Mine has some brown leaves like yours. But some of the leaves have a sticky feeling to them. Does yours have that too? I will try to get a picture of mine soon and post it. I hope someone will come by and be able to help. Cheri
I haven't felt them yet - will do so as soon as I get home and let you know. I certainly hope someone can help.
My hubby went to TLC here in Oklahoma. its a nursery and asked them about how to help the plants. They said to water them a couple times a week and use miricle grow 'acid lovers' plant feed once every 10 days. They also said we need to transplant it into a bigger pot and set it out under out patio under in the shade. Said it would get enough light and it SHOULD hopefully fix the issues. We shall see. I cant put it out and transplant mine for a few days as it still a bit chilly out at night time and WINDY.
I'm printing this post right now. The two that I bought still have blooms on them, looking the same way that they did when I brought them home. I did spray with fungicide. I will check them throughly tomorrow. I love the fragrance and can't stand the thought of them not blooming or loosing them.
I felt the leaves, they seem pretty normal to touch. Not sticky at all. Someone please tell me what to do with this plant. Should I just return it and get something more manageable?
cant tell ya what to do with it. But if you read a few posts above yours that I wrote, thats the best advise i could give ya so far. We will be transplanting ours in bigger pots today and giving them the miricle grow today and praying it will work. Our buds keep turning brown and fall off. ):
Tina I think if it was me and I could return them and get others I would do that. Maybe there was something wrong with these or they were just shocked too much in all the transporting. Mine is finally blooming. They smell so good. Last fall I started saving the used coffee grounds and every once in a while I take some and mix it in some water and pour it on my gardenia. Sometimes if my husband doesn't drink all his coffee in the morning I take that and water it down and pour it on my plant. I read that gardenias like coffee. I don't know if it was that or not but my plant has lots of blooms this year. When it finishes blooming I am taking it outside and spraying it with some spray I got that I use on my roses for black spots. It says it is save for gardenias also. I know that I have some sort of infestations. I hope I don't kill it and it helps it. I usually leave mine on our enclosed porch during the summer. So hopefully it will be warm enough for that soon. I have had mine for 3 or 4 years now. I will try to get a picture of it. Cheri
Drying leaves Hello Tina, I see from the picture that you have a pebble tray. Please keep it quite wet always. The plant looks a bit too dry Bud drop and browning of tips is common around spring. The plant usually picks up after the weather warms up. Give a dose of trace elements using a foliar feed (spray the leaves, not the ground). Feed the plant itself with an acid fertilizer (you should get one in any garden center). In general do not mist the leaves often, as the plant tends to catch fungal diseases if the weather is cold (a Gardenia's idea of cold is anything less than 18 C). Since you have the option of exchanging the plant, you can do so if the plant does not recover. Otherwise nematodes could be the problem. If you check the roots there a little lumps or nodules. Plant some marigolds (tagetes) to eradicate them. Happy gardening
Here are some pictures of my gardenia leaves. It looks like there are drops on the leaves. But it is some sort of a sticky substance. You can't really see it very well on these pictures. I wish I could have used bigger ones. On the 3rd on where it is black you can kind of see the drops. On the first one, the dark spot is what I don't know if there is some bug under that as it can be scraped off. On the plus side it is blooming nicely. But there are not leaves except on the ends of the branches. If anyone can tell me anything I would appreciate it. If someone wants bigger pictures I can email a larger size one. Thanks Cheri
