Hi everyone
I bought a pot of Gardenia Jasmeniodes in january and it was full of buds and a couple of blooms. It was freezing weather so the nursery had probably raised under controlled temprature.
As soon as I brought it home it started dropping it's buds. Later in spring I divided the plants in the pot (three of them) and potted them up. Since then the plants have maintained there lush green and seem to be doing okay. However they have not grown and the buds that were there initially are still there and there's not a single bloom despite the plants being full of buds. I haven't been able to find a shaded spot on the garden so the only place with any shade I could find has dappled shade for half the day and full shade for the rest of the day. Are the plants not blooming because they are recieving sunlight? What can I do to make them bloom?
Thanks
Viqar
Gardenia Jasmeniodes problem
I would love to give you advice, but my gardenias are the most temperamental plants in my entire garden. With gardenias it is soooooo easy to cross the line between overwatering/underwatering; too much sun/too little sun; they frustrate me a lot. My plants bloom between april and may. sometimes I will get a few blooms in september but that is it.
I would think that the controlled invironment you talk about had a lot to do with the blooming and you may not see anymore for a while.
All this said, I hope you enjoy them more than I do. I've already decided that if they give me any more trouble I will yank them out of the garden. I don't have time for prima donnas.
So where is mattadeus when we need him??
I'm with Vossner on them being prima donnas--I have one where I finally found the perfect spot for it and it blooms for me nicely but it took forever to find that perfect condition. I've found that the amount of heat mine get is worse for them than sunlight--I have two places that both get equal amts of shade but one is on the hotter side of my house, and I have not had good luck with them there, but on the cooler side of the house it does fine. So if you've had a lot of hot weather lately that could be the problem. I also find though that the buds do tend to be around for quite a while sometimes before the bloom actually opens--how long have yours been there but not blooming?
The buds have been there for about 3 months now...not opening.
I think the problem with mine is not the heat but the lack of it. This spring the lows have been 18 centigrades max. It's between 22 and 11 now. They probably need more warmth? I could bring them indoors but then they won't have enough light.
It seems to be a vicious cycle...not enough light, enough light with direct sunlight, not enough warmth, too much warmth, not enough water, too much water...aaargh! :)
You're probably right about the cold--they won't bloom if it's too chilly either. I'm not even sure gardenia's are supposed to be blooming yet--mine which blooms nicely for me every year hasn't even started to form buds yet. I've found that when I get things from the nursery, they've usually forced it into bloom earlier than it's supposed to, then the next year after I have it in my garden it always blooms later in the year. As long as the buds aren't dropping, it will probably still bloom for you when the weather warms up assuming you have other conditions (light, sun, etc) right.
:)
Update to spread the joy. The buds are opening!!! and the scent is heavenly!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge...I think it was mostly the temprature, they opened right up as soon as the temprature rose sufficiently
Viqar
Hello Viqar,
Happy to hear you have blooms! I actually have quite a few in bloom now. There is nothing like the frangrance of a gardenia. I had well over 50 species/cultivars last year and have not counted this year - always adding, so someone is always in bloom. I know most say they need dappled shade but most of mine get full sun until about 3 PM. and they are pretty happy. I will admit that I am always spraying them with something, because they seem to need contstant attention but it is worth it. All of mine are in pots and I over winter them in my plant room with grow lights with the humidity at about 60-70. If you brought yours home from the nursery and put it in your house with low humidity, that might be the cause for bud drop. Also the temp as you mentioned is quite cold for them. I start putting them outside when the temp gets to 55 - 60 during the day and bring them back in until the temp is up to that at night. Although I do have some "hardy" ones that I put out when it is 50 and leave them out. I also think the soil you use for potting is very important. I have a blend that I mix up. I use a 1 gal pot to measure when I am mixing up a batch -- 3 gal miracle grow, 1 gal Espoma Soil Perfector, 1 gal orchid potting bark and 1 gal coffee grounds. I also put some of the Soil Perfector in the bottom so the roots will never sit in water.
Mine has all been by trial and error since there does not seem to be a Gardenia Society or any books specifically on Gardenia.
Good luck with your gardenia!
Shirley
Hello, gardenia lovers!
I have two pots wtih gardenias, and sometimes I get really desperate. They actually bloom, but although they are growing very fast, lots of new leaves and buds, it's one problem after the other. They've had brown leaves, yellow leaves, bud drop, loooots of bud drop (that's the worst of all, I think), and sometimes tiny buds go all black and die.
We've beeb having unusually warm nights in Portugal and I think they loved it - you should have seen how they bloomed!
But they never seem to be doing just fine...
I'd apreciate it if anyone has any tips on how to make them happy!