Gardenias

I live in the East Bay. Bought a gardenia at a nursery on Saturday that was beautiful. It already had one bloom. Brought in home, set it out in my front yard--I did not transplant it. I've watered it, but the leaves have started turning yellow. Could use some advice.

This message was edited May 26, 2005 7:32 PM

Was it in the shade or sun at the nursery? Place it in a similar place. Now lift it. Does it feel light or heavy? We have had a warm streak. If the rootball dried out, even though you watered it the water will only go around the roots and out the bottom. If it feels light, get a bucket and set the plant in the bucket. Fill it with water until the water level is about 1" above the soil line. If the rootball was dry, bubbles will come up. Leave it in the water until the bubbles stop and the rootball is rehydrated. My bet is that it was on the dry side.

K

I have it sitting in full sun as it was at the nursery. I'm pretty new at trying to grow anything that doesn't take care of itself. I don't even have a bucket--so I rinsed out an old rubber garbage can we keep in the garage and used it. The plant bubbled for a few minutes. It was quite a bit heavier to pick up when I took it out of the can. How often should the plant be watered.

I finally found some links about growing gardenias in California, but they give quite a bit of conflicting advice. One site even recommended that one turn a mister on it.

I grow mine in full sun to part shade, and I'm in a very hot climate. The most important thing is to treat it like an azalea or Japanese maple......lots of acidic humus in the mix when you plant it.....give iron early in the spring....and fertilize with acidic fertilizer. You will want to keep the root ball lightly moist. It's not going to be happy if it dries out completely or is sitting in soggy soil. Your climate is MUCH more temperate and forgiving than mine, but if you are not comfortable with full sun, plant it where it will get morning sun and afternoon shade.

I ALWAYS plunge plants I buy into a bucket of water before I plant them, specially if I purchase them when it's warm outside. Starting with a nice moist root ball helps ward off transplant stress.
K

Thanks. I will start doiing that.

You should go out and look for spider mites. They love my gardenias and the yellow dropping leaves are a sign.

Thanks for the advice.

Since I got the rootball good and wet it has been a lot happier. I think it probably helps that we haven't had much fog lately. Turns out that the neighbor across the street has a beautiful gardenia growing in his backyard--but it is in shade. I guess each plant has its own identity.

What zone are you in ms_mensch? Those of us in hotter areas can afford to give our plants quite a bit more shade than you might think.

I'm in San Lorenzo--which lies between Hayward and San Leandro. I'm not sure if its 9a or 9b, but I'm pretty sure it's one or the other.

The nursery from which I purchased the plant is in San Leandro and they had it in full sun. When I first brought it home, I had it in partial shade. When it started being unhappy, I moved it back to full sun. Then I got the root ball good and wet. I read up on spider mites and have misted the plant every few days. I threw some coffee grounds on it. Then, I bought a moisture meter that also reads the PH level, haven't done anything with the information that the soil is more akaline than acidic, but I've kept the moisture level in the middle of the gauge. The plant now has a few blooms on it and the leaves stopped turning yellow. All in all, it does seem to be happier.

I still haven't put it in the ground--I'm thinking maybe this is a container plant for me.

I have a 5' gardenia that has been in my yard for over 10 years. I have noticed that it has two dead looking limbs. Just a few new leaves are now coming out on those two branches. It just doesn't look very healthy. No yellowing leaves though. It didn't bloom as well this year. I put coffee grounds on it about three days a week. I also give it plenty of water. The shrub is in full sun until late evening. I live in zone 8b in Texas. I am wondering if I should prune this shrub next spring to give it a jump start. What do you gardenia growers think?

Lin

Prune it now so that it can set buds over the winter. If you wait until spring you may lose some bloom.