Tips & Tricks
Experienced growers give beginners tips for growing a capricious jasmine gardenia:
- When buds are formed, the gardenia pot cannot be twisted relative to the light, moved to another place. Otherwise, the buds will fall off.
- Gardenia has an intense smell, so you shouldn't keep it in the bedroom.
- The bush reacts painfully to drafts. It loses not only buds, but also buds.
- To improve photosynthesis and cellular respiration, foliage should be regularly wiped with a damp cloth.
- To acidify the substrate, you can add lemon juice to the water for irrigation every half month at the rate of 3 drops per 1 liter.
- To prevent chlorosis, gardenia is fed with chelated iron once a year.
Not every beginner in floriculture dares to start a jasmine gardenia. Growing a capricious flower indoors takes a lot of time and effort. But with careful observance of the rules of care, the plant will delight you with luxurious flowering.
Fight disease
Gardenia is prone to many diseases, so it is worth considering in more detail the various symptoms of diseases and methods for their elimination.
Leaves dry
Quite often, gardeners are faced with the fact that the leaves of the gardenia begin to dry out. This behavior is the first reaction to excess moisture, low acidity of the soil mixture, the presence of pests or drafts. Improper care can lead to problems with the leaves of the plant. It is easy to eliminate the flood of water - you need to thoroughly dry the earth. It is worth eliminating the sharp change in temperature conditions and drafts. Adding citric acid to the soil mixture will increase its acidity.
Does not bloom
Improper maintenance of gardenia leads to the fact that it does not bloom. Temperature rules are often violated. In order for buds of future flowers to form, the air temperature must be lowered by several degrees. The best option is +18 degrees. Another reason can be an excess of fertilizers, which include nitrogen, which is responsible for the growth of leaves. In this case, it is worth resorting to tree pruning.
Other problems
Improper gardenia maintenance can lead to the following problems:
- the leaves darken, turn black, and then fall off;
- the appearance of spots both on the buds and on the leaves;
- the bush drops buds or flowers.
Pests
Gardenia often suffers from a variety of pests, as they love both the leaves and the buds of the plant.
- thrips;
- whitefly;
- shield;
- spider mite;
- mealybug.
To protect your gardenia from these dangerous pests, it is worth sticking to proper care. But if the plant is still sick, then it is worth using a fungicide. Quite often, gardenia suffers from viral and fungal diseases when the soil is heavily flooded. If there is not enough iron in the soil, then leaf chlorosis may develop.
Reproduction of gardenia
Gardenia can be propagated in 2 ways:
- By cuttings
- By seed method
The usual method for propagating and increasing the gardenia population is with apical cuttings, which are about 10 centimeters long. They are usually cut in the months of February and March. Gardenia cuttings should be rooted in warm soil using rooting stimulants.
It will be advisable to equip a mini-greenhouse for them. To do this, you can cover them with a glass jar or a transparent bag. The rooting period for gardenias is very long and difficult.Before rooting the tips of the cuttings in the soil, it will be necessary to manipulate the dipping in the stimulant powder, and after that, planting in a mixture containing coniferous soil, peat and sand. You can also root the cuttings in water, but this can happen absolutely not for everyone and not always.
As soon as the cuttings are rooted and reach 15 centimeters in height, they can be pinched.
Seeds appear at a temperature of +25 degrees in a greenhouse or on condition that they are covered with a film. The soil must be provided with regular watering and spraying.
Seedlings will make themselves felt after a month. But plants from seeds bloom after 2 years.
Types of gardenias
Flowers can be designed for indoor and outdoor use. In shades, all varieties and species are similar: they range from light white to pale beige.
Indoor flower gardenia
Houseplants, mostly of a dwarf form, usually thrive indoors. All they need is moisture and plenty of light.
Before purchasing a plant, it is recommended to conduct a complete inspection of it. It is better to buy bushes with a well-developed, branched form in all directions. If the flower initially looks sick, it has light, yellow or sluggish leaves - no need to rush to buy. A sluggish gardenia with crumbling petals will not bring pleasure.
A healthy flower looks gorgeous and at the same time is quite expensive, but you do not need to save money by purchasing a diseased plant, albeit at a huge discount. A fresh plant with good care will delight its owner for a very long time.
Attention! It is important to follow all the rules and requirements, be sure to consult with the seller about the rules of care. It is immediately recommended to purchase the entire set of necessary dressings and fertilizers, as well as a comfortable, spacious pot or pots. Roots need a lot of space to grow quickly
Roots need a lot of space to grow quickly
It is immediately recommended to purchase the entire set of necessary dressings and fertilizers, as well as a comfortable, spacious pot or pots. Roots need a lot of space to grow quickly.
Dwarf variety
Gardenia Jasmine
A gorgeous gardenia flower from the Jasmine genus, when grown indoors, it looks like a small bush 50-55 cm in height. Wild varieties growing in the forests of Japan, Asia and India grow to about 190 centimeters. In China, they love this plant so much that they released a drama series called Gardenia in Bloom.
Attention! This plant stands out from the rest of the plants when it starts to bloom. The flowers usually grow up to 5-8 cm, have a strong structure and a beautiful snowy color.
Their pleasant and delicate scent cannot be compared with even the most beautiful roses.
Gardenia Jasmine Fortune
This type of plant has double flowers, they look like a camellia, the size reaches 12 cm.
They are sometimes referred to as Fortuneana. Has a rather bright scent similar to perfume. Many French brands use this particular variety in the production of perfumes.
Gardenia Jasmine First Love
This species is distinguished by large flowers, up to about 15 cm in diameter. The petals are double, their color is light cream. They smell very strong. Flowering begins in spring and continues throughout the summer. Basically, the variety blooms twice a year.
Jasmine variety
Gardenia Jasmine Variegata
Variegated appearance with small-sized fragrant flowers (9 cm). This small, slow-growing shrub is great for planting in planters. The leaves are round, light green, sometimes with brown blotches.
Gardenia Vietnamese
Very fast growing, evergreen, multi-stemmed bushes with small shoots up to half a meter high. Leaves are oval, marsh-green, whole-edged.The flowers are cream-colored, solitary, with narrow, long leaves, and have a sweet aroma that intensifies in the evening and at night.
Gardenia Citriodora
A large shrub of this plant has very branched shoots with round shiny leaves. It blooms with a large number of small, no more than 3 cm in diameter, snowy double flowers. Gardenia also boasts a strong and vibrant scent.
Fortune
Gardenia Regal
This is a rather rare variety with an amazingly shaped creamy beige inflorescences. It is sometimes grown as a houseplant. It can also be planted in open soil, but in case of frost, it must be brought indoors.
Gardenia Ternifolia
The plant is popular with flower growers due to its intertwining branches. Large fragrant white flowers grow on them. The species is decorative and resistant to chlorosis. It grows mainly in Thailand.
1. Seven Secrets of Success:
1. Growing temperature: during the growing season and flowering - 18 - 24 ° C, for the formation of flower buds, a daily temperature difference is needed in the winter months. |
2. Lighting: direct sunlight should not be allowed on the flower in spring and summer during the morning and evening - sufficient lighting is necessary for the onset of abundant flowering. It is better to shade the plants during the daytime. |
3. Watering and air humidity: the soil should be evenly moist during active growth and flowering, in autumn and winter, the frequency of watering is adjusted to the temperature in the room. Lemon juice or citric acid is added monthly to the water for irrigation. Air humidity is high. |
4. Pruning: sanitary and formative - at the end of winter. Also, timely pinching of the apical buds of young shoots to form lateral stems. |
5. Soil: based on peat, leaf humus and sod land, nutritious and loose, must have an acidic pH. |
6. Top dressing: twice a month during the spring and summer with fertilizers for azaleas and rhododendrons. |
7. Reproduction: cuttings or sowing seeds. |
Botanical name: Gardenia.
Family
Home gardenia is the birthplace of the plant. The bush originates from China.
Description. Small evergreen shrubs or small trees.
The leaves are arranged opposite or in whorls of three or four, 5-50 centimeters long and 3-25 cm wide, dark green, glossy, leathery. The leaf blades are wavy along the edge.
Flowers are arranged singly or collected in small apical corymbose inflorescences of 6-8, often fragrant, white or pale yellow, tubular at the base, with 5-12 petals, 5-12 centimeters in diameter.
Long flowering. There are varieties with double flowers. The flowering plants are gorgeous in appearance and give off a very pleasant, intense aroma reminiscent of jasmine with citrus notes.
An interesting feature of the plant is that the blossoming buds have a boiling white tint, the opened flowers become tenderly lemon, and before withering, the flowers acquire a golden yellow or even orange tint.
After flowering, the bushes form bright, orange, oblong fruits that resemble hawthorn or rose hips.
Indoor gardenia - height. The size of domestic plants is small, many of them reach a height of 30 - 90 cm.
Transfer
Once every few years, the plant must be transplanted into a large container.
Sometimes gardenia owners are often faced with yellowing of the leaves and their falling off. If you recently transplanted a plant, then most likely you accidentally damaged the root system. To remedy the situation, you need to create greenhouse conditions for gardenias and remove them from direct sunlight.
Priming
The soil with the desired composition can be bought in the store or made on your own. The main thing is not to use soil containing lime, which is detrimental to the flower.The main condition is the increased acidity of the soil. To prepare the soil yourself, prepare peat moss or other material that acidifies the compost.
Which pots are suitable?
The new container should be several centimeters larger than the previous one and have wide drainage holes at the bottom. The flower can be planted in both ceramic and plastic pots. However, the latter is more preferable, since during watering it will have to be placed in a basin of water. The plastic container will not suffer from moisture, and stains will remain on the ceramic pot.
Preparing for transplant
adjust the flower so that its root collar is underground
Cover the root mass with earth and tamp gently to remove air pockets. After transplanting, immediately water the plant and wait for excess moisture to drain into the pan.
Reference. Place the flower where it will receive bright, diffused light. Do not let foliage come into contact with window glass. This can lead to hypothermia of the plant and various diseases.
Transplant after purchase
There is no need to rush to replant the plant immediately after purchase, as the delicate buds can crumble. Wait three to four weeks, and then place the gardenia in another pot with suitable soil.
- Place small pebbles or expanded clay on the bottom of the container, and then cover with nutritious soil for azaleas or gardenias.
- Remove the plant, along with the earth, from the store pot and place in a new container.
After a month and a half, you can feed the gardenia with fertilizers for the first time.
All the secrets of transplanting this beautiful plant in this video:
Jasmine gardenia transplant
When transplanting gardenia jasmine, you need to be very careful when processing the root, as it is very easy to damage it. Fertilizers for transplanting in March or April must be applied from mid-spring to late summer, in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
It is better to shorten the jasmine gardenia after it stops flowering in early spring. Since the plant will be dormant, the stems will be better able to heal their wounds because the flower does not grow. This way, you can enjoy flowers for the next year. When pruning, be sure to leave some leaves, so that the plant could provide food for the root system. This procedure allows the shrub to take shape and loosen it up to promote more lush flowering. There are several possible ways to trim a flower:
- pinching. The trunks of young plants are removed from branching. Doing so avoids more difficult pruning in the future;
- thinning. Removal of trunk processes. This is usually done in order to open up the inside of the bush to get more light and increase air circulation, which can significantly reduce the likelihood of disease;
- a haircut. Helps to level the area of the shrub using regular or electric scissors. This procedure is performed to maintain the desired flower shape;
- rejuvenation. Removing old branches or intercourse shrinking the bush to restore its original shape and size. It is recommended to remove no more than one third of the flower at a time, and also do not forget that it is necessary to remove branches from the inside to the outside. When you rejuvenate a cane plant, prune it to different heights so the bush will look more natural.
The jasmine gardenia is transplanted very carefully, since the roots can be very easily damaged. The optimal time of the year is mid-spring and early summer. The flower has a very strong aroma, therefore it is necessary to place it in a room with good air circulation, which will allow the smell to spread over a large area (in this case, the smell will not be as strong).When planting, maintain a distance of 40 centimeters between the shoots.
The soil for gardenia jasmine should be enriched, acidic, moisture-retaining and optimally drained. Buy or use ready-made soil with the highest pH content, peat and compost must also be included in the soil. Cultivation can damage small roots, so you should mulch 2 to 3 centimeters of wood chips, ground bark or sawdust to keep the soil moist and cool and get rid of weeds. Gardenia does not tolerate alkaline soil, so if the soil for a flower is not acidic enough, then various problems may arise with it in the future.
We offer a photo of jasmine gardenia:
Reproduction of gardenia by cuttings
To propagate Gardenia by cuttings, partially lignified cuttings are cut from its young shoots. Cutting should be carried out in the winter (from December to March). The length of the cuttings should be 8 - 10 cm. Cuttings can be germinated in water by adding to it means that stimulate the formation of roots. But, most gardeners prefer to immediately root the twigs in a special substrate of peat and perlite (instead of perlite, you can use Sphagnum moss).
In order for young plants to take root well and begin to develop rapidly, they are watered and covered with plastic or glass. The most favorable temperature for raising children is 24 ° C. Under such conditions, within a month you will be able to notice the growth of young plants. If you provide constant heating of the bottom of the pot with plants, then the rate of their growth will increase.
You can transplant the resulting plants into a separate pot with soil for adult shrubs after they reach 10 cm in height.
The first flowering usually occurs within a year after cuttings.
Useful properties and meaning
The jasmine gardenia is eaten as a tint to the traditional Korean hwangphomuk jelly. Also, dried gardenia flowers are added to tea.
Gardenia is widely used for medicinal purposes. Both its fruits and roots are used. The plant has analgesic effects, it lowers blood cholesterol levels, fights various parasites in the human body. Gardenia is effective in the treatment of oral ulcers, dysentery, bleeding of various etiologies, inflammation of wounds and burns.
In the medicine of ancient China, the fruit of the flower was used at high temperatures, high blood pressure, hepatitis, insomnia, and chronic overwork.
Important! Be sure to consult with a specialist before using gardenia, because even touching its fruits can cause poisoning.
You can learn about the benefits and uses of gardenia from this article.
Description
Gardenia jasmine, called Gardenia jasminoides in Latin, comes from the Madder family and is a native of India, China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the subtropics of Africa. In the bosom of nature, it can be found in the form of an evergreen flowering shrub up to 2 meters high. In a pot culture, the bush reaches no more than 60 cm in height.
In the genus Gardenia, there are about 250 species, and only jasmine gardenia has taken root in indoor floriculture. Its large snow-white flowers with a delicate jasmine scent fascinate at first sight. They are located singly or are collected in inflorescences of several pieces. Most often, flowers are semi-double or double, similar to a beautiful rose.
Very decorative and dark green leaves. They are broad-lanceolate in shape with a pointed tip, reaching 10 cm in length. The sheet plate is distinguished by a relief surface that casts a glossy sheen. In general, indoor gardenia is a graceful bush with dense foliage, especially charming during the flowering period. With proper care, the life expectancy of a beautiful representative of the flora is up to 7 years.
Gardenia was introduced to Europe in the 18th century.In warm countries, it decorates gardens and parks, and in cool climates, it can only be kept at home or in a greenhouse. Through the efforts of breeders, many varieties of beauty have been bred.