WELL, the yellowing leaves that I had were NOT normal yellowing.....It seems to have been corrected though. Maybe it was something I did (I tried many things so I can't specify)or maybe it is that the concrete is older now, or who knows. But, yes, I do expect a certain amount of dieback with the foliage.
Theresa

I am REALLY new at this and love the smell of Gardenia's. Can I grow them outside in Zone 6? I mean, all year round, and not have to dig them up in the fall? Thought I might ask some experts! Thanks!

My Radican Gardenias are starting to die. They are in the wilting stage. I have had problems with whiteflies and yellowing leaves. I have given them fertilizer and i may have overdone it with Ironite. I used Isotox for the whiteflies but doesn't seem to phase them. I also have several Kleims Hardy bushes with whiteflies. Can anyone tell me how to save my Radicans and any tips for the whitflies?

Doggiedaddy...

Maybe you should just play with your dog....

Does that nice critical statement lower your feelings about your dog? If not, understand that your comment does little for those who care about their plants...

My gardenia is yellowing and browning, and the plant has lost 90 percent of its leaves in June and July. Thus, my post. BTW, not all gardineas lose their leaves in warmer climates (especially hybrids).

With 10 leaves, out of a total of 14 leaves, being yellow, brown, or black, I am concerned. If someone has any suggestions or ideas, please let me know...

Counsel

I have watered, fertilized, corn-mealed, iron(ed)? ,
acidified, transplanted and chanted over my gardenias. Not a single bloom. Ever.

I am looking forward to my vacation in late Sept. so I have time to garden, and RIP THEM OUT OF THE GROUND.

I casually asked my neighbor (who does not actively garden) what she does to get her giant gardenia to REPEAT BLOOM. Yep, you heard right. It's been blooming on and off all summer.
She replied, "I don't do anything to it. I don't have time to fool with plants like you do."

So I thought..............

Counsel, you have been on this site for 10 days. I have been offering advice here a bit longer. We should both relax. You didn't put your e-mail address on here so I can't send you a private note. I lived in Eastern NC for 25 yrs. Your problem is likely fluctuations in soil moisture. The sandy soil and the rain you have received this year(judging from what my Dad who still lives there, complains about) are the root of your problem. A plant with only 14 leaves is more than likely going through transplant shock. When did you plant it? Is it in the sun or shade? Your soil does not retain a lot of nutrients. Fertilizing a little at a time is best. I'm going to play with my dogs. Good Luck

When i was growing Gardenias commercially I used a fertiliser called azolon or azulon. It was an expensive slow release nitrogen. I never grew better Gardenias. Lush green folliage, no yellow leaves and lots of flowers.
Now I am retired I want to buy a small amount for the dozen gardenias growing in my new garden. Unfortunatly it does not seem to be available. Has anyone seen it?
I can't believe CORN MEAL but will give it a try I have a packet of polenta in the kitchen cupbord.
Michael2

I grow mine in raised beds, covered in pine needle mulch and i use the epson Mar, June and sept...morning sun dappled shade after 1pm..no yellow leaves lots of blooms

I live in Charlotte, NC. Used to live in Dallas, TX for the longest time and my gardenias used to grow wonderfully in pots. Since I moved here 2 years ago I have been able to successfully kill 3 healthy plants. All of them seem to be due to not being able to winter. Does gardenia grow well here ? Is there a particular variety that stands cold weather better than others ? I am planning to put one in the ground. One website gives great tips on how to plant gardenias but I am yet to find what variety grows best in this Zone. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Please HELP I have a gardenia tree given to me by a new neighbour when I moved to this townhouse complex. It is a beautiful,healthy tree & has been blooming now for about 2 weeks. Lots of buds yet to unfold. However this am when I looked at it I found tiny webs w/little specks in them which I presume are aphids or some type of insect. I sprayed right away w/pyrethrum but I really need to know asap what else I should do. Has anyone a suggestion for me? thanks Margaret

I've had my Gardenia's for a total of 3 years...Although they have been in the ground for more then 20 years. Some years they get the brown and yellow leaves and then they recover. They have whiteflies bad right now and that is hard to take care of. My mother always said that these are sometimes the best and worst of her plants.....she used to talk to hers all the time......Mine are on the south side of my house in well drained soil and get 6 hours of sun and then get total shade.
Good Luck
Martha

I just planted 5 Everblooming Gardenias in my front flowerbed.....the leaves are a mostly a light green but not yellow and are starting to bloom - my concern is that even though I mixed in a good quality Miracle Gro planting mix my soil is very clay like - the gardenia's will get mostly late day sun - Im in zone 7 (Fort Worth, TX)(even though I think the recommendation is zones 8B-10) do you think they will do ok ? Is there something I should watch for ? Doggiedaddy, I think you know your stuff, what do you think?

Mine:
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Someone mentioned that their mother had rooted gardenias. How is that done?
Thank you

I took the first pictures last Monday. Here is how the top one looks like today (5 days later). How lovely!

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{{gwi:73412}}

How long does it take for a gardenia bloom to open ? I have several buds on my new bushes but they haven't opened up.

[QUOTE: txgardengal
How long does it take for a gardenia bloom to open ? I have several buds on my new bushes but they haven't opened up. END QUOTE]

Well, I don't think that question has an "exact" answer. They have to get large enough - the buds, I mean. Mine are just now starting to open, but my Gardenia isn't newly planted, like yours - I've had my Gardenia in the ground for a couple of years. I started noticing buds forming on the shrub more than a month ago, if that gives you any indication. So be patient - if you have buds, you'll eventually have flowers. Last year my shrub was late to bloom, and I began to wonder if it'd bloom at all --- it did, and beautifully, too.

Renee

Just bought my first gardenias a couple of months ago. Very small. About 2x3 ft. Has about 30 buds on each. The buds have been there about a month. 2 have bloomed but the blooms were very small. Is this normal for such a small plant? The pictures I've seen have such huge blooms. Also, I've noticed some leaves that look chewed up. The edges are black. Some of my buds are turning brown slowly. I've noticed some spider web looking stuff on some of the leaves. I've been hosing them off with a strong jet but am fearful of upsetting the Gardenia Gods. The day after I hosed them I found 2 buds that had dropped. They were green and very small. Do you think I have the beginning of bud drop or it was just damage caused by the hoseing for the aphids? Also, what could be chewing up those leaves? And what is causing the browning of some of the buds? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

After reading some of these, I realize I may have stumbled onto the perfect way to grow gardenias. someone gave me one several years ago and it sat in light shade for a couple of years before I got around to planting it. You can guess what had happened by then. The roots had grown through the holes in the bottom of the pot and the thing is flourishing. I'm just planting other things around it to hide the pot and will probably leave it right where it is as long as it's happy. On the other hand, I may also give it some corn meal and epsom salts and iron and . . . .

I was looking for info on yellowing leaves, what a goldmine! Hey, Justdave..I'm in Charlotte, NC too. My gardenia has been in the ground since 1999, every year it has looked just like the photos posted by Shic_2006 (gorgeous!). I am plagued by white fly every year though. Bayer makes a good insecticide that works well. I check it every weekend to make sure it does not need another dose. My sister in law in Atlanta almost lost 6 of her bushes until I showed her the white fly and Bayer, the bushes are back!I must be lucky with location and drainage. Late afternoon filtered sun. I learned quick in this clay to plant more above the ground than to dig deep holes. I've done almost nothing to it except prune it heavily 2 years ago when the branches were long/lanky and hanging over. BUT .. during a recent white fly check, I found one whole stem had yellow leaves, very yellow. A few more scattered around. This happened in the space of a week. I will try the cornmeal thing. Thanks for all the info. Will let y'all know about the cornmeal! Or maybe iron, or epsom salts, there's always coffee grounds ;-)

I decided to try my hand with growing plants. One of which is a gardenia.(The other Sweet Peas) I planted the seeds and guess what....they are growing. Shall I say they are really growing!!! The are getting bigger by the minute. There is about 50 little plants.

Now here is my problem. I was just told that each of these little plants will be a bush. Is that true? I have been checking everywhere online and have found nothing. Do I now have 50 Gardenia plants. I find it hard to believe that this little thing will be a bush all by itself. I was thinking it would take a bunch of them to make a bush.
Someone please tell me what I am in for.

By the way I should mention these things love my mom's secret egg shell water and Mozart. They are thick, green and growing fast.

I have 4 different patches of Gardenia around my yard. One patch of them tends to get more yellow leaves than the others, and it also happens to be the patch that gets the least sun, and the most moisture. The bed underneath this patch gets overgrown with what I call "wandering jew" I guess this bunch of plants is about 5' tall, and they also have the largest leaves of any of my gardenias.

I don't really do much to my gardenias, although I have been messing with them a lot in the past year because a telephone pole with a transformer on it fell on a whole row of them during the hurricane, and a large oak tree smashed another row of them. I had to cut a lot of them almost to the ground (they were all 4 to 8 feet tall before) but only lost three plants.

I just bought a gardenia bush and a gardenia tree on sale for 12.50 a piece. I live in a zone where they arent hardy.
if I bring them in and give them enough light will they be able to make it to the spring? They are blooming now and it is Almost September 1st.

THey should be OK. Just remember to water them. Also, don't put them in a very heated room, it dries out house plants.

Forget the cornmeal. If your soil is acidic, you should have success with gardenias. If your soil is alkaline, no amount of Ironite or any other additive will be a long-term solution. Heroic measures such as digging out your beds and filling them with Canadian sphagnum peat moss seem hardly worth the effort and expense. If your soil is alkaline, so will be your water, and eventually you will see them go downhill.

Using peat moss is kind of expensive there are cheap remedies. For example, you can dig a few holes around your plant and sprinkle sulfurs.

Gardenia bushes are happy on the East side of my house and were at my other home. I do nothing but plant them and mulch them and they are happy. To root them I simply break off a stem - with a bloom, and stick it in water. It will take awhile but it will root almost every time. The water will turn dark, just keep adding more water. Don't chage the water in the jar or container. When it has enough roots, pot it. They will winter over in NC and you can set them out in spring - or fall. I have minature ones and large ones. It's September now and they are in bloom again. Been getting sporatic blooms off and on since May.

Just bought 2 Gardenia's 'August Beauty' last month. One is still in the store pot and getting lots of am and pm sun and looking great and healthy. The one I transplanted is getting lots of shade and moister soil and has 75% yellowing leaves. I too will try the cornmeal and Epson salt treatment before moving it. Should I plant the healthy potted one in a sunny location or just bring it in for the winter. It is healthy now and don't want to lose it.

I have two 2 1/2' tall gardenia in pots.. they look more like a small tree style, than a bush. I bought them last year. I have NEVER had luck with gardenias.. but can't seem to stop trying.. I put one (they are both still in 10" pots one year later) in North sun and one in the South sun.. The one that is in the North looks pretty well (green with about 15% yellow leaves) and the one in the South looks worse, about 60% yellow leaves... they BOTH are covered with buds, and the South one has had one already open that was brown on the edges... but I have never even had a flower EVER so I am very excited..

Two questions:
-can I put in the ground now.. with them budding or should I wait until later and if so.. when?
-I have used about 3 T epson salt and about 3 T coffee grounds on both, only -just now.. what other suggestions?

I am SO excited!!!
Thanks in advance,
Cary

our gardenia was fully leafed when we got hit by a late frost. there are a few new leaves at the base and on a couple of the branches. should we cull all the dead leaves? how long to wait before prunning it way back? it's been three weeks since the dogwood winter!

I live in Greenville, SC. I have two gardenias and want to plant them in the front of my house. This area will get afternoon and evening sun. I have been reading all of your comments and just want to know how to plant them. Thanks for whatever suggestions you have.

I am in the upstate of SC, too. What kind of Gardenia is it? I have had luck especially with Auguist Beauty. It suffered alot of damage due to a dry freeze in April though.

I lost alot of Frost Proof gardenias in that freeze.

Hi everybody! :)

Hubby and I planted 5 gardenia shrubs when spring first started. Two of them have nice green leaves and are blooming nicely. The other two had a LOT of yellow leaves. One is inbetween.

We're in FL. I noticed that the one with a lot of yellow leaves was the first one in the row. However, the one right next to it is the one that's healthy. How can I have them in the same soil but they're not thriving the same?

We bought some of them from Home Depot and some from WalMart. If I remember correctly, the ones from HD are the ones that are healthy. Anyone else had this issue?

I did put some ironite on them a couple of weeks ago and replanted them so they had better drainage but I didn't notice any change. I decided to just take off the yellow leaves today. We'll see if I can tell a difference.

Also, any updates on the remedies listed above e.g. epsom salt, corn meal etc. How soon did you see results?

Thanks!

My Gardenia suggestion is this...

Immediately after purchasing the plant, take several cuttings. Root these in water. These will grow much better than the shocked plant you just purchased at a store.

Don't ask me why..just try it. It works for me every single time!

Hello everyone.
My gardenia is driving me insane...I have researched for days to find out what I'm doing wrong...and have tried almost everything. I had planted this gardenia in the north side of the house, closer to the front window of my house. About 3 weeks later, lots of yellow leaves. I moved it away from the window (still on the north side) where it gets sun for about 3 hours (morning, early PM). Now, for the past 3-4 weeks I'm going crazy because 80% of the foliage has turned yellow and dropped. It has about 6 flowers and even some blooms to come soon. I think I'm overwatering it. I put cornmeal, epsom salt, iron on foliage, iron with cornmeal around roots, acid fertilizer, coffee grinds, coffee, Superthrive, etc. It only rewards me with more and more..YELLOW LEAVES! I keep gathering them, and in the morning, there are more on the mulch. It smells so wonderful, it is the only thing not thriving. Oh, I have a smaller gardenia (same species...August Beauty) on the south side of the house...for the past 3 days that one is getting yellow leaves as well and it also has blooms/flowers. HELP! This beautiful evergreen is starting to look more like naked sticks in the ground with white flowers on top.
Thank you all !!!

I use Dish soap or TIDE mixed in water to wash my Gardenias. It gets rid of whiteflies and anything else and doesn't hurt the plants. In fact, it conditions the soil. After cleaning them with the soapy water, I rinse the leaves. No more whiteflies for the whole season.

It is too cold here in Oklahoma where I live to grow mine in the ground (I fear), so I grow mine in five-gallon containers or buckets and haul them into my makeshift greenhouse in the late Fall. They are about 4 feet tall. They bloom in May but not profusely. Still I am happy to get the one or two HUGE blooms that last for several weeks and perfume my garden.

I grew them in the ground when I lived in Shreveport. The ones I had there were much smaller, with smaller leaves and flowers, but they were very fragrant. They were planted at the edge of the shade of a large oak tree, so got some sun and some shade. The oaks and pines provided the acid soil they loved.

My soil there was rather on the clay side however, so drainage was a problem. To remedy that I planted the gardenias on mounds just like my azaleas and applied acid soil and then pine straw mulch. They did not like sitting in water. I piled on the pine straw from my trees and used it as mulch everywhere. (I miss my pine straw).

These bigger Gardenias that I have now were dug up in a swamp behind my son's house down in the Houston area. People clean out their gardens and just throw beautiful plants and trimmings back there and these were growing like all get out! So I got two with some of that buff coloured, sandy, loamy soil and brought them back with me wrapped in plastic bags. (I wanted to get that beautiful Palmetto growing back there too but no more room in my car, dang it!). I did have to watch my every step for copperheads and those HUMONGOUS swamp rattlers, yes in deedy! The soil was damp all year round, but not muddy or soggy...more like spongy wet. I think that may be the different in why we are getting conflicting testimonials about gardenias growing in wetter areas than others - it's the soil content that makes the difference!

Mine have yellowing leaves this year for the first time. I have well water and it does have a high alkaline content to it. Never forget that water can quickly change the pH in your soil, making it inhospitable for your plants and quite quickly. Salts, Chlorine, and hard minerals can pollute the soil and so add amendments to condition your soil all through the growing season. For all potted plants, it is good to give them a good flushing once in awhile to flush out the salts that built up in the pot and soil from watering. Run water through them until the water runs out the bottom for several minutes. I do this with all my potted plants every Spring. Then I give them some fresh soil. No need to fertilize them after you give them fresh soil, but you can sprinkle on some time-release type if you like.

I am going to re-pot my gardenias this week before they begin to bud. I will use some fresh, acid-rich potting soil mixed with sandy loam and some oak leaf-mold.

The Soil is the EVERY THING in gardening.
So Amend! Amend! Amend!

~ sweetannie4u

I've got the same problem with my gardenias. Can someone recommend an amount to use for epsom salts and/or cornmeal on a single plant and how to apply it? thanks.

For yellow leaves and not blooming, use afew salts of lemon (citrix acid) with every two of your water. Then they will bloom and there will be no yellow leaves anymore. Of course dont forget to add iron and other elements such as NPK in some of your water.

Take care.

I've been hearing a lot about the cornmeal thing too, as well as to add epsom salts around the base to add magnesium. my plants have this problem too...so it MUST be either the magnesium or the acid. hmmm...

Help. My gardenia in a pot on my pool deck is just not showing any buds and it is April in SW Florida with temps in high 80s and low 90s. Used copper fungicide when I notice some white fungus on a few stalks.

When will be right time to apply fertilizer for gardenia? Thx.

@tofee-el The best time to fertilize Gardenias is in the spring and fall. My gardenias are outside plants, indoor plants may be a little different. I use something called "Holly-tone" by Espoma www.espoma.com)

I also did a bit of research on corn meal (as mentioned in several earlier posts (from 6 years ago, no less!) Corn meal is high in iron, thus the seemingly positive effects on iron-depleted plants (source: www.ironrichfood.org/iron-cornmeal)

After reading this all these comments......and there's no shortage of them here, I agree with Doggie Daddy. I think too many people try to get too analytical in a subject they know little or nothing about!
I have Gardenia shrubs I planted from Walmart, just as good as any nursery stock you get elsewhere.......price isn't a factor here.
Gardenia are like Azaelas which require acidic conditions so I use azaela fertilizer on mine (and more isn't better-follow the instructions). Gardenia doesn't like overhead watering so use soaker hose, that will resolve many fungus/bacteria issues on your leaves. Like any other plant, they will get whaatever bugs are common to your area so I use just a simple store bought concentrate I buy and mix with water, then spray everything in my yard.....it doesn't kill anything but you can't have bugs on one plant and expect all the rest to be bug free, common sense!
A couple of pointers I learned. As previously stated, no overhead watering. Don't pile mulch right up against the plant, leave 4-6 inches away from the stem. I don't use "pine" anything here in Florida because "pine" is an Eastern Diamondbacks habitat.....and I've seen them dead in the road not far from where we live! It's bad enough I encounter the Orange Ringneck....thank god they are non-venomous, non agressive, and only mature to 12"! However, we have no shortage of venemous snakes here and the occassional aligator that will also find refuge in your landscaping given the right conditions! I also use a 10-10-10 fertilizer on everything......works extremely well. I have never heard about the corn meal thing so I'll have to look into that....I suspect it has more to do with feeding earth worms which are a tremendous attribute to any garden.
Whhile I am a retired farmer I am not a professional horiculturalist but I can stand my ground with the best of them from my farming skills. I have rose bushes second to none that all my neighbors always compliment....the secret, people are afraid to cut them back! When I lived in New England, I accidentally ran over one with the mower in late fall while mulching leaves, you wouldn't believe it, but that rose bush not only revived itself, it surpassed all my others! Since then, I cut my roses bushes back significantly in late fall, even here in SW Florida, and my rose bushes are overwhelmed with roses, After they bloom, cut them back to the third leave all season long and they will rebloom in a few weeks time!
If you have questions, just ask the people at your local home center, hardware store, neighbors......who would know best in your area but the people who have lived there?? Joe Smoe in Tinkertown,ND doesn't have a clue what's going on in SW Florida........or vica versa!!! What works there might kill your plant where you are!!

I live in the Dallas, TX area and we have extremely hot summers. I have tried the Epsom Salt, Iron and lots of other remedies for yellow leaves and no buds on my Gardenias. None of those worked and they cost a lot of money and time. I tried adding plain corn meal (not self-rising) to the soil in late April this year (2 cups for my 5' tall Gardenia) and didn't hold out much hope for this working because nothing else has. Well so far this summer and this is the first week of June, I have clipped about 30 blooms and it is still forming blooms and the leaves are not turning yellow this year. I suggest doing this every 3 months as per the original poster of this. This is the best hint I have ever received for my Gardenias and I will never use anything else. Also, since we have so much heat, I have learned to plant my Gardenias where they are shaded from the hot West sun by a tree to keep them from burning up.

Hello Everybody,

I have a beautiful Gardenia for over 4 years now. Until this Spring I haven't had any problem with it. But in May it started having black small fleas all over the buds and leaves. I sprayed it and they disappeared in about two weeks and after that it blossomed. I thought that my problems with it were over. But now, after the blossom went away, all its small new leaves are turning brown (not yellow) and falling. All of them. I have fertilized it, but its behavior hasn't changed. I have it on my balcony, facing East. Given it's quite hot in Summer here, I have put it in the shade, but it never had a problem with that. I water it daily when the temperatures get to 35 degrees C during the day, more seldom if it's not that hot. During the evenings I also sometimes spray its leaves with water. I don't understand what it's trying to tell me - if it's too much water, not enough water, too warm, not enough sunlight, not enough N, iron, or attention. Please help! Monica and her Gardenia.

I have a small gardenia in a pot that is having trouble. It has had yellowing leaves over the past month and in some spots is showing the white fungus you can see in the attached photo. I do have blooms however that are very close to opening while the newest bloom yellowed at the base and fell off. This is an indoor plant. Please help!

hello i had this Gardenia for over three months now. But for the past two weeks the leaves are turning yellow with black tips, i water every other three days and let come to almost dry because of this problem. can any one give me some advice on what to do or the problem is. P.S

If the Ph is too high, I have used Espoma Soil Acidifier with wonderful results for my Citrus trees. My soil is somewhat Alkaline (over 7) and once or twice a year I add some of the Espoma Soil Acidifier, which is basically sulfur and a few other organic materials, around the base of my trees. So far, the soil lowers a couple points and the trees get green enough to absorb the nutrients. I usually add it in Spring and then if the trees look like theya re not getting nutrients, I add another serving.

I have just now noticed my (neglected) gardenia has the same green veined yellow leave symptoms of my past citrus trees. So I did the Espoma. Ill check back in a month or two to let you know if it helped.

My gardenia buds have this black things.

I've tried spraying with soap water and then regular Easter but it's not helping.

Any suggestions?

What is wrong with Mark gardenia