Mike,
Thank you so much for posting these beautiful pics of your garden!
Your gardenia tree is beautiful!
Is it in Al's mix?
Yeap, gardenias love humidity and nice cool cloudy weather outside, that's for sure.
Your lime is sooo cool looking, I never saw one flower before!
Does it smell good?
You bring these plants in for the winter? All of them?
It's addictive isn't it?
You have a beautiful garden there, your hard work is paying off, congrats!

Hi butterfly4u,

I am bad..What I should of said was that ALL my plants but ONE is in the gritty mix and 5.1.1 mixes..SO SORRY

Actually, that gardenia tree is the very one I was asking if I should transplant or not a while back. You had recommended that I leave it in the same pot, then transfer next March, which I am going to do. Is this still ok?

You're right, it is doing good now, in fact great in the pot and soil it came in, but I am still a little afraid that it might experience watering problems come winter.

Maybe with the help of you all, I can put it off and learn how to not overwater until March.
In fact, toni said not to transplant while in bud. Crazy, but I bought it in full bloom, and just as soon as they dropped off, all these buds are setting in again. Maybe it will never give me an oppurtunity to put it in the gritty soil.lol

Thanks for your advice a while back. Maybe that is why it still looks so good...;-)

Yes though, every other plant in the containers you see and some in the ground are in the soils I mentioned.

Thanks alot for your comments!!! All

Mike..

Hi Mike,

Your plants look GOOD! Indeed. You are already very experienced. Thanks for pointing out the secret of dark green leaves. I have been wondering about this for long.

Gardenia in general likes to be pot bound, otherwise they tend to have root issues. Unless you have constant warmth and sun. I have killed a couple nice gardenia due to the repot, they are doing excellent all summer except the winter, because the roots are not able colonize all new soil. Leave it along this summer and repot next spring with a two inch wider container.

I am pretty frustrated with my repoting skills, to be honest. Especially repoting from the peat based nursery soil into the gritty mix. There are two issues with me. One is the watering, the old root ball always dries out no matter how I water. I have to emerge the whole container into water every the other time. The other is that with two types of container soils, the root never able to grow into the gritty mix. I found that my plants are doing better in the 5-1-1.

How many of your plants are in the 5-1-1?

Hi yellowthumb...

I have a few questions..

How do you make your gritty mix?
What amounts of what? And, how big are the pots you are using your gritty mix in? Also what is the proceedure you use to repot your plants out of the old soil? What do you do with the roots?

I don't have any problems planting into the mixes anymore, especially the gritty one after trial and error and the loss of a few plants. I use to have the same problem as you.
I would be willing to help you succeed and avoid this.
We can do it here, or in private.
mikerno_1@yahoo.com
I would say ALL but a couple of my larger plants are in the gritty mix. I put a couple of plants in bigger pots in the 5.1.1 mix because I ran out of the gritty ingrediants. I also love the 5.1.1 mix.Both drain well and encourage great root growth. Also a much less chance of over watering, for someone like me..
All my small potted plants are in the 5.1.1 mix, except oh, I would say 15 plumerias. They can be ignored or days wihtout watering, and yet do well. They can even be watered everyday, such as from the rain I have had since the start of June, and still do well in the gritty mix. No rot.

I would say it is a personal choice. Both mixes are awsome!

Just easier for me to use the 5.1.1 mix in smaller pots.

The gritty mix will last alot longer than the 5.1.1 for plants intended to stay in the same pot for a LONG period of time.

Thanks for your kindness and noticing that I have come along way. I do owe it to myself for all my hard work, but I owe it most of all to the ones that showed me the way..

You do though have to know how to repot into the new mixes and I would love to help you out... If you can get the gritty mix under your belt, you will defiantely like this one better....

Stay healthy and happy. :-)

Awesome plants! Mike, I dont know if this is a coincidence or not, but I have not been fertilizing my First Love gardenia also, but since the mid-May. In So Cal, we have been getting severe May Gray and June Gloom this year. The days starts out hazy and misty and by late after noon it warms up nicely inland. I think this is indeed perfect gardenia weather. I love this weather too since I am not too eager for the heat waves coming. Mines have put out a lot of new growth and foliage. But no new buds yet, I am not sure if this variety is a rebloomer.

Hi Mike,

You got email.

Thanks

YT

Mike, just found this thread...WOW..First, even though I love sun, who doesn't? the first pic of clouds, looks so cozy..'as long as it's warm.' lol.. Really, it's such a nice photo..
Your plants are doing great..Beautiful..citrus, gardenias, and other plants throughout the yard..So nice.

But I must ask..I still haven't figured out what you're saying, keeps leavs green? lol..the lack of sun, lots of water, and cold temps? opposite of what we're told? lol

What is the gadget in your tree gardenia? A guage? Toni

I can't figure it out either!!lol
All I know is that before all that rain, and cooool weather mind you, the sun was blazing on these everyday for a bit, and all my leaves kept turning a light green to some even yellowing.
Look how green they turned when the sun went on stike!!lol

How are you anyways? I hope you are well toni and enjoying the last vestige of our suppose to be hot summer!!lol :-)

Mike, I guess if temps didn't get any colder than we've had this summer, and plants could stay outdoors year round, they'd do great.

Citrus and Gardenias, especially 'denias, like a cool period..chilling is how florist force denias into bloom.
Soon after our cold days and nights, my tree denia put on sevral buds..so there's something said for cool, not freezing, nights..(although I dislike the cold or even cool) Oh, it's been so cold here a winter blooming plant (No ID) has buds..
It depends on the plant though..If you think about all the plants that bloom 'X' amount of hot days, then a short dormant period..less water, no fertilizer, and cool nights..next thing you know they're blooming.
Have you ever seen threads where Christmas Cactus bloom in June and July? This usually happens when a plant gets little rain and nights are chilly.

Still, I wish we had hotter days. lol..Toni