@blutayle How many gallon pot is your Gardenia in?

Hmmm...it is a concrete planter so the summer T-Storms don't blow it over. 7 gallon maybe?

Ivan, You aren't telling us what the growing conditions are going to be for your gardenia.

Are you going to keep inside always? Are you going to put it outside for the summer? If you are going to put it outside, morning sun only. In the house, in front of the sunniest window you have. I would suggest you keep it outside preferably on a porch, sheltered.

You don't have to pot the plant up now. Gardenias do well in small pots, not minding being root bound at all. The only time you really pot them up is if they are thirsty every single day, then you go up only 1 pot size. Not 2.

Go right out and buy yourself a moisture meter. You can buy them anywhere, I got mine at Walmart many years for under 2.00. It will save your plant. Trust me. Then you will definately know when to water it, when you stick it down in the roots and it reads dry. No guessing.

Good luck with your Aimee. If I were to buy a gardenia for inside in the winter, that is the one I would buy. Giant flowers, I like that. But where I live, I have many outside in the garden, so I am fortunate that way.

Oh, and by the way, don't beat yourself up if it dies in the winter time. Just don't. Enjoy it now.

Butterfly4u I will be keeping it outside my apartment here in NYC for the summer until it hits near low 60*F's after that I will keep it indoors. As for the sun, I have it where it gets full sun and no way to keep it on a porch because I don't have one. And the little area that is there no sun gets on to it because it's fully blocked by large trees.

I will def go get the moisture meter.

It's weird I am seeing a few yellow like leaves and I know AlmostEden has taken care of them.. is there something wrong? What should I do?

Any time a plant changed cultural environments, it gets stressed. For things like gardenia, it's practically impossible to not drop a couple leaves in the transition unless your apartment is exactly the same environment as their greenhouses. How bad it is depends on how many leaves get lost...

When I do a repotting a size higher. I was planning on using miracle gro potting mix with orchid coarse bark with sand? I also mist about 5-8 times a day if I happen to be home. Is that okay?

Ivan...I might skip the sand....it can compact soil...maybe some extra helping of perlite in place of the sand. Thing airy and more space...sand tends to fill in those spaces....

blutayle the reason I asked about the sand is because I lifted up the plant from it's small plastic pot and noticed it was mixed in sand. I also have play sand and not beach sand.

Alot of times soil used in nursery raised stock is not always conducive to home growing. It is more marked for their automated watering, temps, nursery culture. That of course will differ from our home environments. In Florida...it is imperative I have a very quickly draining, airy soil as the summer rains can be extreme and unrelenting. Where you are, maybe not so extreme with the soil chunkiness....but it does help prevent over wintering pot over watering.

Thank you. So just got a potting mix with orchid bark?

So this morning I lifted the plant out of it's original pot and checked to see if the was dry or not. It seems a near dry so I did water it. But I also noticed that some of the new growth seems to be flopping over. Is there a reason for that? I have not watered them for 2 days.

A plant will usually wilt for one reason...it is thirsty. Either healthy roots in dry soil or rotted roots in wet soil. Either way the roots cannot pick up the moisture. Also plants can wilt in extreme heat even if watered.

jujujojo_gw Actually didn't over water at all. Just did enough so it started to drain out and stopped.

blutayle Your plant looks amazing :( I want mine to look like that! I was wondering the cut edges I see are they the left overs of air layering?

Should I go repot from Quart to 2 gallon container? Or leave it as is for now?

ivan,

Leave it as it is for now. It is already stressed. Try to find something to shade it in the afternoon, it will not like full sun all day. Even a small unbrella over it, a piece of shade cloth, anything in the afternoon sun. That sun is still hot in the afternoon in NYC.

Butterfly it has gotten better no more yellow leaves and no more droopyness or anything. I'll try to make a shade spot for it I guess, thank you.

Hey all so this is an update. I got this plant back in June 11th so a little over 2 months.. I also changed the original pot it came in quart size. Which I then repotted in a 2x pot with miracle gro potting mix. It's growing and putting out new leaves but no sign of flowers yet. Something wrong? Please advise.

HI Ivan...nothing wrong it looks great. Still young yet, will have to mature a little more then the buds will start. She is well on her way!!!

Hey all so this is an update on the plant. I mist the leaves everyday and also since it's very very hot here in nyc I water it everyday. But for some reason the leaves are all turning yellow. Please help.. I really want this plant to live!

Hi, I have gardenias both indoors & in the ground. I've found that they are a bit sensitive to heat. A potted standard that has been happily living beneath a skylight drooped a lot this year (unseasonably hot summer) so I moved it to a corner out of direct light. It was much happier.

I don't mist mine. I just give them a good long drink when the soil starts to dry out.

So remove from direct sun to indirect? Also any reason for the leaves to be yellow and falling?

If you are watering every day, I think you are killing it. They like to dry out between waterings and like to be in porous mixes that do dry out more frequently that does not allow salt toxitity to build up in a mix that is not porous...I would pull back on watering until you are sure the mix is just about dry, then do a good flush with lots of water...Mine hate direct hot sun, and I think it's because the roots over heat in the sun, in a pot. Mine always do better with indirect sunlight, or early morning sunlight.
Also do you feed them? What is the pH of your tap water?

When my plants were wilting, some of the leaves turned yellow too. I think my plant was stressed by heat and started to shed leaves. If your plant is out on a sunny balcony all day, I would guess that it is overheated. Now that the weather has cooled down, all my gardenias look much happier

pH is 7.3, I did move it away from direct sun today and will do on the watering. Should I also replant before winter? I put osmocote general vegetable and flower slow release fertilizer.

I had a 6' Gardenia Yoshioka for many years that I bought locally from the flower district there. It did excellent in NYC before being stolen from my front stoop while in full bloom one year. During the hottest part of the summer, I would water it daily in the morning and the soil would dry out by the evening. In milder weather I would water it with an inch of water whenever the top of the soil was beginning to dry. I would bring it under protection just after the first frost. During the winter it was keept just above freezing in the building air shaft that was walled on all sides. There, I watered it just once a week or every two weeks sometimes less if it had rained. It would go into the basement if a snow storm was coming and back out into the shaft once the storm had passed. After the last frost it would go back out front where it received morning bright light and direct afternoon sun the rest of the day.

I think Jostus's watering details sound about right. People have watering schedules, etc but it really depends on the environment. Every day may be necessary or too much depending on time of year, etc. Your pot looks small to me. Here is a photo of my standard for perspective:

This standard is indoors year round. Sometimes (like right now as you can see) I forget to water and the leaves droop. In summer I have to water about every 3 days or the soil is bone dry. I like to give it a good long drink when needed, rather than little sips every day.

With a small pot, the heat may be harder on your plant. I wouldn't worry too much about fertilizer right now. I give mine weak applications of Miracid once in a while. It has flushes of blooms year-round and is in heavy bud right now (I just pruned it in early summer as it was really top heavy)

Thank you so much everyone. Extremely appreciate it. I have seen the difference I came back home after a long weekend.. and I see no more yellow leaves and away from direct sun. What do you guys think about bunny poop fertilizer for the plant?

Ivan,

No bunny poop. It is in a pot, so it will never be planted in the ground. You do not treat potted plants like plants in the ground, two different mediums.

Order Foliage Pro from online some where. Every other time you water the plant, put a very small tiny amount of Foliage Pro in the water bottle. It will grow amazing for you. Foliage Pro is made for potted plants and will provide all the minerals and nutrients your plant needs and is not getting from not being planted in the ground.

Will do thank you!