Hi All: I just bought myself a nice little Gardenia tree of the Veitchii variety. I've killed them before but I'm determined to grow at least one in my lifetime. I've found this while searching for care information on the web. Its from a California Nursery so the care should be applicable to us. GARDENIAS Soil Acidic, moist, well drained. Use an azalea/camellia type mix when conditioning soil. Light Filtered light inland, full sun on the coast. Water Evenly moist, never too wet or too dry. Adopt a consistent watering schedule. Fertilizer Use a fertilizer for acid loving plants once a month Spring-Fall. Gardenias love iron, also. Feed with iron after main flowering season. Problems Yellow leaves and leaf drop Changes in weather or soil moisture levels. Some leaf drop is normal in early spring before buds begin to appear. Yellow leaves with green veins Iron chlorosis. Feed with chelated iron or iron sulphate. Flower or bud drop Usually cold weather or inconsistent watering. Gardenias like warmth and even moisture. Tiny black or green insects on buds or leaves Aphids, spray with Ultra-Fine. Leaf tips and edges browning Salt accumulation. Leach the plant with water thoroughly. Leaves turn brown Too dry. Gardenias like to be evenly moist. Varieties of Gardenias: AUGUST BEAUTY 5 tall and 3 wide Large double white flowers May - November Heavy bloomer MYSTERY 6-8 tall 4-5" Very large flowers May-July Tends to have an open growth habit. Prune to keep neat. RADICANS 6-12" tall and 2-3 wide 1" double, white flowers. Summer bloom Small scale ground cover or container plants VEITCHII 3-4 ½ tall and wide 1 ½" white flowers May  November and through warm winters Heavy bloomer WHITE GEM 1-2 tall and as wide Dwarf plant with single, fragrant flowers Great in containers, raised beds. Blooms often. Courtesy of Sperling Nursery 24460 Calabasas Road, Calabasas CA (818) 591-9111

Hello Ninel_t, I have not run into the problem that you are describing in your first post. I believe the little flies you are seeing are fungus gnats. Usually you see these when the soil is kept too moist. A mild systemic insect killer should take care of them. Hopefully, someone else with more experience will also respond. Wildcat

I had precisely the same situation: a store-bought plant that was doing great for a while under fluorescent light (a CFL in a gooseneck lamp), then the lower leaves started yellowing, showing spots, etc. I took a really close look under a low-power microscope, and found out I had mites. These little suckers are nearly transparent, unlike the black ones that are relatively easy to spot. I believe that the plant cuts off nutrients to the infested leaves as a defense mechanism, since the mites can't suck the juices from a dry leaf. Use a miticide if you're OK with chemical treatments; Bayer's 3-in-1 has a particularly effective agent in it. If not, or if your state hasn't approved the stuff for sale (you cannot buy it in NY), you can try my approach: fill a bucket with soapy water (dish detergent, ca. 1/2 tsp per gallon), and shove the entire plant, upside-down, into the water. Slosh it around, and up-and-down, for about a minute. This removes the bugs, drowns the ones who won't let go, and I think it might even damage the eggs (tiny white specks on the bottom of the leaves.) Repeat once a week for at least 3 weeks (the mites have a 10-day life cycle), and maybe once a month after that to keep 'em down. The mites prefer a dry environment, so this treatment, along with misting, will prevent them from doing noticeable damage. I think the real problem with keeping these plants indoors is that the mites are not exposed to their natural predators, so their population can explode very quickly. They are incredibly persistent, and they will keep coming back time and time again if you don't manage to kill off every last one of them (and every last egg as well!) Unless you like having ladybugs crawling around the house, you're stuck with regular washing, or chemical treatments, to keep them under control. Here is a link that might be useful: Article on Spider Mites

I'm not really sure of your problem. Hoping someone else will pipe in too. But overall your foliage looks pretty good, other than the lighter colouring. I have noticed that many of my Austin's have some dramatic foliage variations in spring. Some leaves will be tinted with more red, lighter, darker, etc. The other thought I had is that the yellowed leaves are on puny stems, that perhaps they are winter damaged and need to be cut back?