed a white type of mold on the branches and leaves .It is sticky when we touch it and the leaves of the plant on the inside have turn brown /black what can we do about this?

Hi Dan I suspect that you may have mealy bugs or powdery mildew, (altough pm is not sticky) on your gardenia.