Hi all, I hope you can help me solving a problem with my gardenia. I bought one Gardenia 2 months ago in Lowes, in the first days I was witness of its beautiful flowers, but then, they started to become brown and they couldn't open and finally fall down. I started to look for information on several websites and I bought acid fertilizer, food for plants but it was still the same. After several days, I realized that my gardenia was infected with a kind of fungus, one that caused the powdery milder. Therefore, I bought one product that really worked for that. After the first application, the plant looked better. In the second application (every 7 days) the plant was full of leaves and more and more buds. The problem is that now my gardenia has like 20 flower buds and they are very green and cannot open. These buds have like 2 weeks and I cannot see any flower. In comparison to 2 months ago these buds looks green and healthy. But yesterday I realized that 2 buds dropped with a brown color. I keep the soil with moisture, I have this gardenia in my balcony, where is partially in contact with sunlight. Everybody at home is waiting for these flowers but it has several weeks and I really don't know what to do. I live in Jackson-Mississippi. Thank you for your time.
Gardenias can be difficult like that. At least you live in a good area to grow them, that should help. They like the sun, sounds like you are probably OK with partial sun in MS. While they want to have moist soil, they don't want heavy wet soil. They can take time to adjust to new locations and certainly to transplanting. Even too much heat can prevent them from blooming. http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/gardenia.html
Thank you very much for your reply. My gardenia is becoming healthier in comparison to some months ago. It is full of green leaves and flowers buds. I keep a moist soil, however, I realized that the leaves are becoming dryer each time. I guess the summer weather is affecting my gardenia even when is partially in contact with sunlight. You said that too much heat can prevent from blooming, and I guess that is my problem. So, should I keep my gardenia in a total shade or should I keep it inside home? As I tod you, my plant is full of flower buds 2 weeks ago and I cannot see them blooming. =( Thank you for your time.
How is it looking this week MJPiglet? Personally I would move it out of any sunlight and put it in a bright but sunless spot for the time being. The sun is really strong at this time of the year and the heat it generates wont be helping. Gardenia flowers are stunning and contrast so well with the colour of its leaves so I hope they come out for you.
