Taken tonight.

I saw just a few whitish bugs? On the back of a few leaves. But by no means an infestation.

You are growing these indoors? or out? In pots? In sun or shade?

Do pots have good drainage? Even watering schedule?

Have they experienced frost?

Looks like a scale or mealy bug infestation as well.

Outdoor, in a pot, good drainage, morning to lunch sun. They've thrived in this spot and pot up until now. It's been colder this year than last year. Last year we barely experienced a dip in temp but this year was certainly cold. Perhaps one or two days of frost. Through the winter I've watered it less, certainly less than the summer months. When I typically water it I give it a good amount (a soaking), till the water runs through the pot for a bit. Then I leave it with no water for 5-7 days. This winter I've left it about 7-10 days between waterings. After noticing last Sunday that my gardenia was browned I gave it a watering and prune then, and another water last night.....just incise underwater ins is the problem. Thank you for your help!

My apologies for the auto type spelling errors......Just in case under watering is the problem.

Check by poking finger down into the soil to know whether it really needs watering. It may have gotten dried out from being rootbound one too many times. Hard to say.

Also, if new growth was tender when you had frost, that could cause browning tips. But to me it looks more like a watering issue. Perhaps a salt buildup in pot.

I'd consider repotting up to larger pot in early Spring.

stop cutting off leaves... even damaged ones ... can photosynthesize ... is that a word ... lol

insure proper watering.. and see if it buds out... when SPRING comes ....

even in Ca... its the middle of winter ... not a great time to be making presumptions ... other than proper watering ...

one thing for sure.. its NOT hungry ... its stressed ... fert will not help stress ...

i would tip one out of the pot.. and see what is going on in there ... guessing is just presumption building ....

ken

Thank you Dave and Ken, I appreciate your words of gardenia wisdom. I let my gardenia be today but I did dig my finger in the soil to check for moisture as your recommendation Dave. The soil is moist, not wet. I figured it was fine as it was. I also read that if the leaves have dark green veins and lighter green or yellow leaves this is an indication of low iron. I was thinking of getting something for this. Epson salts is what I read was helpful. Have you ever uses this and would you recommend it? Also, you both recommended repotting in spring. I'm so tempted to do it now, in my urgency to help this shrub. Would it be a major mistake?

Oh my Rexedwardfairy! Thank you for taking the time to respond and provide your knowlede. And your gardenias are beautiful, i can nearly smell them! I had to laugh at the urine! My grandmother swears by it for burns so I figure it's worth a try! I did read about coffee beans too. I'll check for the mealy bugs but i think you have more patients than me with the alcohol. I just want them dead fast and will likely get alcohol on my beloved pant as well. Your news about full sun makes me cry. My gardenia did well in the morning sun and afternoon shade but our military housing group took it upon themselves to chop the lovely big tree out of our yard yesterday without any prior warning. Maybe they knew I wouldn't support it....but aside from this travesty to this beautiful tree, they also turned my backyard to a "full sun" zone. I may have to move my gardenia as San Diego sun is hot. Again.....thank you. I'll

lucy,

Your gardenia has bugs.

Go buy yourself some Organicide at a big Home store. Dilute it real good according

to the directions using a spray bottle. Spray real good on both front and back of leaves.

If it doesn't kill all of them, do it again in 10 days to 2 weeks.

Your plant is fine.

It just wants the bugs off and some warmer weather is all.

Thank you Rexedwardfairy! My lovely gardenia (avatar) bloomed four years ago (following the birth of our first daughter) and has sulked since. Maybe I'll send all the boys out there to do their business!

Hehe, J, I promise: you won't be sorry!

Hi Gardenia advisers, I wanted to update you on how my Gardenia has bounced back. It's much healthier and greener with lots of new leaves and a few buds. I took all the advice. I repotted with some new soil, gave it fertilizer and added a few coffee grinds to the soil. I watered it more and gave it 2 epson salt drinks. I de-bugged it, had the boys pee on it, and fed it some extra coffee grinds here and there for good measure. It all seems to have done the trick. THANK YOU!