I'm not a gardener but am very fond of flower plants, and wanted to try to take care of one by myself. So, around over a year ago I bought a small pot of Gardenia Jasminoides home and looked up on how to care for it.

In the last spring I have repotted it once to a bigger pot (30 cm in diameter and depth). I kept some of the old soil because I didn't want to cut off some roots. The soil I used was recommended by the florist at the store and I don't really know the details.

I am aware that it requires the soil with pH around 5-6 to grow. I read it somewhere that some gardeners add a bit of vinegar in the water to keep the soil acidic. So I bought a pH tester to test the pH when I mix some vinegar in and water it with that mixture averagely every one or two months.

The same goes with the fertilizer, I was recommended a fertilizer by the florist at the store (it's a liquid fertilizer). I fertilise my Gardenia every two months averagely. (I didn't fertilise it as much in the end of fall until now because of my exams...I just forgot.)

The temperature in the room where it stays is kept between 17-24 C (lowest at night and highest in day time).

It bloomed when I first bought it over a year ago near the end of its first summer. When the first winter came it stopped blooming. When the spring approached again, it started to bud and bloom constantly until last month. (so it continued to bloom for almost 8 months.)

I live in Norway so the day time here fluctuates very much. In Summer--from May to August, there is no night time (if you've ever heard of the midnight sun, this is it.) In winter there are barely 3-7 hours of day time depends on the month. It never receives direct sunlight, always under a shade.

I put some moss over the soil to keep the soil humid. When I repotted it in Spring there were a few earthworms inside. I water it every 4-5 days averagely. The pot has a hole for draining below, so I highly doubt its roots have ever drown. I have forgotten to water it sometimes during my exam season--maximum two weeks (and that only happened twice--poor earthworms, I hope they are still there).

Around ten months ago (before I repotted it) my poor plant was suffering from a type of plant scale (brown shell). In the beginning I noticed that some stems had this 1-2 brown scale on them, I did not know what it was but after 2-4 weeks the number grew exponentially so I suspected that they were some sort of microorganisms and went to the store to find some pesticide for it. I found a specific tablet to put into the soil near the root for this type of scale (it had a photo on the package of what it was for). I came home and used an old toothbrush to physically scrub every single braches to get rid of those scales and applied the tablet as instructed. Then they were gone. (So I think the gardenia had suffered from the scale for around two months)

Now if you look at the leaves, they are not yellow but they are not completely green, they are partially light green and deep green. Some of the leaves (especially new ones) are bright green. This started around 3-4 months after I bought it. At first I thought it was a sign of chlorosis (due to the day lenght in Norway...and maybe the soil is too alkaline and the iron cannot be properly absorbed) but now I am not sure what is wrong with it and I don't know how to fix it. I assume that the leaves should be all deep green. I have told you everything that happened and what I have done to it. Could you please tell me what is wrong with it? T.T I need help and I am at my wits end. This is the first plant I seriously bought and took care of, I am emotionally attached to it. Thank you.