How to grow potted gardenias? Keep these care points in mind

Livestock Farming Jan 1, 1970 0 views

The gardenia's leaves stay evergreen all year round, and its flowers are fragrant and elegantly simple. It is an important ornamental plant for balconies and courtyards. There are many varieties of gardenia, and caring for them in pots is very simple. Just follow the steps below for care.

The gardenia (detailed introduction) has leaves that stay evergreen all year round, and flowers that are fragrant and elegantly simple. It is an important ornamental plant for balconies and courtyards. There are many varieties of gardenia, and caring for them in pots is very simple. Just follow the steps below for care!

Gardenia (detailed introduction)

1. Choose suitable potting soil

Gardenia likes acidic soil, with a suitable pH of 5 to 6. Prepare suitable soil before planting. If the soil's acidity and alkalinity are unsuitable, later care will be very troublesome.

For growing soil, usually choose leaf mold, peat soil plus half garden soil. Do not use coal cinders, or simply buy special soil for clivia, which is convenient and practical.

2. Fertilize reasonably

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 fertilizer water, and water it once a week. A full-nutrient organic liquid fertilizer can also be used.

During the bud stage, apply additional fertilizer 1 to 2 times, watering with a potassium dihydrogen phosphate aqueous solution, which can make the flowers larger and the fragrance richer.

Stop fertilizing when the summer temperature is above 35°C and the autumn temperature is above 15°C.

3. Water scientifically

Gardenia likes a moist and humid environment. During the growing period from April to September, keep the potting soil moist, 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.

In alkaline water areas of the north, when watering, let tap water stand for a day before watering. Every 3 to 5 days, water with a little citric acid aqueous solution, which can keep the leaves emerald green.

4. Give plenty of sunlight

Gardenia's growth requires sufficient sunlight. If kept in semi-shade for a long time, the flowering branches will be weak and slender. During care, except for shading needed in July/August and at noon, as well as winter dormancy, it can be cared for in sunlight at other times.

5. Good winter dormancy

Although gardenia is cold-tolerant, potted gardenia's root system will be damaged after going through a severe winter, and recovery in spring is slower. But if placed indoors with heating, where the temperature is higher and light is insufficient, the plant's growth slows and it blooms later the next year. 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.

6. Prune appropriately

When the gardenia's main trunk grows to 20 cm, pinch off the top bud, leaving 3 to 4 branches to promote branching. After flowering each year, prune lightly and cut off weak and diseased branches. But in spring, gardenia must not be cut back at the branch tips, otherwise it will be difficult for it to bloom that year.

7. Change the potting soil at the right time

Gardenia has strong vitality. Small seedlings grow from a few centimeters to several tens of centimeters, so repot according to the size of the plant. When the plant's branch length is 2 to 3 times the diameter of the flowerpot rim, it needs repotting. When repotting, promptly prune old roots, replace half the soil, water thoroughly, and place in semi-shade for a week; after new buds grow, move it into sunlight.

Key care points for potted gardenia

    The elegantly pure and fragrant gardenia, with its white jade-like flowers and glossy emerald leaves, adds much coolness and fragrance to the hot summer, making it a favorite household potted flower. In southern China, the uniquely favorable warm and humid climate and slightly acidic soil and water make growing gardenia well an easy task. For northerners, however, gardenia requires careful management; with a little neglect, it becomes sallow and thin and rarely blooms, or in serious cases withers away. After several years of exploration, the author has in recent years grown potted gardenias with abundant flowers and lush leaves year after year, mainly by doing the following well:

    1 Choose suitable potting soil. Gardenia is an acid-loving flower, with a suitable pH of 5 to 6. If the soil acidity is unsuitable, future management will yield half the result with twice the effort. For growing soil, choose leaf mold, peat soil, or fermented sawdust plus half garden soil. Avoid old wall soil and coal cinders. Using commercially sold clivia soil is more convenient and practical.

    2 Water scientifically. Gardenia likes moist soil and relatively high air humidity. During the growing period from April to September, keep the potting soil moist. Water when the surface of the potting soil becomes dry, and at night you can use a watering can to sprinkle water on the leaf surface. If it dries out completely and wilts, it will be detrimental to growth. For plants that grow too vigorously with longer internodes, do not water at night; water after the sun comes out in the morning. In northern alkaline water areas, tap water should be left to stand for two days before use. Every three to five days, water thoroughly once with an aqueous solution containing 0.5 g citric acid and 1 g ferrous sulfate per liter, which can make the leaves glossy and emerald green.

    3 Fertilize reasonably. Gardenia likes fertilizer. Add 3% decomposed cake fertilizer to the growing soil as a base fertilizer. During the growing season, use alum fertilizer water made by fermenting cake fertilizer with ferrous sulfate once a week, or use 0.1% humic acid full-nutrient organic liquid fertilizer. During the bud stage, water once to twice with 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate aqueous solution, which can make the flowers larger and the fragrance richer. Stop fertilizing during the hottest summer period when the temperature is above 35°C and in autumn when it is below 15°C.

    4 Give plenty of sunlight. Gardenia likes light. It can also grow in semi-shade for a long time, but the flowering branches will be longer and the flowers fewer. Except for shading needed from strong midday light from July to August and during the winter dormancy period, it generally needs to be kept in sunlight for care in order to have abundant flowers and lush leaves.

    5 Good winter dormancy. Gardenia can overwinter outdoors in the Qinling area of China, but potted gardenia's root system will be damaged after a severe winter, and spring recovery is slow. Overwintering indoors with heating, although free from freezing damage, has insufficient light, causing thin and weak growth; most young buds formed in autumn drop off, and flowering is late the next year. A better method is to place the potted flower in a cold room at about 5°C to make it dormant, or wrap the flowerpot well with foam plastic and other insulation materials to protect the root system, and place it in a wind-sheltered, sunny spot to overwinter; then spring recovery is fast and flowering is early.

    6 Change the potting soil at the right time. Use a small pot for small seedlings, and gradually move them into larger pots. When the crown width is 2 to 3 times the pot rim diameter, it is time to repot. It can be repotted at any time during the growing season. After knocking the plant out of the pot, plant it with the soil ball into a new pot, with a diameter about 5 cm larger than the original pot as suitable. For household potting, when the pot reaches about 28 cm, generally no more repotting is done and only the potting soil is changed. Changing the soil in March of spring is better. After knocking the plant out of the pot, cut off some old roots, shake off half the old soil, plant it into the pot with new soil, water thoroughly, place in a warm semi-shade spot, and when new buds sprout, place it in sunlight for care.

    7 Prune appropriately. For large-flowered gardenia seedlings, pinch off the top bud when the main trunk is 20 cm high, leaving 3 to 4 branches; when the branches have 2 pairs of leaves, pinch off the top bud again to promote branching, and afterward let them grow freely. Small-leaf gardenia does not need topping. After flowering each year, prune lightly, cutting off inner branches and diseased or weak branches, and shorten individual leggy branches. For large-flowered gardenia, after 4 to 5 years when the crown width becomes too large, severe pruning can be done after flowering; generally leave 2 pairs of leaves on the upper branches and cut them back, and after budding remove buds growing inward and buds on the lower part of the main trunk, and the plant shape will become more compact and beautiful. Remember that gardenia must not be cut back at the branch tips in spring, otherwise it will not bloom that year.

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How to grow potted gardenia: grasp 7 key points to make gardenia bloom brilliantly

The white gardenia, though unadorned and without makeup, has a pure and quiet feeling that makes many friends fall in love with gardenia ever since. So, how do you grow potted gardenia? Placing a pot of beautiful and fragrant gardenia at home to delight the mind and nurture the character is also a good choice.

Gardenia likes an environment with sufficient sunlight, and appropriate shading allows normal growth. In a shaded environment, the leaf color is dark green, but flowering is poor, so shading is not recommended. Gardenia likes a relatively humid environment, is heat-tolerant and slightly cold-tolerant (minimum -3°C). It likes fertile soil; overly barren soil can cause the plant to age prematurely. Gardenia branches have strong sprouting ability and are tolerant of pruning; timely pruning helps branching and plant renewal. If your home environment can meet the above points, keeping gardenia alive is not a problem. However, potted gardenia still requires grasping the following 7 key points.