Gardenia not blooming? Toss this in the pot and it will burst into bloom instantly

This season is exactly when gardenias flood the market, and many plant lovers will buy a pot to take home. Most of them, when choosing a gardenia, will pick one with lots and lots of flower buds, only to find once they get it home that it simply will not bloom. What is going on?

Not every gardenia with lots of buds will actually bloom. There are tricks to buying a gardenia too. Let's see how to choose a good pot of gardenia.

1. In season, choose a locally grown gardenia. As early as the beginning of April, gardenias were already on the market, but most gardenias at that time are grown in greenhouses in other regions. These gardenias look like they have a huge number of buds, but once you bring them home they very easily drop their buds, yellow their leaves and refuse to bloom, mainly because the environmental difference is too great and the gardenia cannot adapt to the ambient temperature for a while.

2. A gardenia grown in its original pot in nutrient soil is easier to keep alive. Do not buy the cheap bare-root gardenias wrapped in a lump of mud. Most of these gardenias are dug straight out of the soil, wrapped in a plastic bag and put up for sale. Although they look like great specimens, the soil they are grown in is very compacted and not breathable at all. After you bring one home, you will find it very hard to water it through, and the poor air permeability around the roots leads to waterlogging and root rot.

So what should you do when the gardenia you brought home has flower buds but never blooms?

1. Gardenias love light. Do not keep it indoors. It needs to go somewhere at home with plenty of light, at least bright indirect light, and with good ventilation.

2. Dilute monopotassium phosphate and water it directly onto the roots, once every 2 weeks, to quickly push the gardenia into bloom.

Finally, a reminder: when caring for gardenias in summer, especially those grown in nutrient soil, the water demand will be fairly high, and generally you need to water once about every 2 days.