Gardenia, frequently asked questions

Why gardenia does not bloom

Question: Since I was given gardenia (two years ago), it has never bloomed. I picked up buds several times and dumped them, the pot is in the room on the table.

Natali:

• First, put it on the windowsill.
• Secondly, try to pour it not just with standing water, but with boiled water, even better passed through a household filter.
• Thirdly, most likely it is hot in summer, of course you cannot lower the temperature in summer, but then you need to maximize the humidity of the air - put it on a wide tray with wet pebbles or expanded clay and at the same time continue to spray (in case of insufficient humidity, the leaves also turn yellow or dry at the edges). But by no means moisturize the soil.

You can organize additional artificial lighting, but it also needs to be fed from April to August. Try to apply fertilizers, preferably containing iron, for flowering indoor plants (phosphorus), only take a dose 2 times less than recommended, and feed every 2 weeks, you can in early September. She dropped buds either from lack of light, or from too high a temperature, perhaps from both together.

Marusya: For gardenia to bloom, you need an air temperature of about 25 degrees. If gardenia with buds remained in the winter, it can bloom if it is warm and light. And if there are no such conditions, then the buds will reach spring, and at least partially bloom.

Gardenia's care is in the Encyclopedia of Houseplants section.

Alina Viktorovna: Why gardenia does not bloom, options for reasons:

1. Little light and heat. The books say that if it is not warm enough during the day and too warm at night, then buds do not form or are discharged. So or not, we cannot say, since all of ours bloom with a whistle, despite the heat.
2. Overfed with nitrogen (while the tops climb).
3. The wrong time of year - some gardenias bloom in winter or spring, and at the same time it should be warm.
4. Underfed with fertilizers - when to feed active growth, for example, bloom-buster with chelated trace elements, and spray...
5. Gardenia buds can also drop due to changing conditions.

Guest_Sonata: I am firmly convinced that gardenia does not bloom because:

• loves light but doesn't like heat
• buds are formed at temperatures below 18-16 degrees
• loves water, but not waterlogging
• I often pour water into the tray so that the water does not flow into the pot, it helps not to pour the plant
• gardenia loves acidified soil: once or twice a month I water it with acidified water (I squeeze a little lemon juice into the water for watering)

The gardenia is reproduction

Question: Gardenia has grown very much on my balcony and I am very happy about it. But I want to reproduce it, how to do it?

Tanyushka: The handle must be cut about 10 cm long, always from a healthy branch. Remove a few lower leaves.

Cuttings can be rooted in water or in a substrate (a mixture of peat and sand or one sand (vermiculite, perlite)). To ensure high humidity, the cuttings are covered with a jar or plastic bag. The optimum substrate temperature is 25-27 ° C. It is imperative to ventilate daily and regularly spray the leaves with water.

After rooting, cuttings can be planted in pots in about a month. To do this, prepare a substrate: peat, coniferous earth and sand.

For better rooting, stimulants can be used.

• Option 1: soak the cuttings in a zircon solution (1 ml per 1 liter of water) for a day.
• Option 2: Dip the end of the handle into the root powder.

Natalie: So that the cuttings do not rot, and the ground does not moldy the greenhouse, it is better to leave it ajar. I.e. do not ventilate 2-3 times a day, and put a stick (pencil, pebbles) under a cap made of a jar or bottle so that there is air access. If the handle is under the bag, then you need to make holes in it. And the best time to take root is still the beginning of summer.

Question: I want to divide a large gardenia bush into two parts, but I don't know if it is possible, because everywhere they write only about breeding with cuttings or seeds.

Natalie: Theoretically, it can be done, but I'm afraid that, wanting to get two good bushes at once, you can lose the whole plant. Gardenia with cuttings - it is not easy to root, with soil heating and with phytohormones, and when the bush is divided, the root system will be seriously disturbed, the roots will either be cut off or cut off.

Plants will get sick, perhaps partially die off branches and leaves will be lost, and it is not known how it will take root. Best of all, if you want to get a small bush at once, then cut 6-7 cuttings from your bush and root. Your plant will soon grow overgrown, and plant cuttings all in one pot. But it is better to use root formation stimulants, for example, heteroauxin or root, you can even epin.

Question: Last year, one of my gardenias "gave" me a box with seeds. I want to try to grow gardenia from a seed. When to plant?

Abrakadabra: I just got gardenia. They sprouted for almost a month, somewhere in the third week I dug them up and saw a seed with a root, mentally scolded myself and quickly buried everything. A week after the excavation, I saw small stalks covered with a hat (skin). A week has passed since the birth, and the cotyledons are not yet visible, they still stand with a hat, I myself do nothing to remove the peel, and in general I do not pull them now.

The seeds were "Russian vegetable garden," out of two packs of 5 seeds (i.e. only 10 pieces) only 2 sprouted, so I understood that I should not count on the seeds in anything more, I buried them somewhere half a centimeter, under the film and they stood in a non-hot place, far from the battery and with a slight temperature drop (cooler at night).

Abrakadabra: in the continuation of the theme, it seems there is progress, at least the cotyledons slowly began to show from under the hat! In general, this spring (even in winter) I also decided to buy seeds and see what comes of it while the results are satisfied, 50 percent of the pack usually germinate, it happens less, it happens more still I think, a lot depends on the quality of the seeds, and your seeds, extracted from your plant, as practice shows, germinate 100%.

Sowed in the ground for cypress trees - it was disinfected, so light and came up the most in pH.

Jakonya: I, too, finally, gardenia sprouted. I sowed it in mid-January, in the ground with sand. A month and a half rose. Germination is so-so. I left five bags in five pots. Seedlings in three of the five pots and not say much. One by one, two sprouts. Now I think it was necessary to pour everything into one, and then plant it. Small pots are easier to dry.

Gardenia turns yellow

Question: My gardenia does not quite die, but turns yellow.

Natalie: You may have hard water, boiling doesn't soften it enough. The soil has salted, the acidity has shifted to the alkaline side, some nutrients (potassium, boron, iron and others) have ceased to be absorbed (they need a certain pH of the medium), and the plant began to show a deficiency of a whole bunch of trace elements. It would be more correct to transplant into fresh soil, to control the acidity of the soil. It doesn't hurt to check the roots, perhaps there are rotten ones. Do not feed the plant itself into the ground, but apply potassium feeding on the sheet.

barsuchok: The characteristic yellowness of the leaves - when the veins stay green - is chlorosis. Iron chelate will help here. Spraying on the sheet (can be watered a little) and drying completely in the dark and warm.

Kasandra: Gardenia can turn yellow if planted in the wrong ground or if watered incorrectly, you need to find a middle ground - not to pour, but not to dry it out either. Also, the cause of yellowing can be a spider mite.

Freya: Leaves may turn yellow if gardenia is sprayed at a low air temperature or after spraying it will fall on a draft.

How to water gardenia

Question: How to properly water and fertilize gardenia?

Someone: Gardenia have increased requirements for the presence of iron in the soil, and in a form convenient for them to assimilate. You just can't pour iron vitriol. In flower shops you can find iron chelate, this is exactly what they need. You can spray, you can pour into the ground.

Irusya: You need to add a little citric acid to the water for irrigation. BUT, as you know, in acidic soils, many trace elements become inaccessible to plants, and gardenia is very demanding. Therefore, I use iron-based fertilizers. Watering + "Uniflor-bud" gives a good result.

Lenochka: I water my gardenia once a month with acidified water, 1 drop of lemon juice per liter of water. I think that fertilizers for azaleas should suit her, mine sits in the ground for azaleas, feels great, I water Pocon with fertilizers.

Irea: Fertilizers: from March to August, they are fed 2-3 times a month with mineral (calcium, lime and chlorine free) and organic fertilizers in low concentration and in small portions. Especially sensitive to the lack of iron and magnesium (both sulfates). Water 2-3 times a year with a solution of trace elements.

Normally absorbs nutrients only when the soil pH is not higher than 5. Therefore, at least once a month, water with a weak solution of citric acid or lemon juice (a few crystals or drops per 1 liter of water). 0.5 g of iron sulfate is necessarily added to the water. You can acidify the soil with peat-infused water.

Pour warm and soft water. Cold and hard leads to leaf fall. The soil should always be a little wet.

Gardenia or tabernemontana

Question: How to distinguish gardenia from tabernemontana? I bought an rooted handle from my grandmother in the spring. It was important for my grandmother to claim that it was tabernemontana, and I have a strong suspicion that gardenia is jasmine-shaped...

Kasandra: It is characteristic of tabernemontana that lateral shoots overtake the main one in growth, due to which it usually looks like a bush. Shoots and leaves contain white milky juice, from which glue and rubber are obtained in the homeland of the plant.

Gardenia grows as a tree and does not secrete milky juice when cutting shoots. Their leaves are really very similar. But tabernemontana flowers look like bells with corrugated petals, and in gardenia they are like a rose.

barsuchok: 100% can be determined from buds. In gardenia they are thick, rounded, and in tabernemontans they are elongated, as if with a "pipka" at the tip.

Why buds fall at gardenia and how to avoid it

Main causes of falling buds

1. Sudden temperature changes
   Gardenia loves stability. Even a brief drop or rise in temperature can cause buds to crumble.
2. Dry air
   With insufficient humidity, buds do not develop. This is especially noticeable in the heating season, when the air in the apartments becomes too dry.
3. Errors in watering
   Overdrying or waterlogging the soil is equally harmful. Gardenia roots are sensitive to stagnant water, but drought also provokes stress.
4. Lack of light
   For full flowering, the plant needs bright but diffused light. In the shade, buds form weak and often crumble.
5. Lack of food
   During the period of budding, gardenia especially needs regular fertilizers with iron and potassium. When nutrients are deficient, the plant does not have the strength to bloom .

What to do to make buds open

• Keep the temperature at + 20... + 24 ° C without sharp jumps
.
• Ensure high humidity: Use a humidifier or place a pot next to a tray of water and expanded clay.
• Water regularly, but without stagnation of water: the soil should be wet, but not cheese.
• Place the pot on the east or south window with a slight shading during hot hours.
• Feed the plant with specialized fertilizers for azaleas and gardenias.

FAQ: Frequent questions about gardenia buds

1. Why do gardenia buds turn black and crumble?
Most often this is due to waterlogged soil or too dry air. Also, the reason may be drafts or a sharp change in temperature.

2. Is it possible to save buds that have begun to dry out?
If drying has just begun, increase the humidity and check the watering mode. But it is no longer possible to restore completely dried buds.

3. Is feeding necessary during the period of budding?
Yes I did. Without fertilizers with potassium and iron, buds may not open. It is better to use special mixtures for gardenias or azaleas.

4. Should I carry a pot of gardenia if buds appear?
No, it isn't. Gardenia reacts poorly to the reshuffle. Movement during budding almost always results in shedding of buds.

5. How often should gardenia be sprayed?
Only the air around the plant can be sprayed, but not buds and flowers - drops of water leave spots and can cause them to rot.