Can you supply 3 pictures ? - of the whole plant, the surface in the pot; and the location of the plant.

hello, butterfly, what is the temp. of the room ?
sue

Snasxs,
Full view
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Soil view
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littlem,
You know, I don't know the exact temp. I just know it is cool. Below 70 at night for sure. During the day, it has lots of sun, which warms the room up.
THe soil is very porous, the water runs right through it,
is this correct? It is already really dry again.
THanks all.

Great pictures! Is the pot heavy? I always use a soil-humidity meter which looks like a skew driver. If the soil near the rootball is not socking wet, then you might want to water it. There is a possibility of too much salt in the soil. Can you do a basic checking of your soil? It could be a fertilizer burn and/or pest-control burn.

butterfly,
I am sorry to hear that. Can't really help you here. I have tried many Gardenias many years in pots, and none of them survived more than a year. I had to give it up. Nurseries grow them well in pots. My only guess is it needs lots of humidity when in pots.

Now I planted them in ground outside. They are doing great. It's their first winter here. I am getting my fingers crossed.

Kleim Hardy is supposed to be hardy to zone 6b. You may want to give it a try. Protect it well in winter, I think you will have a good chance.

Good luck,

Kai

Uh oh, another Gardenia telling you that it is unhappy! Mine went through this cycle years ago when I was a Gardenia novice, which I still am. However, I believe that your problem is cultural in the conditions surrounding the plant, instead of leaf spot or sooty mold problems, say. What I've since experienced is that:

*It is cool in the roomm it is in, bright sun during day They like night temps in the 60's, with day temp to mid 70's, so that the temps do not fluctuate much. If your room is getting full sun, it may be getting too hot during the day. Gardenias suffer with temp fluctuations going from 60 to 80 degrees.
*overhead light 24 hours a day Too much light, as the plant needs a rest for proper photosynthesis. Some parts of photosynthesis take place in the dark.
*watered only when dry Gardenias must have evenly moist soil. not waterlogged and not allowed to dry out. The fluctuation with the soil moisture could be a major contribution, even though you have good drainage.
*misted almost daily Do not mist the leaves indoors, as it sets the plant up for disease.
*The soil is the same soil in the same container that I bought it in in September Most of the commercial soils that plants come in are not meant for the longtime survival of plants. Gardenias like acidic soil, so perhaps repot to a larger clay/ceramic pot with drainage hole. You can add some pine needles in to help with acidity, or use aluminum sulfate to lower pH. (Also, Gardenias suffer from chlorosis easily, so don't forget to fertilize with Miracid on a monthly basis, or so.) I would remove the Gardenia from what looks like a plastic commercial pot. Place a larger saucer under the new pot, and invert a smaller clay saucer for the pot to sit upon which would nest in the larger saucer.. This will increase the humidity as the clay absorbs the water from the saucer and evaporates.
Talking about humidity. Gardenias love and need humidity, and it is so difficult to control that in a home. If you put all of these facotrs together, you see why Gardenias are quite the challenge to keep alive indoors. It is possible, though, if you can suuply the right conditions. Mine did recover from a situation like yours, but I still struggle with some issues ever winter indoors. Come spring, I can't wait to get it back outside in our humid temps. Keeping a Gardenia happy is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, as all the right pieces have to fit together to make it work.

Just to update everyone,
I tryed to repot the plant into a bigger tera cota pot I already had, and the roots were too big for the pot.
So, I cut off 5 cuttings and put them in water in a huge vase, hoping to root them for planting in May outside in pots.
Thank you so much for all your suggestions.
I hate to say this, but I don't think I will grow gardenias inside anymore. I don't have the patience for them and they don't have the patience for me. LOL

Oh Butterfly, I feel so bad for you! So far I've had good luck with my gardenia, what I did was pot it with 1/3 sand, 1/3 potting soil and 1/3 peat. I then got an over sized saucer, and a 6 inch length of jeans material. I stuck the jeans material thru the hole in the terra cotta pot, with at least 34 inches into where the dirt would be in the pot. I filled the soil mixture in, added the plant. I then had some jean material stuck thru the end of the pot. I got some little gravel for the saucer, placed the pot on the gravel and made sure that some of the jeans were in where the gravel was. I just bottom water my gardenia and the jeans wick the water up to the plant when it wants it. That way I don't over water it, and it stays nice and humid too. You can also add fertilizer this way as well. I used a little algo flash last summer. I hope if you do try to grow them inside this may help keep yours alive. :)

I may do this with my other plants too, so they can get the water they want and I won't kill them with too much or too little water in the winter.

Hi, Mersiepoo,
Sound interesting, and your method does make a lot of sense to me.

I have planted way too may gardenias. I killed all that are in pots in different years and everyone in ground looks very healthy. Initially I thought it was humidity thing, but one test changed my mind.

In one year, 2 in pots and 2 newly planted in ground. The 2 in pots were placed outside right beside the 2 that were in ground. The staring time of this test was April(so there was not cold hardy issue). Same amount of Sun and same humidity. They 2 were i ground weer so healthy and grew so fast, but 2 in pots were died in couple of months. (not really died, but they looked so bad that I had to take them out).

After this, I have to say the water in pots is t he key. Gardenia seems very picky. They don't like bone dry soil, but they don't like over watering either. The pots just can't provide enough drainage.

However, one thing lingering in my mind is that whenever I bought Gardenias they looked so healthy. That means Nurseries can grow them nicely in pots? What's the trick?

Kai, I am not linked to any nursery, but I can keep my gardenia, large or small, happy in pots. There is no trick. You must know how to water by reading the mind of the plant. Sometimes, I have to water it one day early. This will cause some yellowing. If you have no clue, just one mis-watering can lead to death (if you do not pull the rootball out soon enough). The rule applies to most woody plants. In this sense, gardenia is not particularly picky.

Here, I have posted the thread on the first gardenia of 2008:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/houseplt/msg010938057590.html

Hi Kai! I think Snasxs is right..you have to read their minds when they want water, ha ha! I also keep mine alive by assuming it will die soon and I act nonchalant around it, so it doesn't suspect I want it to live. ;)

I also think it is the terra cotta pot that helps it live. I almost killed my 2nd jasmine plant a few weeks ago by underwatering it. It's in a plastic pot, and I will do the gardenia-jeans thing with the jasmine as well this spring. It seems to work pretty good, and you can use up an old pair of jeans too. :)

BTW, I did notice some lower leaves yellowing on my gardenia, but this is because they aren't getting a lot of light (they are shaded).

Hi, mersiepoo,
Thanks. The problem is that I don't know how to read their mind, not because I am lazy, I just don't know when to water, and usually I kill plants by overwatering. I think gardenias are very picky on the moisture of the soil.

However, i have no problem with Jasmine at all. I can put much water, less water, full sun, full shade, no problem.

I like your idea of using jean material to suck water to feed the plants. I will try it.

Thanks,

Kai

Kai,

Nope, your guess is wrong. Like all other plants, Gardenia prefers aerial soil. Her roots suffocate in persistent wetness - especially when the temperature is below 75 F.

Therefore, the best way is to water when it is almost dry throughout. However, when the temperature is like in the 90s F, Gardenia is much more "wet-tolerant". I guess this is why some book says watering when the top 2-inch soil is dry. The expert is almost certain from tropical Florida or Puerto Rico.

BTW, your Jasmines are absolutely the same way. Why donÂt you water it everyday, and watch what happens?

C

SNASSXS,
"Nope, your guess is wrong. "
What is my guess? You are getting annoying. I have no interest talking to.

Tell you what, I think root rot is a common problem for Gardenia. I stated that pots do not provide adequate drainage.

This is my last post to you. Go enjoy your Gardenia.

The thought "gardenia is very picky on the moisture of the soil." is incorrect. I have explained in the post. BTW, others might think your post obnoxious ;-)