I haven't been online 2 c any responses 2 my blog entry for a while and i'm glad 2 c I've had some responses. I really appreciate any advice i can get. I'm currently growing my gardenia indoors in a window that gets great light in the morning and moderate thourhgout the rest of the day. I'm excited 2 say that i now have about 7 beautiful flowers in full bloom on my plant. Its funny how all the buds seemed to grow in at the same time and yet they appear to be growing and blooming in groups at different times. They are so worth all the work. I have some pictures that I'd love to post but I'm not sure at the moment how to do that yet. Its been so long since I've checked this blog but if anyone looks again I was wondering if the gardenia blooms grow bigger the older the plant gets or is the bloom size determined by the type of plant you have? Thank you soooo much

Over the past 10 years I've had G. Magnifica, G. 'Forever More', G. Grandiflora Star, and G. Radicans and all thrived until this season when 2 of my magnifica suddenly turned yellowish in the leaves, dropped most of them and died. I put it down to the extended dry period and a little neglect on my part - in summer particularly they love water and should not be allowed to dry out. The others are all doing well and their scent is positively heavenly, no other flower can match it, I reckon. They also hate sudden changes in temperature, which can cause premature bud drop. I have found that once or twice a year they benefit from a dose of blood and bone but I do avoid any fertiliser containing lime - they hate it, preferring a neutral to slightly acid ph. A reasonably regular doze of weak liquid manure is also beneficial. They also prefer good drainage, a friable soil and deadheading of flowers. The hardiest and most forgiving, I find, is the dwarf, mound forming, G. radicans. B.

Okay, lets be clear; the brown leaves aren't 'diseased" in that the plant doesn't have a disease. It has a pest infestation - different thing - and the pests are causing the brown leaves. Those leaves are just responding to the pest attacking the plant. The plant itself is not harbouring illness. I make this point: to show you that there's nothing actually wrong with the brown leaves, they're a byproduct, an 'indicator', so don't worry about them. You wont get them to turn green again where they've gone brown and cutting off the brown leaves isnt addressing the problem - the pest. So to address your problem: your pest is spidermites. So this looks good to me: http://www.ehow.com/about_6317228_spider-mites-white-gardenias.html I would treat the spidermites as outlined above. Then I'd repot into 511 (bc gardenias are happier in it and by that I mean they are more resistant to disease and pests). I'd also (given the above post and the fact your gardenia is indoors) think about ways to increase humidity (some ppl like misting, or using a pebble/water tray?) and aeration (can it be placed closer to a window?). Make sense?

That is what's called a Florist Gardenina, because it isn't grafted, so it can't go into the ground. If it's had insects, and been repotted, it's probably just stressed and suffering from shock. BTW, don't ever fertilize a plant that's just been transplanted. It can't grow while it's trying to settle its roots in, and the roots can get burned. I never fertilize blooming plants. If you feel like you must fertilize, use an organic fertilizer very sparingly. Take the pine needles off the top. They can harbor all sorts of insects. What kind of soil did you use to repot it into? Gardenias need very well-drained soil, so I always add about 1/3 perlite to 2/3rds of a good, bark-based soil. Florist Gardenias need SHADE. The most sun they should get is early morning sun, no afternoon sun at all. It's always best to put a stressed plant into the shade to recover. Don't cut it back. That will encourage it to put out new growth and it needs to be concentrating on making roots for the new pot. You really shouldn't pot up more than one size pot at a time, so from a 6" to an 8", 8" to 10", 10" to 12" and so on. Put it somewhere, if you can, where you can control the water. With all this rain, it may just be drowning. Set it up on something like pot feet or a couple of pavers so it can drain freely. Don't water until it's dry a couple of inches down. Stick your finger in the pot, and if it's dry down to your second knuckle, then water, but if not, don't water. If it's been rained on, don't water. Don't fertilize again at all. Then all you can do is wait. It may lose most of its leaves, but if the roots are healthy, they will come back.