Delicate terry buds and lush glossy foliage of gardenia jasmine will decorate any corner in the house and in the garden. This Asian flower has sophistication and whimsicality to growing conditions. The external characteristics of the culture, the intricacies of care and the common mistakes of gardeners will be discussed later in the article.
Brief description of the plant
Wild gardenia perennials are found in abundance in the subtropical forests of Japan and China, which is their natural environment. Today, taking into account the contribution of breeders, botanists count about 250 plant species.
Among them, in gardening, gardenias are popular:
Outwardly, gardenia is an evergreen shrub with rustic, densely pubescent or bare shoots, oppositely arranged dark green foliage and white or pale yellow buds.
In its area, the jasmine variety can grow up to two meters in height, and in room conditions it barely reaches half a meter. Wax white buds and thick glossy foliage blooming for several months give decorativeness to the culture. Large double flowers densely appear on the branches in July and fade in late autumn. Their peculiarity lies not only in the shape resembling a rose, but also in a pronounced pleasant aroma. Many recognize him in perfumery, cosmetic oils and care products.
Did you know? The Japanese idolize gardenia as a symbol of secret love, while among the Chinese, flower buds represent the 11th month of the calendar. They see in it the feminine grace, fragility inherent in aristocratic natures.
Growing conditions
In the natural environment, the culture grows in sunny areas and in partial shade, as well as on well-drained and irrigated soils with an acidic environment. With indoor cultivation, gardenia negatively reacts to excess soil moisture and sudden changes in temperature.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide the plant with the following conditions:
- Temperature mode. In the daytime of the summer season, the recommended values are + 21 ... + 24 ° C, at night - + 15 ... + 18 ° C. In winter, it is advisable to move the flowerpot to a cool room where the thermometer does not rise above + 16 ° C and does not fall below + 10 ° C. Under such conditions, the risks of cultural depletion from lighting shortages are eliminated. In the absence of such an opportunity, the coolness in the room can be arranged using ventilation, but at the same time it is worth protecting the plant from draft and a sharp change in temperature.
- Good lighting. Gardenia does not like shade, as well as scorching sunlight. In summer, its delicate branches should be protected from direct midday sun, otherwise burns on the foliage are inevitable. The ideal location for a flower pot with a plant is the west and southwest sides of the house. In proportion to the reduction of daylight hours, the flower needs compensation for the lack of light with additional lamps.
- High humidity of air and soil. Frequent spraying of leaves with warm, settled water, as well as showers and root watering. It is important not to overdo it, because excess moisture will adversely affect the development of the plant, provoking root rot and fungal infections. Experienced flower growers are advised to place the flower pot in a bulk tray with expanded clay (in this case, you need to isolate the drainage hole). Note that drops that fall on the petals will spoil the flowers, so when spraying, cover them with your hand. When arranging a plant for souls, protect the soil from getting wet.
We recommend that you familiarize yourself with other types of decorative-flowering indoor plants:
Landing Features
Gardenia does not take root in an alkaline and neutral environment. For its development, soil mixtures with a high content of lime and nitrogenous substances are suitable. When planting a flower, you can use the purchased substrate for azaleas, or independently prepare it from equal parts of sod, coniferous, peat and deciduous soil, as well as river sand. When measuring, the acidity of the mixture should correspond to a pH of 4.5–5.5.
To prevent infection of the root system, it is recommended to disinfect the prepared soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or scald it with boiling water before planting. Frying is not suitable, since it destroys the useful components of the substrate.
The flower pot is selected taking into account the size of the root system of the plant. Clay, ceramic and plastic products are better suited. Ceramic and clay containers are environmentally friendly, their porous structure promotes aeration of the roots and even evaporation of moisture from the earth. The disadvantages of such vessels are fragility (which is important to take into account when transplanting a houseplant) and the difficulty of moving highly grown crops.
Gardenia can also be planted in a plastic pot, but its smooth surface stimulates stagnation of water in the lower layers, which in turn leads to rotting of the root processes.Important! When choosing a flower pot, pay attention to its inside. For ceramic and clay products, it should be glazed.
Regardless of the material of the container for planting a flower, take care of drainage. It is preferable to use small expanded clay, filling them with the bottom of the vessel. Coat it with cooked substrate from above and moisten. Then put the seedling inside, straighten the roots and sprinkle the top with earth, ramming it. For rooting, gardenia is best wrapped in a plastic bag or covered with a glass container of the appropriate size.
Growing and caring at home
Luxurious flowering gardenia is a capricious plant and instantly responds to errors in cultivation agricultural technology. How to prevent them and properly care for the flower, we will consider in more detail.
Fertilizing and watering
To protect the flowerpot from excessive moisture, monitor the thermal conditions in the room, as well as the state of the soil in the pot. It should be slightly moist. In the spring-summer period, when the growing season begins, it is recommended that the frequency of watering be increased and moderate in winter. It is important to prevent waterlogging of the earthen coma or its drying out. These are common mistakes in care, which at best lead to a drooping state of the bush and the lack of buds on it.
Water for irrigation, use boiled and settled for a day. In addition, it should be soft and room temperature. It is useful to water the plant with filtered rainfall.
Video: care for jasmine gardenia at home
It is impossible to grow a healthy flower at room conditions, even with a competent planting, the correct location of the pot and appropriate watering, without dressing. From the beginning of spring to autumn, when the period of active growth begins, gardenia needs to be fertilized at two-week intervals. Suitable purchased liquid solutions for flowering houseplants.
Attention should be paid to formulations with chelated salts of iron, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, since the flower reacts painfully to their deficiency. Do not forget about the sense of proportion, because salt excess poisons the substrate in the pot. Similarly, calcium-magnesium supplements act on it. It is recommended to exclude them. Otherwise, you will soon have to transplant the flower due to the unsuitability of the earth in the pot.
Important! Yellowed leaves on the gardenia may indicate a lack of iron sulfate. To save the situation, foliar feeding by spraying biomass is recommended. Do not forget to cover the buds..
Pruning
If the care was right, gardenia will certainly please with long flowering. After the buds have faded, it is important to prune all the shoots, shortening them by half or 2/3 of the length. Such radical measures will provoke accurate tillering, as well as eliminate the risks of thickening of the crown.
In addition, during the growing season, experts advise pinching the tops of young shoots. Manipulation helps laying flower buds and building side branches.
Transfer
As the flowerpot grows, its roots become cramped in the old pot. In addition, trace elements not used by the plant, organic substances and salts do not affect the soil composition in the best way and tighten the drainage hole. Then there is a need for a gardenia transplant. Without the need, it is better not to touch it, given the intolerance of the flower to change. This applies to old flowerpots. A similar procedure is recommended for them every 3-4 years, but for young plants it is desirable annually.
The jasmine variety is best transplanted immediately after flowering or in March before the start of active vegetation. Otherwise, its budding may cease for a long time.
Video: jasmine gardenia transplant
Experts recommend:
- after removing a moist earthy coma, sparingly prune the rhizome and, if necessary, disinfect it with a barely pink potassium permanganate solution;
- prepare a moist and loose soil mixture of equal parts of river sand, peat, sod, deciduous and coniferous land;
- choose a flower pot with a large diameter 3 cm from the previous one (if you are using used vessels, wash them with boiling water and a soap solution, and then disinfect with chemical agents);
- fill the prepared vessel with drainage, soil, transplant a plant into it, water it and sprinkle with earth.
Important! To maintain the acidity of the flower substrate at the right level, once every 14 days, water the flowerpot with a weak solution of lemon juice (3–4 drops per 1 liter of water), with the addition of 0.5 g of iron sulfate.
Plant propagation
There are several ways to get a new seedling. This is done easily with knowledge of some rules and features of gardenia. After all, you have to deal with a capricious and very sensitive plant. How to multiply it painlessly, we analyze in more detail.
Cuttings
The technology has a high survival rate, which is why it is popular among lovers of indoor floriculture. For rooting, you can use the tops of the shoots, removed when pruning the pot. It is important that the length of the cuttings correspond to 10 centimeters, and their base is semi-lignified.
In the future, the blanks need to be treated with a solution of a growth stimulant (Kornevin, Ekosil), then stick in a mixture of equal parts of river sand and peat into the mixture prepared for planting. Then the flower bed should be watered and tied with polyethylene to create a greenhouse microclimate.
Given the particular addiction of gardenia to high humidity, for its comfort you need to periodically remove the shelter and spray the cuttings with warm (not hot) water. In addition, a container with plants must be placed in a room where the air temperature corresponds to + 25 ° C.
Culture better survives with its spring or autumn cuttings. Nodding shoots start up roots only after a month. You can speed up this process with the help of the lower heating of your mini-greenhouse. Finished seedlings are transplanted individually into pots.
Important! Gardenia fruits are poisonous. If it enters the digestive tract, it can provoke nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Therefore, after each touch on the plant, wash your hands with soap.
Dividing the bush
The procedure is recommended to be planned during transplantation of an old flowerpot. Then, having “dumped” a wet earthen lump with a flower from the pot, determine the most powerful and well-developed young shoots. Using a knife carefully disinfected with potassium permanganate, cut off the necessary part of the root from the mother bush and plant both parts in the traditional way. For better rooting and further development of still fragile gardenia, cover it with a glass container on top and do not forget to periodically irrigate the crown and soil.
From seed
The gardenia propagation method requires a lot of time and patience. However, this does not always end with the expected result. The technology is more suitable for lovers of experiments and home breeding.
To grow a flower from seeds, you first need to acquire planting material. It is harvested in October, waiting for full ripeness. Before planting grain, it is advisable to soak for several hours in warm water with the addition of growth-stimulating drugs. This will accelerate the emergence of seedlings.Did you know? Folk healers recommend a decoction of jasmine-shaped gardenia stems as an antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and hemostatic agent.
After that, you need to prepare the soil (it is important that it is moist and warm) and close up the swollen seeds in it. Tie the box with polyethylene or cover with glass to create a microclimate inside the greenhouse. It is recommended to move the "Garden" for a while in a warm and dark room, and after emergence, put it on a sunny windowsill. It is important that the seedlings are in a humid room, where the air temperature corresponds to + 25 ° C.
Video: methods of propagation of gardenia jasmine
How is the flowering period?
Gardenia blooms for several months, but during the flowering period, its bush is not covered with a fragrant veil of petals. A feature of this plant is the alternate opening of flowers. It takes 2 months for the buds to set to mature, despite the fact that the flowers fade on the 4th day.
Possible growing problems
In flower shops, plants with emerging buds are often put up for sale. Tempted by the sophistication and beauty of gardenia, beginning gardeners after buying a plant soon encounter shedding of unopened flowers, wilting and yellowing of foliage, a general drooping state. Experts are looking for the causes of these phenomena in care errors. Consider the common problems of growing and ways to save them.
Why doesn't gardenia bloom?
Cases associated with the complete absence of the budding process are accompanied by:
- improper soil acidity;
- watering the plant with cold or hard water;
- insufficient humidity in the room;
- sudden changes in temperature;
- poor lighting or lack thereof;
- excess or deficiency of mineral fertilizing.
Did you know? It is no coincidence that in the collections of many perfumes a bright hint of gardenia sounds, so reminiscent of jasmine. Back in 1925, Gardenia Chanel appeared. The thick and tender amber of this plant is felt in the spirits of Malone, Laude, Kors.
Why do the leaves turn black and fall?
Dropping foliage and suddenly appearing black spots on them are a sign of a fungal infection and a disease of the root system (root rot, soot fungus).
This happens when:
- the soil in the pot is depleted (the flower has not been transplanted for a long time);
- poorly loosened (airtight) substrate;
- at the bottom of the flowerpot, the drainage hole clogged due to which excess moisture accumulates;
- disturbed nutrition of the aerial part of the flower;
- watering the crop excessively;
- cold water is used for irrigation;
- pathogenic bacteria start up in the pot.
Why do leaves turn yellow?
The reason for the yellowed leaves on the bush may lie in insufficient lighting or in diseases or attacking pests. To know how to save gardenia, you need to examine it for the presence of scale insects, spider mites, aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs. In case of their discovery, a mechanical method of disposal, as well as the use of insecticides will come to the rescue: “Aktara”, “Aktellik”.
It will not be superfluous to adjust the lighting of the pot. It is advisable that he be in a well-lit place, and daylight hours lasted at least 14 hours (even in winter). Do not expose the plant to direct sunlight, protect from drafts.
Yellowed foliage may be a sign of using hard lime water for irrigation. In this case, the introduction of a complex compound of iron is required.
Growing luxurious gardenia at home is no easy task. However, if you like to care for plants, then it will not cause you much trouble and, subject to all its requirements, will thank you with fragrant long-term flowering.Did you know? Gardenia got its name in honor of the gardener Alexander Garden, who lived in America in the 18th century.
Network user reviews
One of my favorite flowers Three years ago, two gardenias lived at my place, but the household flooded them and as a result I had to throw in the garbage chic bushes that rotted in one day. A year ago I bought a gardenia shoot for 300 rubles. Inexpensive, but the bush was scanty. A year later, by the way, it doesn’t bloom, it only grows leaves. I bought a second bush for 400 rubles, but it looks richer. It has not yet blossomed. Gardenia, by the way, can be propagated both by cuttings and seeds. Seeds are said to be more difficult, but I did it. Of the five seeds, three sprouted. Not a lot, but this is already an achievement.
1) Gardenia does not tolerate drafts (so keep it away from the window)
2) Add lemon juice to the water once a month
3) Do not spray the buds during flowering
4) Watering only by immersion
And by the way, it is important in what land you plant gardenia. The soil should be light. I use soil for azaleas. It consists of peat, river sand, dolomite flour. As a separate point, I can say that gardenia blooms very beautifully, white flowers, when it fades, become creamy. And smells, simply can not convey in words. When it blooms, all guests ask what kind of freshener it is and where to buy it.
