Gardenia

 
цветок гардения

Family of madder. Homeland South Africa, China, India. These evergreen shrubs or small trees, in nature you can find about 250 species of representatives of the genus gardenia.

As a houseplant, Gardenia jasmine Gardenia jasminoides is common. This shrub, growing up to 1.5-1.8 m in height in nature or a greenhouse, at home forms a dense bush no more than 50 cm tall. Jasmine gardenia has glossy green leaves with a wide lanceolate shape, up to 10 cm long. Flowers or single or collected 4-6 pieces in shield inflorescences. The flowers are about 5-7 cm in diameter, double or half-double white with a pleasant aroma. It blooms mainly in summer or autumn.

Gardenia care consists in spraying, if very hot and dry, removing faded flowers, which, when old, turn yellow. In spring, with the beginning of growth, gardenia can be pruned to form a bush crown. Gardenia leaves can be treated with leaf polish, but preferably based on plant components.

Gardenia is considered a difficult and capricious plant, to achieve abundant flowering you need to make a lot of effort. For example, when purchasing or composing the soil mixture itself, it is better to check its acidity in advance, for this, a little soil is poured into an empty pot and poured with water, when the water flows out, you can set the pH of the litmus test paper. If you want to pour rainwater on gardenia, then it is better to boil it. In winter, you need to make sure that the windowsill does not blow and the ground in the pot does not become too cold.

Gardenia Growing Questions - in the Plant FAQ.

Гардения жасминовая

Gardenia care at home

Temperature

Gardenia is quite thermophilic, in winter it is kept at a temperature of about 17-18 ° C, at least 16 ° C, preferably not higher than 22 ° C, at a higher temperature it is necessary to maintain very high humidity. Avoid sudden temperature fluctuations.

Lighting

Gardenia is photophilous, for good development and flowering it needs full lighting, with protection from direct sunlight in summer during hot hours of the day. In direct summer sun, gardenia leaves turn pale yellow or burns appear in the form of brown spots. In winter, you need to put the plant in the brightest place, and direct sunlight is no longer scary.

Watering

In spring and summer, plentiful, the soil should be slightly moist in the depths of the pot, but have time to dry out in the upper 4-5 cm of soil. In winter, watering is moderate, make sure that the soil is well dried, but not completely dusty. Gardenia does not tolerate overfilling of an earthen coma, and stagnation of water in the roots should be avoided. Water for watering gardenia should be warm at any time of the year and necessarily soft. It is better to use filtered water or boiled rain water. If this is difficult for you, or even boiled water is too hard in your area, we recommend using preparations from the aquarium department. Pet stores sell products to soften aquarium water, and make tap water suitable for fish and watering flowers for an hour.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer watering in the period of active growth from March to August in two weeks, liquid fertilizer for flowering domestic plants (potash fertilizers). The dose of fertilizer is taken two times less than recommended in the instructions. Twice during the spring-summer period (around March and June), iron-containing drugs are introduced, which slightly lower the pH level in the soil.

ГарденияWith good care, gardenia blooms very abundantly and for a long time

Air humidity

Gardenia needs spraying if the humidity is below 40%, but only with warm and soft water. Water during spraying should not fall on buds and flowers. In winter, keep the plant away from the directed hot air of the batteries. Gardenias respond well to swimming in a hot shower. It is better to cover the soil in the pot with a film to avoid waterlogging, or dry it thoroughly after a shower. Water temperature from 50 to 65 degrees. This procedure avoids the appearance of a spider mite.

Flight connections

In the spring, usually in two years. Gardenia does not tolerate soil containing lime, it needs an acidic soil mixture with a pH of 4.5-5.5. The soil is the 1 part of the sod, the 1 part of the coniferous, the 1 part of the leaf, the 1 part of the peat land and the 1 part of the sand or vermiculite. Good drainage is mandatory. If you use store soil, then soil for azaleas is suitable.

Reproduction

Cuttings that are cut in February - March. Cuttings are rooted using phytohormones and with soil heating up to 25-27 ° C. Cuttings are periodically sprayed. Gardenia cuttings take quite a long time and are difficult to root. If they are rooted in water, then they can be placed in a weak solution of the root formation stimulant (epin, kornin, heteroauxin), but the solution is effective for no more than 3 days. Before rooting in the soil, the tip of the handle must be dipped in stimulant powder, and then planted in a mixture of peat, coniferous earth and sand.

Growing problems

The leaves are pale, the old leaves gradually turn yellow, the plant does not grow well, does not bloom - lack of lighting - gardenia should have a very bright place, with protection from direct sunlight at noon, as well as nutrients - conduct feeding during the spring-summer period.

On the leaves you can see skylight chlorosis or yellowing in the form of stains - when the soil is snapped - gardenia needs an acidic substrate. If gardenia is transplanted after 2-3 years, then the upper layer of the earth, which, as a rule, accumulates calcium salts in the form of a white crust, if not sufficiently soft water is poured, can be replaced with fresh one annually.

Gardenia blackens and leaves fall when the earth dries for a long time, especially if it is cold. Prevent waterlogging of the soil and lowering the temperature below 15 ° C.

The leaves turn yellow and fall or fall, not having time to turn yellow - with insufficient watering - the soil should be slightly moist all the time, when watered with cold water.

Gardenia does not bloom or blooms poorly - if planted in soil containing lime and not acidic enough. If it is poured with hard water. If the temperature is significantly lower than 16 ° C or higher than 22 ° C, if the air is too dry indoors, if it is not light enough, if there is a severe lack of nutrients in the soil or their excess.

Gardenia pests

Thrips on gardenia also affects the leaves, but the flowers and buds taste better for it, while the larvae hide in them. If buds begin to turn black, flowers deform, examine the leaves. Small light strokes appear on them, gradually growing into silvery spots. Severely affected leaves turn yellow and fall. Pests can not be seen (they are thin 1-2 mm, black or brown, shiny flying), leave black drops of excrement and skins from molting on the leaves.

Mealy worms on gardenia do not immediately crawl to buds and flowers - they focus more and more in the basal zone, axils of leaves and stems. The plant is very depressing, the leaves turn yellow before our eyes. The pest is found in the form of white cotton lumps in secluded places. With severe damage to the colony of worms, the stems and petioles of leaves, noticeably swarming white insects with long antennae, are covered.

The scutes on the gardenia, unlike the worm, are motionless - they look like black rounded plaques, like warts stick to the stems and leaves, if shackled, a wet spot remains. They also suck juice and greatly oppress the plant.

If pests such as thrips, worms, flaps or whiteflies (white flying flies) are found, gardenia must be treated immediately: wash the pests with hot soapy water, sponge or cotton bud, each leaf and stalk. Then spray with a solution of actara or confidor and water the soil with the same solution. Repeat the treatment after 7 days. During treatment, it is important not to water once again so as not to waterlift the soil.

In addition to actara or confidor, decis, actellic, inta-vir are effective, read more about the pest gardenia and other flowers on the page Pests of indoor plants