My Gardenia is dying because of spider mites,what to do?

9 years ago

Gardenia dying off below pic

Ok to start with this is how healthy my gardenia looked the first day i got it home 19th December 2014 below pic

In the course of its life here I had been cruel to it ,and that is because it is my first plant along with a monstera plant which is doing fine.

I had put it in a no light area ,then shifted it to a place near my window sill ,now the nursery from where i bought this plant told me to water with just a glass of water that too when the top of the soil was dry and so I didn't give it much water and the plant started wilting ,leaves started falling I had almost given up hope ,but my mum poured in a lot of water and the plant revived as if nothing was ever wrong with it ,then I placed a bowl beneath it a filled some water there for humidity purpose with few pebbles as it has roots coming out of the pot ,

I did think of re-potting it but I've read you should not re-pot it when it has buds ,and mine had plenty that's another story that not even one bloomed ,now giving it plenty of water almost everyday ,but things got worst the leaves started browning at the edges ,plenty of them started falling off .

I had no idea what was going on, I checkked the leaves for infestation or so and bloody hell ,they were attacked by spider mites ,since then I had been researching and cleaning under the leaves ,spraying a mix of alcohol and water but to no avail ,I added fertilizer as well nothing worked ,and now iit has lost around 75%-80%

of its foilage and I saw some mold over my soil so I removed those areas and put fresh soil and I keep misting but nothing works (the first pic shows the current horrible situation of the once lush and beautiful gardenia)

I'm wondering now .I have lost the beautiful foliage and left with browned and diseased leaves ,there are one or two buds left ,but there is hope I see new leaves forming but they soon brown and dry off because of the spider mite ,

What should I do know ,i have hardly anything to lose ,should I remove all the leaves from the plant and remove it from the current soil and pot ,give it a nice shower and alcohol wash and repot it or is it extreme ,please help i don't want to lose it

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Comments (4)

rexedwardfairy
9 years ago
Step 1: take a cutting (or a few) of the healthier stems and put them in a jar of water so that if you do 'lose' the main plant, you also won't because you'll have the cutting/s.

I posted here today on how to care for gardenias - some general tips that will help in future.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/2854676/whats-wrong-with-my-gardenia

Meantime, IF IT WERE ME... after I'd taken the cuttings, I'd repot it into Al's 511 mix asap. Dont worry about the blooms and dont worry about not repotting when a plant is stressed. I've repotted stressed gardenias - into Al's 511 and it's saved them. I keep an eye on them after repotting into Al's 511 and just spend the time nursing them back to health (using the care practices outlined in the above post - but not all those things at once! Easy does it...)

Hope that helps...
Marwa Mars thanked rexedwardfairy
Marwa Mars
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you so much for replying ,that's a good idea of cutting its healthier branches, but is it possible to remove the diseased leaves and repot in fresh soil or i need to to cut them .

I will also check out your link

ps sorry for some mistakes in my writing I was in a hurry ,can't see my gardenia die out like this anymore
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rexedwardfairy
9 years ago
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?
User
9 years ago
Marwa,

The worst thing you can do to a gardenia is PUT A BOWL UNDER IT.

Terrible thing for a gardenia. Get it out of the bowl.

Learn to water it yourself, check it when the soil is dry when you stick your

finger in the soil.

Or better yet, go buy a moisture meter, THEY ARE CHEAP, and everywhere.

You simply stick it in the soil and it will tell you when the soil is dry.

No bowl under the gardenia. Ever. It hates wet feet, and the roots are rotting

as you read this.

You don't have to repot the plant, gardenias almost "like" being root bound,

they do very well in smaller pots, and that plant is the right size for that pot.

As for the mites, if you are sure that is the problem, you will see little webs

on the leaves, if you see no webs, then leave the plant alone.

Give it a treat every once in a while and put it in the bathroom when you shower.

Other than that, just water it when it is dry.

Let it dry out too, don't water it when it feels moist, make sure it is dry.

My Gardenia is dying because of spider mites,what to do?

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rexedwardfairy

Marwa Mars
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My Gardenia is dying because of spider mites,what to do?

Comments (4)

rexedwardfairy

Marwa MarsOriginal Author

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Marwa Mars
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