How to Grow Gardenia in Pots and Fertilizing Tips
Gardenia is one of the common ornamental plants on balconies and in courtyards. Its leaves stay green all year round and its fragrance fills the air, and it plays a very notable role in freshening the air and improving the home environment. However, many people do not understand its cultivation deeply enough, and often find gardenia hard to grow. In fact, the growing methods for gardenia are not difficult, and rooting cuttings from its branches easily makes it fill out a pot. How is this done? Let us learn about it together.
How to Grow Gardenia in Pots and Precautions
1. Growing methods
1. Suitable potting soil
Gardenia likes acidic soil, with a suitable pH of 5 to 6. Prepare suitable soil before planting. The soil for cultivation is usually leaf mold, peat soil plus half garden soil; do not use coal cinders, or simply buy special soil, which is convenient and practical.
2. Reasonable fertilizing
Gardenia likes fertilizer. When planting, add decomposed cake fertilizer to the soil as a base fertilizer. During the growing season, use cake fertilizer and ferrous sulfate fermented into liquid fertilizer, and water it once a week. A full-nutrient organic liquid fertilizer can also be used. Topdressing at the bud stage can make the flowers larger and the fragrance richer. When the summer temperature is above 35°C and the autumn temperature is above 15°C, stop fertilizing.
3. Watering
Gardenia likes moist and humid environments. During the growing period, keep the potting soil moist, and water by the principle of watering when dry and stopping when wet; at night you can spray to wet the leaves to maintain humidity. If the plant grows too vigorously, do not water at night; water after the sun comes out in the morning.
4. Light
The growth of gardenia needs sufficient sunlight. If it is placed in half shade for a long time, the flowering branches will be weak and slender. During care, aside from shading needed at midday in July and August and winter dormancy, it can be cared for in the sun at other times.
2. Growing precautions
1. Winter dormancy
Although gardenia is cold tolerant, after a potted gardenia goes through severe winter its root system will be damaged, and it recovers slowly in spring. The best method is to place the pot in a 5°C environment to let it go dormant, or wrap the flowerpot with insulation material and place it outdoors in a sunny, wind-sheltered spot to overwinter.
2. Proper pruning
When the main trunk of gardenia grows to 20 cm, pinch off the tip, leaving 3-4 branches to promote branching. After flowering each year, prune lightly and cut off weak branches and diseased branches. But gardenia must not be cut back at the branch tips in spring, otherwise it will be difficult for it to bloom that year.
3. Repotting and changing soil at the right time
Gardenia has strong vitality. A small seedling grows from a few centimeters to several tens of centimeters, so it should be repotted according to the size of the plant. When repotting, prune old roots in time, replace half the soil, water thoroughly, and place it in half shade for a week; after new buds grow, move it into the sun.
4. Soil acidification
Gardenia likes fertilizer but fears concentrated fertilizer. During the growing period, apply decomposed cake fertilizer water once every half month, and the concentration should be low so as not to burn the roots and affect the growth of flower buds. At the same time, note that the soil should be acidified in time. Changing the acidity and alkalinity of the soil can promote the growth of the plant. Pest and disease control: gardenia is relatively prone to chlorosis, leaf spot disease and scale insects. After discovery, spray medicine in time to disinfect, and isolate it from other plants to avoid contagion.
How to Fertilize Gardenia
1. Apply sufficient base fertilizer
If during the care process gardenia grows slowly and its branches are weak, and it needs frequent topdressing, it means the base fertilizer was insufficient at planting. Before planting gardenia, add organic fertilizer (decomposed animal manure, cake fertilizer) to the soil and mix it evenly with the soil.
2. Apply slow-release fertilizer
In fact, most households grow flowers with few fertilizations, or even do not tend them often. For convenience and to save effort, agricultural scientists developed lazy-person fertilizer - slow-release fertilizer. Apply the fertilizer in the pot, and the nutrients in the fertilizer will be released slowly; there is no need to worry that too much fertilizer will damage the plant. However, stop fertilizing after October and during the flowering period.
3. Topdressing
From April to October, topdress once a month except during the flowering period. Starting in April, spray potassium dihydrogen phosphate once a week until flower buds appear on most branches of the whole gardenia plant.
After budding, water the roots with potassium dihydrogen phosphate twice, which can enhance the plant's stress resistance and promote larger flowers and richer fragrance. But as soon as the flower buds crack and show white, stop fertilizing.
4. Fertilizing after repotting
If repotted, place the plant in a cool place to recover from repotting, and fertilize only after the recovery period has passed.
When Does Gardenia Bloom
The flowering period of gardenia is in spring and summer. It can bloom continuously from May to June until August, but there may be individual cases of earlier or relatively later blooming. Different regions have different flowering times because of different climates. The flowering period of gardenia is relatively long; one flower can bloom for 3-5 days. Sometimes, the flowering period of a larger plant can last as long as 1 month.
How to Make Gardenia Bloom
1. Water and fertilizer management
Pay attention to reasonable daily watering and fertilizing, and during the flower bud differentiation period, pay attention to applying more flower fertilizer containing phosphorus and potassium to promote flowering.
2. Light
Generally, pay attention to shading in summer. In winter, place gardenia in a warm indoor place with relatively good light for care, to avoid gardenia failing to bloom because of light problems.
3. Soil acidification
Before planting gardenia, the soil can be acidified to change the acidity and alkalinity of the soil, which is beneficial to the growth of gardenia.
4. Daily care
Prune the plant in time according to the growth of gardenia so that it grows and blooms normally. During the planting process, attention should also be paid to pest prevention.
As described above, the growing methods for gardenia are very simple, and it even easily fills out a pot, so if you do not reach the expected state during cultivation, do not be discouraged; carefully analyze the reasons and treat the cause. Believe that as long as you care for it carefully and attentively, gardenia will certainly live up to expectations.