Need Help with Gardenia

My Gardenia, along with a couple of my other houseplants, have leaves that are turning yellow and then dropping off. Does anyone know why? Does this generally mean too much water or not enough water? They have been brought in for the winter and had been outside up until 6 weeks or so ago. They are at a west window, but it does get pretty cold right at the window during the night. Maybe they need more indirect light? Any advice would be very helpful. Thanks so much.

It could be a number of things--if you can post a picture that might help narrow things down. I would definitely check the watering since that's a very easy thing to get a little off on, especially when you first bring things in from outside since their water needs will be different indoors. The symptoms of over and under-watering are very similar, but overwatering is more common so that would be my first suspect. Try sticking your finger down a couple inches into the pot and see how the soil feels. It could also be if there's a cold draft from the window, or also check if you've got a heating vent or something blowing directly on it.

My gardenia shed a LOT of leaves after I brought it indoors, too.
I think it's just a natural reaction to the change of climate.

I think the west window is a good exposure for the gardenia, and the cool night time temperatures are actually preferable for the plant.

Personally, I cut mine back this year after I brought it in, and it has already sprouted a lot of new growth.

You may not want to cut yours back, (it may hinder spring blooms) and you certainly don't need to, but my opinion is that once it's over this leaf-shedding stage, it will eventually be happy and will begin to re-grow.

I have a gardenia grown as a standard. It's supposed to be an ever-blooming type. It was outside on a shady, but bright deck all summer, where it bloomed continuously. Now, indoors in a heated sunroom, it has a southwestern exposure. The room temp is set at 66º, but on sunny days it gets into the 70s. I read to keep it moist, and check the soil moisture with a soil moisture (stick/wand) reader. This has really helped me keep it uniformly moist. It has lost very few leaves and is still blooming. However, it did get mealybugs! The garden center man told me to mist the plant with straight isopropyl alcohol (see my original posting earlier below), which has worked with no visible damage to the plant, hard as that may seem! I've lightly sprayed the leaf tips and buds about twice a week, whenever I see the mealybugs. Also, to keep it blooming and the leaves green, he said to use an acid fertilizer, reduced strength, over the winter. I'm going to use MirAcid, but not for a while as I mixed in some Hollytone late this fall, which should last for a while. So far, the leaves have stayed very green. Gardenias are supposed to be hard to grow indoors, but I would think that your plant's exposure and cool temps would be in your favor. Good luck!

Hello I have a large plant that I bring in when it get in the freezing temps, I keep it in a room that stays sunny but keeps around 65 to 70 degrees. It has been doing real well
till now but the last few days it has been loosing leaves, about ten of them this week. I don't know what is wrong. I sprayed with house insect spray thinking that might be it.
I also read that useing used coffee grounds on top of the plant soil. would it be ok to try for a gardenia?

Unless you've seen some sign of insects (holes in leaves, stippled pattern on the leaves, etc or seen the insects themselves) I would tend to suspect a cultural issue of some sort (too much/little water, heat vent blowing on it, humidity too low, etc). Coffee grounds won't hurt the plant any and can be beneficial, but it's unlikely that they would fix your leaf loss issue.

Unless you've seen some sign of insects (holes in leaves, stippled pattern on the leaves, etc or seen the insects themselves)
I ONLY SAW A FEW WEBS

would tend to suspect a cultural issue of some sort (too much/little water,
I WATER 1 TIME A WEEK

heat vent blowing on it, humidity too low, etc). THERE IS NO HEAT IN my BEDROOM WHERE I HAVE IT

Coffee grounds won't hurt the plant any and can be beneficial, but it's unlikely that they would fix your leaf loss issue.

I thought I would use the coffee grounds for keepin the insect away, instead of the insect spray. Not for leafs turning brown Thanks for the input.

If the webs were from spiders then you have nothing to worry about, but often with severe spider mite infestations you'll also see some webbing. However, if you had spider mites that badly you would also be seeing a stippled yellow pattern on the leaves so if you're not seeing that then I suspect your webs are harmless.

For the watering, have you tested by sticking your finger a few inches down into the pot to see how it feels? Watering once a week could be just right, or it could be too much or too little depending on the size of the rootball relative to the pot and things like that.

I don't think coffee grounds will repel insects--definitely not the right solution if you have spider mites, and I'm not sure how much effect they'd have on any other kind of insects. Again they won't hurt your plant so there's definitely no harm in using them, but if you do find some signs of insects I'd treat with an insecticide rather than counting on the coffee grounds.