Tropical Gardenia Care
Gardenia Care & growing the gardenia flower is complicated and somewhat trying on your patients when trying to grow them, but the end result is well worth the effort. For all who grow them will agree even me and I've had a hard time with mine which I've been growing for 4 years and is only 2 feet high, but that it’s all worth it when you get a gardenia plant that produces a flower with an exquisite fragrance. Mine is in 100% shade in the winter and 60% in the summer, I get LOTS of blooms each year the only problem is that they are very sensitive to the sunlight and get burned from the sun. But still just having the exquisite smell in your garden alone is worth it, too bad they don’t bloom more often. They usually have only one blooming cycle which is mid spring to mid summer & its delicate white flowers adorning a deep shinny deep green leafed shrub can be absolutely beautiful when in bloom and even when it’s just green and shrubby the plant is still beautiful! The most popular species of gardenia plants are the Gardenia jasminoides which is native to southern China, Japan and subtropical regions of Africa. Although there are several species I believe that most of them occur on the Hawaiian Islands alone.
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When it comes to Gardenia Care, the gardenia grows very well in most southern Zones that are 8 to 10. Because of their liking to the warmer more tropical like climates and you can always count on them to produce abundant amounts of milky white gardenia flowers year after year. If you live where the conditions are not so perfect, they can adapt and learn to withstand a slight frost as low as 30 degrees. But if you live where there is severe winter weather, the branches of the gardenia plant can be killed completely. This is when you would grow them in pots and bring them in for the winter. But in most cases the roots somehow survive and your plant may grow back up from the roots in spring, but there is no guarantee.
When growing gardenias it can and will be difficult to grow because of where it originated from which are warm humid tropical areas. It demands high humidity to thrive and bright indirect light. Growing them in direct light will cause the fragile flower bloom to burn. Misting them several times a week helps them receive the humidity they need to thrive. It flourishes in an acidic soil with good drainage and likes the soil moist but not muddy or over watered. It will grow best in temperatures between 65 to 80 degrees during the day and no lower the 55 degrees in the evening. If you’re lucky and you’ve done every thing right as far as gardenia plant care your beautiful and fragrant gardenia plant will grow up to six feet tall.
A gardenia bush is quite the heavy feeder more than most tropical plants, it’s what I call my needy child of the garden! In order for proper gardenia care and feeding your gardenia means that you will need to fertilize your gardenia plants every two weeks with a regular water soluble fertilizer solution. If at all possible you should add fresh fertilizer to your gardenias at least once every three to four months using an acid based fertilizer. I, as I have mentioned before love to use the miracle-Gro time released pellets, they work great for promoting more flower production.
Pest That Attack The Gardenia Flower and Proper Gardenia Care Gardenias can suffer from several pest and bugs. Here is a list of the unfortunate many. Starting with cottony cushion scale, sooty mold, thrips, and gray aphids which mainly live on the undersides of the leaf. Spider mites, white-flies, mealy bugs, are also very common but some of the less common but can still be a threat are nematodes especially if your soil is sandy. Root rot will occur in over watered poorly drained soils, which will kill the whole plant. Last but definitely not lest of your worries are sooty mold. This is a black fungus growth that feeds on the honeydew excreted by whiteflies, I know gross...... but you can remove them by washing the leaves with a spray nozzle on your water hose and if there seem to be a few that won’t let go wear some rubber gloves and rub them off gently. I Hope All these Tips For Gardenia Care Will Help You To Grow The Best Gardenias In Town
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