PLease help with my August Beauty Gardenia

Someone sent me a beautiful August Beauty gardenia. Its about 2 1/2 feet tall. I went out to the store the day I got it and bought a 29 quart container, and soil just for acid loving plants. I planted it then added newspaper over it and mulch on top the paper. I watered it well and kept it inside my house in the shade. Now the leaves are shiny and its looking kind of droopy. PLease help me save this plant ( I am tired of everything I plant dying).
tamlamb

Is this a hardy type you can just plant outside?

I dont believe so. But i have read up on them some more and it may be a bit of over watering and not misting them. The lady that sent it said to keep the soil moist but everything I read says to keep it on the dryer side.
tamlamb

I have one book that says gardenias are susceptible to root disease. To minimize the risk they should be grown warm and tight when in containers. Clay pots are recommnded. Also mist the foliage to keep spider mite infestation under control.

Tammy, that container sounds HUGE for that plant. I would have just gone up one size, maybe an inch larger than rootball. It is definitely going to drop flower buds just from moving. It will not be hardy for you. I cannot grow these myself, but a friend who can grew hers in a North window, and repotted one size each time it finished blooming. High humidity is a plus. Once I did have one for a season by planting it right in the ground in a sheltered location on the east side of the house. Lots of peat to amend the soil for acidity. Did great there until hard frost. Don't give up! John

I've grown them pretty well in containers before. This past yr tho I've got one in the g-house that got really pale green leaves (not shiny at all) so I repotted it and fed it cottonseed meal, thinking it needed a good feeding. It's been over two months now and I still haven't seen it get that lush green color yet. And yes, I planted it in a mix of peat, a bit of perlite. Recently sprayed it w/fish emulsion too. Anyone have any other ideas on this?

Shoe - my book says they get iron chlorosis (& it's aggravated by high PH levels). Chelated iron added to the sloil should cure it.

Yep...forgot to mention that. I bought some chelated iron and watered it with that also, when I re-potted it. Maybe I should give it another good dose. (I remember in the past I've also watered them w/vinegar...maybe I should do the iron and the vinegar.)
Thanks for joggin' my memory banks poppysue!
Wonder if I can use that iron on my lemon tree also...it has pale leaves...but lots of sweet smelling flowers on it! (Can't you just tell I can't stand the site of pale-green leaves!?)

I use Ironite on everything here if fl. you can get it as a liquid of dry just throw it every ware the gardenia's love it feed it to them when I start to see any yellow leaves.
btw marigolds don't like it at all infact it kills them dead...lol
Pete

Found this by our forum search feature, and it answers my question about yellow leaves.

Isn't Dave's the BEST!
Sidney

I just found this thread while doing a search on August Beauty (I'm picking one up today). I have done a little reading on Gardenias, and they like slightly acidic soil. The guy from the greenhouse even said that if your water supply is alkaline (he said ours is) that you should use distilled water and feed it with an acid fertilizer - like Mir-Acid from Miracle Grow. These sure are beautiful. I have decided to use used coffee grounds for the acid, for now.

Edited to say: I just got an email back from the Water Quality people from my city. They told me the pH of our water is about 7.9, and to make the water neutral for my gardenias, to add 2 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice to a gallon of water. So now they have their own labeled water jug - sure love these milk jugs!

This message was edited Apr 27, 2005 10:45 AM

I just found an excellent link regarding Caring for Gardenias. Lotza info. It was written for people in Arizona but gives you a good idea of what to do.

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Rubiaceae/Gardenia_jasminoides.html

This message was edited Apr 27, 2005 11:03 AM