Gardenia yellowing leaves and dropping flower buds? Learn to grow them this way, and you'll get green leaves and a bursting pot of blooms

Is growing gardenias hard? Way too hard!

Gardenias bought from flower shops basically all have lots of flower buds, each one looking ready to burst into bloom, as if you'd get a pot of fragrant gardenias as soon as you bring them home. But! That's not how it actually goes!

The gardenias we buy are basically all grown in greenhouses. The flower farmers have already applied a lot of fertilizer in the earlier stages, so they all look full of life.

Growing gardenias in the south is much easier than in the north. In the south it's hard to kill them, in the north it's hard to keep them alive. Without further ado, Huahua will first list a few iron rules for growing gardenias:

1. A wilting gardenia means lack of water

2. Water-yellow leaves mean water less

3. Never blooming means not enough light

4. Clay soil must be changed

5. No water can get on the flower buds

6. Whitish new leaves mean lack of iron fertilizer

7. Fat-yellow leaves mean fertilize less

Below, let me explain in detail the issues to watch out for when growing gardenias.

The leaves wilt as soon as you bring them home, especially in the north

Generally, large-leaf gardenias are prone to wilting, because their leaves are relatively large and water evaporates quickly. In the north, the air humidity is not as high as in the south, which easily leads to gardenias wilting from lack of water.

Another reason is that gardenias coming out of the greenhouse have damaged root systems, which directly affects their ability to absorb water, leading to water shortage.

Solutions:

1. Reduce branches, leaves and flowers. This way water consumption is reduced, lightening the burden on the gardenia.

2. Cover with a plastic bag to retain moisture. With a plastic bag over it, water evaporation slows down. Place it in a ventilated spot, not in direct sunlight. Open it for half an hour at night to let it breathe.

3. Water by the soaking method. Put the gardenia pot in a basin of water, with the water level at 2/3 below the soil surface.

Watering principles: water less when the temperature is low, more when it's high. Generally water once every 2~3 days, and you can sprinkle water around the flowers every day to increase air humidity.

It has flower buds, but just won't bloom

1. Whether a gardenia blooms has little to do with humidity; it's mainly because it doesn't get enough light. The simplest and most brutal method is to let it sunbathe.

2. There are three conditions for blooming: enough light, a certain temperature difference, and fertilizer. If it has buds but won't bloom, then sunbathing is definitely right; a certain temperature difference plays a supporting role, and enough fertilizer is the basic condition for developing flower buds.

3. Sometimes you'll find that buds drop as they grow. There are two reasons: first, overwatering; second, insufficient nutrients.

① Gardenias like moisture, but that doesn't mean watering every day. Causing waterlogging easily rots the roots. You must ventilate, ventilate, ventilate! Also, when spraying water on the leaves, don't spray it on the flower buds! Otherwise they'll drop right before your eyes.

② When there are many flower buds, you need to know how to make choices. Cut off the small ones and keep the large ones. Leaves that are too dense will also draw away the nutrients needed for blooming, so they should be trimmed in time.

③ During the flowering period, apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to promote blooming, such as monopotassium phosphate solution, and apply less nitrogen fertilizer.

If the gardenia at home is dropping flower buds right now, hurry and move it to a ventilated place, cut off the relatively sturdy leaves below the buds, let it sunbathe (through glass doesn't count as direct sunlight), and absolutely do not spray water on the remaining buds. This way they may still be saved.

What are the principles for changing soil and repotting?

1. Many gardenias people buy are grown in clay soil. Although this soil isn't lacking in iron, it affects the flower's ability to absorb iron, has poor air permeability, and water won't penetrate when watering, so generally the soil needs to be changed.

To tell whether it's clay soil, dip a wet hand into the pot soil and see if it sticks. If it sticks, it's clay soil.

2. If it's grown in loess soil, there's no rush to change the soil; you can consider it after it blooms.

3. If a gardenia already has flower buds when you buy it, don't disturb the soil or repot it, unless you don't want to see it bloom.

4. Another thing to note: don't fill in soil when repotting, that is, don't directly move the roots with soil into another type of soil. Either keep the original soil and pot, or wash the roots and repot with new soil.

5. Soil suitable for gardenia growth can be made by mixing coarse sand, perlite and peat soil in a ratio of 1:1:  2. If you're feeling extravagant, you can replace it all with akadama soil.

Principles for repotting: with good ventilation, the roots can be the same size as the pot; if the pot soil is very loose and breathable, you can choose a slightly larger pot; if the pot itself is very breathable, such as a clay pot or a porous plastic pot, you can use an even larger pot.

Iron deficiency easily causes yellow leaves, and too much fertilizer also causes yellow leaves

1. If the newly grown leaves of a gardenia have green veins but whitish leaf blades, it means it lacks iron.

① Take a rice-grain-sized amount of ferrous sulfate and mix it with 2 bottles of mineral water to make a solution, then spray it on the leaf surface. Spray once every half a month.

② But ferrous sulfate is used in small amounts each time and easily gets damp. For supplementing trace elements, homemade fermented rice-washing water and fruit-peel water are more convenient and effective. For the making method, you can search for Huahua's previous articles~

2. Applying too much fertilizer can also cause gardenia yellow leaves, so you must control the amount well and not be greedy for more.

3. It must be reminded that gardenias just bought and in the acclimation period, gardenias just repotted, and gardenias when the temperature is below 20 degrees should all not be fertilized. Don't apply any fertilizer at all!

Fellow flower lovers in the north will find it a bit easier to keep gardenias alive if they buy them at this time of year. They basically all come with flower buds and don't have to go through the test of temperature changes. The bigger the buds, the easier they bloom. Those interested can give it a try.

Are there many flower lovers who've been stumped by gardenias?

Don't worry~

Huahua will keep exploring useful methods

and share the experience with everyone!