Hi Toni, I have all my gardenias previously planted in pots in plain loamy garden soil (rich black soil) with lots of earthworms and humus (decaying matter). They were very happy and green until I transferred them to the ground. Our local topsoil is actually contaminated with construction debris particularly concrete fragments, making our topsoil extremely basic. After transplanting to the ground, majority of my gardenias rapidly became chlorotic. However, I just let them be because there is nothing I can do about the soil. The contamination and leaching of lime to the topsoil is extensive. Despite the 'bad soil', my gardenias are still growing happily and they still bloom for me despite the chlorosis. They have grown from 1 ft tall plants in the pots to more than 3ft tall in the ground. I think the fuss about gardenias liking acidic soils and dying in basic soils or in 'less-than-perfect' garden soils are highly exaggerated. These plants (gardenias) are actually highly adaptable to various soil types like other plants. They even survive sandy soils fit for a cactus but they just won't be 'picture perfect' (similar to my gardenias). What gardenias (and michelia albas) do hate however is too much moisture in the soil particularly around their roots. I had ALL my gardenias rapidly dropping leaves and leaves turning yellow when my helper watered them daily despite the daily rains in our area. I was lucky to have immediately spotted the rapid leaf yellowing and dropping problem as I rarely attend to or inspect my gardenias anymore. (I have more problematic plants to take care of like my 'chilli thrip' infested roses, unhappy hydrangeas and suicidal apple seedlings.) Anyway, after telling my household helper not to water my gardenias anymore because it is rainy season in our climate, the leaf yellowing and dropping stopped. That's how sensitive these plants are to overwatering. Anyway to illustrate my point, here's a photo of my chlorotic gardenias (variegated and non-variegated) planted in the ground with less-than- perfect 'basic' soil: In contrast, I have 'Euphorbia milii' plants which are supposed to be 'succulent' plants similar in 'soil' and water requirements to cacti. Here they are thriving and flowering profusely in pots filled with rich, black, loamy garden soil which is 'less-than-perfect' and actually counterindicated for a succulent plant like Euphorbia milii. (Succulents prefer sandy soils as they are adapted to dry, arid, climates.) tropical

My response is kind of late, but maybe it will help anyway. Plantings next to the house foundation have been known to have problems at times, so it may not be surprising that a hydrangea in such a spot might also have problems. For one thing, foundations provide some protection against the rain--which could mean that the plant, overall, is getting less moisture, even though you are watering it the same as other plants that also get moisture from the rain. In other words, watering that hydrangea "the same" as the other ones may be the problem--because it needs MORE WATER to compensate for some missing rain water. It can also be warmer next to a house foundation--another reason a hydrangea in that spot might need MORE WATER than the other ones do. Don't know if this will solve your problem, but next year, I'd try extra watering and see if that helps. Kate

Jayme needs a haircut. ;-) "I don't believe I'm heavy handed on watering because it rarely floods through the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot and when this does happen I always empty the tray so that it's not standing in water." We know your soil holds water, but let me show you why your contention doesn't. Let's say I have a horrible soil that holds 6" of perched water at container capacity. Since that's probably Greek to most growers, it means that after gravity is done pushing water out of a recently saturated soil and it has JUST stopped draining, the bottom 6" of soil is fully saturated and essentially airless. This means that the function of ALL roots within that 6" tall column of saturated soil is being limited by a lack of oxygen. Using your contention, everything is fine if I only add enough water to raise the ht of the saturated soil column to 5-7/8", because water won't drain until the ht of the saturated soil column is greater than 6". Essentially, there is no difference of note between a saturated soil column of 6" vs 5-7/8"; which means that over-watering is surely in play as a potential limitation. Too, if you water consistently so no water exits the pot, you ensure ALL the dissolved solids in fertilizer solutions and tapwater remain in the soil. This increases the mineral salt level in the soil (TDS) and can very quickly skew the ratio of a singular nutrient to all of the others, which creates another significant issue. I can clearly see from the list of ingredients that you unwittingly made a very water-retentive soil. Compare what your soil looks like to these soils, which are what I grow in: You can clearly see there are going to be large pores between the high % of large particles that will be filled w/air instead of water after the soil stops draining subsequent to being saturated. Ideally, you would move in that direction. I promise it will make a BIG difference in your ability to manage your plants' moisture and fertility needs. This will provide information that will help you turn your plant around. and This link, which goes into considerable detail about How Water Behaves in Container Soils, probably represents the largest step forward you can make as a container gardener. If you make the effort to understand the concept it outlines, it should change the way you look at container media and significantly increase the rewards you get from your growing efforts. Al

The plant needs more light. It's too far from the window. When leaves fall out because the base is brown and soft, the problem is likely to be excessively wet potting mix. You said you water when the surface is dry. How far down is it dry? Stop using fertilizer for now.