Gardenia help!

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Hi! So my dad got me a gardenia for Valentine's Day and I've never had a plant before in my life. I'm really excited about it and almost obsessed with it. I want the best for it and want to take care of it properly and need all the help I can get. I have no clue about any plant terminology so bare with me. I live in Michigan so it's been indoors since I got it but I keep it by the window to get sunlight but not on the windowsill. I water it every morning with about a cup or so of room temp water and mist it 2-3 times a day. And that's really the only thing I do to it, water, mist, and keep in sunlight, not sure if I should be doing more. I've read about emptying the pot every once in awhile but not sure if I need it? I think I must be doing something right because when I got it, it only had leaves on it and now it has so many buds and three flowers have bloomed. My worrying comes from the fact that the first flower that bloomed about a week and a half ago is already starting to turn yellowy brown and the second one that bloomed 5-6 days ago is slowly turning yellow. Over the past night another one is blooming and I think another one will fully bloom over night. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I just want to know why they're turning yellow so fast or if it means it's dying, should I give up? Should I water it less? Water more? I wish there was like a 24/7 help line I could call or someone I could go to for help but I don't think there is lol. Anyways, thank you in advanced!!!

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Comments (5)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Does that container drain (have a hole in it)? If not, that needs to be addressed right away.

There is no way that your plant requires a cup of water every day! Yikes. Watering should be done on an as needed basis.....when you use your fingers to dig around and determine if the top has begun to dry out. Over watering can kill a plant.

Gardenia flowers don't last very long in the best of conditions and inside the house is not ideal. Misting the flowers so often can lead to disease....actually causing a disease as well as spreading it on the droplets of mist.

Do not fertilize while it is flowering, give it as much light as possible, and as cool a room as possible.

Gardenias are one of the most challenging of all plants for most people to successfully grow inside the typical home. Be sure to do some homework about it to avoid major problems like overwatering, hot or cold drafts, etc.

Growing gardenias inside the home.

I also did a Gardenweb search for you, so that you can learn from others' trials and tribulations right here in these forums. CLICK HERE for that link.

Good luck to you.
Amanda Schlegel thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
Amanda Schlegel
Original Author
10 years ago
Okay so I am over watering! And I have stopped misting as well. I read somewhere online that misting indoor plants with help with humidity, but clearly that's not the case so I will stop that. Should I be watering every 3 days then? And it is in a plastic container within the medal container it's in and the plastic one does have holes in the bottom.
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Amanda Schlegel
Original Author
10 years ago
socks
10 years ago
I only water my houseplants every one or two weeks, depending on the plant and its location. You put your finger into the soil about an inch to determine if you think the plant needs water. When you do water, don't let the pot sit in the water which might collect in the outer pot. Let the plant drain thoroughly elsewhere before putting back in the outer pot. Read some of the information in the links Rhizo sent you.
Karen Holt
10 years ago
The metal pot retains the water so the gardenia is basically sitting in water all the time. The metal one will either need holes drilled or you need to empty it after watering. Gardenias do not like to sit in water. That is causing the yellowing of leaves. If it continues, the leaves will begin dropping off next. How often it is watered depends on how fast the top inch of soil dries. You really want to make sure the plant is not constantly wet.