Gardenia can only compete with camellia in elegance and beauty. This exquisite plant with gorgeous and fragrant inflorescences that can outshine even a rose. One flower is enough to fill the entire apartment with fragrance. But you need to know how to grow such a crop correctly. Detailed characteristics and care of gardenia will be discussed in the article.

This is an elegant evergreen shrub that belongs to the madder family. There are many types. Some of them in the wild can reach a height of 1.8 meters. There are even specimens that grow up to 3 meters. The birthplace of the culture is China, Japan and the Ryukkyu Islands. This flower is often called Cape jasmine.

The plant looks very decorative, but caring for gardenia is difficult. At home it usually grows up to 60 centimeters. The foliage is leathery and glossy, dense, dark green in color. It has an oval shape with pointed tips. The leaves are arranged in pairs: opposite each other. The shape of the bush is compact and beautiful.

The buds are waxy, sometimes collected in corymbose inflorescences or solitary. When opened, they reach 10 centimeters in diameter. There are terry, simple and semi-double options. The shade is often slightly creamy and white. The aroma is pleasant and strong. Check out the article: .

Popular varieties of culture

Due to the fact that caring for indoor gardenia at home is simple, this crop is often chosen by beginning gardeners, as well as those who do not have a lot of free time. Today more than a hundred varieties are known. However, not all of them are suitable for growing in an apartment.

Usually at home they contain gardenia jasmine. This is an evergreen bush that grows 80 centimeters in height. Foliage is 8 centimeters long. Its shape is back ovoid or broadly lanceolate. The surface is glossy, painted in a dark green tone. The flowers are solitary or collected in inflorescences. Usually white or with a yellow tint. This view can easily be called one of the most beautiful. But caring for jasmine gardenia must be correct. The flower requires attention and the creation of a number of necessary conditions.

True, today breeders have bred others indoor varieties. They are compact and easy to cut. This makes caring for indoor gardenias somewhat easier. But still the crop remains quite complex and demanding in terms of cultivation.

Here are the types that are most in demand:

How to care for a plant at home?

Beginners in the field of floriculture often choose gardenia. However, sometimes great difficulties arise in its cultivation. After all, the plant is capricious and requires the creation of certain growing conditions. Therefore, it is worth giving some advice on how to care for gardenia at home for novice gardeners. Care involves performing a number of activities to ensure the flower’s comfort. These include: choosing a location, observing temperature regime and humidity regime, fertilization, pruning, replanting, etc. Let's look at each of these points in more detail.

Choosing a place for a flower

It is advisable to place the pot on a south or west window. In the first case, you will have to build shelters from the scorching rays of the sun in the summer. In winter, gardenia is usually not limited in light and is moved to the sunniest place.

Suitable temperature conditions

Involves caring for gardenia at home and maintaining the temperature at a certain level. In summer, the crop feels comfortable when during the day the air warms up to +21-24 degrees, and at night it stays at +15-18 degrees. As for the winter season, the rules are somewhat different. It is important that the room temperature does not fall below +10 degrees. It is optimal if it is at +16 degrees.

A comfortable temperature is maintained by ventilation, installation heating devices. The main thing is to avoid drafts. Cold air currents negatively affect the plant, especially during the bud formation phase. At the same time, there is a risk that the flowers will begin to crumble.

If the apartment is not warm and humid enough, this will also negatively affect the plant. To saturate the air with water vapor, the pot is placed on a tray with a layer of moistened expanded clay. Or they are located near heating devices.

Irrigation and watering of a flower

To keep the leaves fresh and healthy, water and spray the plant.

In this case, only filtered, clean and warm water. It is useful to wipe the leaf plates periodically with a damp cloth. It also involves caring for gardenia in a pot at home using shower procedures. In this case, you should be careful and not allow the substrate to get wet. IN cold season years, irrigation is made less abundant and more frequent.

The flower loves acidified soil. Therefore, it is recommended to periodically acidify water for irrigation with citric acid. Just a few drops per liter of liquid are enough. This water will improve the flower’s absorption of nutrients from the soil.

Fertilizer and feeding of gardenia

This involves caring for jasmine gardenia at home and feeding it. The soil is usually fertilized in summer and spring. Complex mixtures and sets designed specifically for flowering plants are suitable. Showing weekly foliar feeding products rich in microelements. In winter, it is also sometimes a good idea to carry out a similar replenishment of the culture. This type of care for gardenia is especially indicated in winter, when signs of chlorosis are observed on the foliage. If the gardenia has been replanted, fertilizing is allowed only after 1-1.5 months.

Transplanting a flower into another pot

Caring for gardenia after purchase has some features. Typically, plants that go on sale are planted in soil rich in nutrients prolonged action. These useful elements last a long time. Therefore, culture is capable of additional fertilizing bloom throughout the growing season.

But if the flower is in an overly moist peat substrate, the root zone has grown greatly and sticks out of the drainage holes, the gardenia needs to be cared for: transplanted into a new, more spacious pot.
A similar event is carried out in the spring before the plant enters the phase active growth.

If you do not make a transplant, then:

• The soil nutrition will not be enough for the bush to fully develop and bloom.
• The plant will stop growing and lose its decorative appearance.
• Flowering will become scarce, much fewer buds will form and they will open poorly.

Transplantation is carried out by transferring it into a new container. The plant, together with the earthen lump, is transferred to a pot of larger diameter, and the free space is filled with new fresh soil. If the crop has flowers, it is advisable to cut them off before replanting. Otherwise, they will begin to exhaust the weakened specimen. In order for a beautiful gardenia to show off on the windowsill: planting and care at home must be carried out correctly.

Pruning and pinching plants

Pruning helps to maintain the flower in a form acceptable for a city apartment. Without this procedure, some varieties of gardenia can grow greatly, reaching the height of the ceiling. Such a plant will look untidy and occupy a large area. By cutting off part of the top, the crop stops growing in height. But the lateral processes begin to actively appear. Usually, pinching and pruning of shoots begins in the second year of a flower’s life. All faded buds are cut off. Dried and overgrown shoots are also removed.

Trimming provides good care for gardenia at home and propagation of the culture. After all, cut parts of branches are used for rooting and growing a new plant. The main thing is that the cuttings have several leaves. It is immersed in water, to which a few drops of a product that stimulates the formation and growth of roots are added. When roots appear, transplant into nutritious and light soil. Creating the necessary conditions and with proper care, the gardenia will bloom the next year.

What diseases and pests are dangerous for gardenia at home?

If you take good care of your gardenia, the plant will not be afraid of diseases and pests, but it is not always possible to follow all the rules.

The following ailments most often plague culture:

1. Iron deficiency. In this case, yellowing of the foliage is observed, green veins become clearly visible.
2. Too dry air, temperature changes, insufficient irrigation. All this leads to the leaves darkening and drying out.
3. Fangus. A clear sign is yellowing sheet plate and the appearance of brown spots. Treatment is carried out with copper-based products.
4. Hypothermia, too hard water for irrigation, unsuitable soil type. As a result, the leaves turn yellow and wither.

Conclusions about the above information

Description . Small evergreen shrubs or small trees. The leaves are arranged oppositely or in whorls of three or four, 5 - 50 centimeters long and 3 - 25 cm wide, dark green, glossy, leathery. The leaf blades are wavy along the edges. Flowers are arranged singly or collected in small apical corymbose inflorescences of 6-8, often fragrant, white or pale yellow color, tubular at the base, with 5 - 12 petals, with a diameter of 5 - 12 centimeters. Flowering is long lasting. There are varieties with double flowers. Flowering plants are magnificent in appearance and emit a very pleasant, intense aroma, reminiscent of jasmine with citrus notes. An interesting feature of the plant is that the blossoming buds have a boiling white hue, the opened flowers become delicately lemon-colored, and before fading the flowers acquire a golden-yellow or even orange hue.

Varieties:

and asminoid or regal - Gardenia Jasminoides

An evergreen shrub from 1.5 to 2 m high with abundantly branching, erect stems. The leaves are dark green, up to 10 cm long, thick, glossy, entire, lanceolate. The leaf blades are covered with a network of branched veins. Leaf petioles are short. The flowers are large - reaching a diameter of 8 cm, reminiscent of a rose, and emit a very intense aroma reminiscent of jasmine. Flowering occurs from May to July.

Tahitian gardenia - Gardenia taitensis

Tall multi-stemmed shrub, reaching 4 meters in height. The leaves are lanceolate, entire, dark green, arranged in opposite pairs. The leaves reach 15 - 16 cm in length. The leaf veins are often highlighted in a lighter shade. The shoots are thin, flexible, abundantly branched. The flowers are light - white or cream, up to 9 cm in diameter, and have a sweetish aroma.

Vietnamese gardenia - Gardenia vietnamensis

Fast-growing, evergreen, multi-stemmed shrubs with thin shoots up to 1 m high. The leaves are oblong, lanceolate, dark green, entire. The flowers are cream-colored, solitary, with narrow, long petals, and have a sweetish aroma that intensifies in the evening and night hours.

Gardenia thunbergia - Gardenia thunbergia

Multi-stemmed, dense, evergreen shrub or small flowering tree, height from 1.5 to 4.5 m. The leaves are oblong - oval, lanceolate, glossy, dark green, collected in whorls of 3 - 4. The flowers are showy, creamy, large, reaching up to diameter 8 cm. During the flowering period, the shrub emits a pleasant aroma, which is especially intensified at night and in the evening.

nitida - Gardenia Nitida

An evergreen multi-stemmed shrub up to 2 m high. The leaves are glossy, entire, 8 to 18 cm long and 4 to 6 cm wide. The flowers are white, fragrant, up to 8 cm in diameter. Flower petals are often drooping. The sweetish aroma is felt at a great distance from the bush in the evening and at night.

Indoor gardenia - height . 30 - 90 cm.

Gardenia care at home

How to care for gardenia - temperature . During the winter months, the plant should be kept cool. Cool nights (about 16 ° C) and warm days (20 ° C) in late winter - early spring contribute to the formation flower buds. The rest of the time, room temperature is ideal - 18 - 24 ° C, and you can increase it immediately after the buds appear. At constant high temperature– above 24 ° The plant will grow green mass to the detriment of flowering and will begin to suffer from dry air.

Lighting. Plants need large quantities light for flowering. Place the plant where it will receive several hours of bright sunlight each day - in the morning and evening hours. Be sure to shade the plants on hot summer days. In case of shortage natural light use additional lighting fluorescent lamps- in conditions of chronic lack of light, flowering will not occur. Periodically turn the pot a quarter turn to form a beautiful, harmoniously developed bush.

Gardenia plant - care, pruning . Proper plant care will allow you to enjoy abundant and long-lasting flowering of these indoor plants. Prune the gardenia at the end of winter with sharp pruning shears, otherwise over time you may end up with a loose bush up to 1.5 m high. To make the crown thicker, pinch the tips of the shoots when the plant is dormant. Pruning promotes more abundant flowering next year. In the warm season, you can take the plant out into the fresh air. Gardenia really likes bottom heating, but it should be canceled during flowering. Flowering plants should not change their living conditions - they will drop their buds.

Gardenia in a pot - soil . Prefers soil with an acidic pH - from 5 to 6. Choose peat-based soil with a sufficient content of organic matter in the form of humus, well-drained. From ready-made soils, you should buy soil for azaleas or add finely chopped pine or spruce needles to the soil to acidify it, and you can also add small pieces of bark. Adding a small amount of charcoal to the soil helps keep it loose. To improve drainage, add coarse expanded clay or pine bark to the bottom of the pot.

Growing gardenia - feeding . During the period of active growth, 2 times a month with a fertilizer intended for plants that love acidic soil - with a high content of potassium and iron, diluted by half. He really likes fertilizing with iron chelate. Apply fertilizing only after or in conjunction with watering - this way you can avoid burning the delicate root system. Gardenias love organic fertilizers.

Purpose. Highly prized for its abundance of fragrant flowers, excellent for cutting.

Gardenia at home - flowering time . From May to July, but periodically blooms at any other time. Having formed buds in the fall, the plant can stand with them until spring and only with the onset of a long period of time. daylight hours they will open up. With proper care it can bloom 2 times a year.

Air humidity . High. Use a room humidifier or place the pot on a tray of damp pebbles. Spraying is good to use in the summer in the morning. Try to prevent droplets of water from falling on the flowers - this provokes the appearance of brown spots on the petals. Loves good air circulation, but without cold drafts. You can place the pot on a tray filled with damp pebbles or sphagnum moss - as the water evaporates, it will humidify the air. Make sure that the bottom of the pot does not come into contact with water.

Gardenia watering. Blooming gardenias consume quite a lot of water. Drought causes leaves and buds to fall off. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Reduce watering slightly winter time. Yellowing leaves usually indicate overwatering. Use a pot with large drainage holes and allow the soil to dry out slightly between waterings. Use softened water for irrigation room temperature and if necessary, periodically add lemon juice or citric acid. Excess moisture from the pan is removed immediately after watering.

Transplanting gardenia . At the end of winter, when replanting, you can control the size of the plant by replanting it in a small pot. Instead of replanting, it is better to use transshipment into fresh soil, since the plant does not tolerate damage to the root system. After planting, thoroughly compact the soil around the bush to remove air pockets. Do not touch the flowering bushes - to replant, wait until the flowering has completely faded or use transshipment.

In order to remove the plant, lightly squeeze the walls of the pot with your hands and turn it upside down, placing your palm under the bush - the plant itself will be in your hands. When replanting, shake the bush slightly to release the fibrous root system from old soil, but try not to disturb the small suction roots. Planting is carried out at the same depth. After transplantation, when the plant is over-stressed, it is worth covering the crown with a transparent plastic bag to maintain humidity. If you had to move a plant on its buds and after replanting it gets sick, cut off the buds without regret - it’s better to lose the flowers than the whole bush. After transplanting, do not place the plants in the sun - keep the bushes in partial shade.

Gardenia propagation, planting . Apical semi-ripe cuttings without buds, about 8 cm long, in spring or early summer. The use of growth hormone in this case contributes to the fastest and most successful rooting. The lower leaves are removed from the cuttings so that they lose less moisture. Stick the cuttings into moist, loose soil consisting of a mixture of river sand and peat, at a slight angle cover with a plastic cap or glass to maintain humidity and keep at a temperature of about 25 ° C. If the cuttings are covered with polyethylene, make sure that the film does not touch the plants directly. Ventilate the cuttings daily for a few minutes, and after a week or two, the cover can be slowly removed. It is highly advisable to use bottom heating when rooting. Gardenia can also be successfully grown from seeds - however, this method is suitable for patient gardeners. The germination rate of fresh seeds is good and as a result you can get plants that are initially perfectly adapted specifically to the conditions of your home.

Pests and diseases of gardenia . Whiteflies, mealybugs, aphids and spider mite. Spider mites love gardenias. Falling of buds due to too dry air, waterlogging or dry soil. Leaves turn yellow when wrong mode watering - in case of flooding or drying out of the soil. Gardenia leaves dry out when kept in too dry an atmosphere or near heating devices. The plant does not bloom in low light conditions and does not like watering cold water. Changing conditions for flowering plants - for example, strong temperature fluctuations or cold drafts, so-called cold feet, causes them to shed their buds. Placing them near heating appliances causes plants to shed their leaves.

Note.Do not rush to replant the bush immediately after purchase - observe the plant in new conditions, let the gardenia get used to them without immediately subjecting them to additional stress.

Hydroponics.

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This fragrant tropical flower has a not very good reputation as a capricious and difficult plant to grow at home. Gardenia is really not easy to plant and care for, and a small inaccuracy in agricultural technology can easily negate all the efforts expended. However, if you approach the issue and select a variety wisely, you can significantly simplify this task and achieve your goal. And considering the exquisite appearance and stunning jasmine aroma of the flower, which has long been valued and used in the manufacture of cosmetics and perfumes, it is worth it. And, of course, it is also important to learn “on the shore” how to care for the capricious gardenia at home and achieve its favor.

general description

In the wild, gardenia is an evergreen shrub that can sometimes take a tree-like form. Belongs to the Marenov family. It grows in tropical and subtropical forests of China, India, Indonesia, and is found in Japan. It is a compact bush with a smooth stem and short branches with leathery, shiny leaves of rich green color.

Flowering is long-lasting, beginning in mid-summer and ending in October. At correct landing and proper care during this period, its shoots are completely strewn with numerous flowers in varying degrees of budding. Outwardly, they are similar to roses; they are not inferior to the queen of flowers in their subtle pleasant aroma. Grace appearance allows you to use gardenia in the design of interior solutions of a wide variety of styles.

The closest relative of this tropical flower is coffee.

Types of gardenia with photos

Botanists describe about 250 varieties, including home grown The most acceptable is jasmine gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides), native to the southern provinces of China. The second, almost unused name of the variety is Gardenia Augusta. Its double inflorescences resemble camellia. They are also trying to grow the African variety of gardenia thunbergia (Gardenia thunbergia), which is distinguished by single inflorescences, at home. You should know that the second variety is more whimsical. In addition, knowledge of how to care for gardenia is not enough without meeting a number of subjective conditions (for example, the absence of windows of the desired orientation or their shading by trees).

As a result of long cultivation of the jasmine variety, many varieties have appeared, of which the most popular and suitable for growing in rooms and greenhouses can be identified.

• Beauty - tall variety with large double waxy flowers that bloom throughout summer season and until the last days of October. In greenhouses it can reach 2 meters in height.
• Chuck Hkes- very semi-double aromatic variety with color flowers Ivory. Summer flowering, quite short. It is characterized by increased resistance to cold.
• Amy- stands out for the lighter color of the foliage. The flowers are double and have almost perfect shape, which makes them look like artificial ones. Highly valued for its ability to bloom twice a year.
• Mystery- a tall, large-flowered variety with very dark-colored leaves. Terry inflorescences have a flat shape, up to 13 cm in diameter. Forms a very strong bush with a tendency to grow vertically. It can also bloom a second time.
• Belmond- large-flowered and densely double, has high tolerance to low temperatures and diseases. The diameter of the inflorescences with a stunning aroma reaches 10 cm.
• Variegata- a slow-growing compact shrub with rounded variegated leaves that have transitions from green to light beige. A good option for pot growing at home.
• Radicans- dwarf varietal line, which represents perfect option for bonsai. The width of the crown exceeds its height. The leaves are small, leathery, with a waxy sheen, the flowers are double and medium-sized. Flowering occurs later than other varieties of jasmine gardenia.
• Radican Variegata- a variety bred on the basis of the previous one with more developed characteristics. Growing extremely slowly, making it an excellent candidate for bonsai, the green leaves have a light cream stripe along the edge. Flowering is late, short, in summer.
• Golden Magic- white corollas of inflorescences have a characteristic transition to a golden-yellow color. Blooms spectacularly and for a long time.

Features of purchasing gardenia

Despite the increased demands of the flower for warmth, it is currently possible to buy it all year round, although this is certainly more difficult to do in winter. The copies sold have a clear division into “classes” according to the category of their cost among manufacturers. The most expensive specimens are offered for sale in the bud stage, which requires help to open. This should be done under a warm, but not hot shower.

Moving a gardenia into a house (or any other place) is much more stressful for it than for many other plants, so many specimens die at this stage. According to flower growers, drugs such as Epin, Zircon or HB101 can help her survive stress. The dosage and frequency must be followed according to the attached instructions.

In expensive specimens, the inner petals are often carefully sealed with wax, which requires the same careful removal. The buds may have supporting collars of leaves on top. Cheaper varieties (or producers) usually have smaller and more open buds, and they often have plastic collars on them.

When buying a gardenia as a gift, you should think very carefully about whether the recipient can handle this flower and provide it with the care it needs. Otherwise, the gift will only leave you disappointed.

Each item of requirements for agricultural technology is in in this case important and requiring strict implementation.

Lighting

The flower loves full light throughout the day, but does not react well to direct midday rays. The ideal location would be a very bright but not hot location on a window facing west or southwest, with thin tracing paper pasted on it to protect from direct sun at midday. In winter, the tracing paper can be removed. The window should not be shaded by trees growing behind it.

Gardenia is extremely sensitive not only to the intensity of light, but also to its direction. During the period of budding and flowering, it can not only be moved to another place, but even rotated relative to the light source. The buds may fall off.

Temperature

A flower's love for warmth does not mean that it needs to be kept in a hot room. There is a certain range of comfort, which directly depends on the time of year and the stage of vegetative development. During the spring-summer period optimal temperature lies within +20…+24С. In winter it should be gradually reduced by 4-5C relative to summer. The minimum temperature threshold is +16C. During the period of bud formation it rises to +18…+20С. Whatever the layout, the roots should never be in cold soil (colder than the air in the room). Particularly dangerous for culture sharp fluctuations temperature readings. In winter, the plant experiences a lack of light, and cooler conditions can partly compensate for this.

Air humidity

High and uniform air humidity is one of the conditions for the successful development and flowering of a plant. It places especially high demands on humidity during the period of bud formation. In dry air, the process may stop developing, and the buds that have begun to form may fall off. A tray filled with sphagnum moss or moistened expanded clay will help solve the problem, but the flower pot itself should not touch the bottom. Regular spraying of foliage is recommended, however, water should not get on flowers or unopened buds (unsightly spots may appear).

Watering

For irrigation, you should use warm and soft water, preferably settled, boiled or filtered. In summer, watering should be constant to keep the soil moderately moist. Overfilling is highly undesirable. The plant loves a warm shower, but at this time you need to close the earthen ball. In the winter season, watering is reduced to moderate, but the earthen ball should never be overdried.

Top dressing

Additional nutrition should be provided during the period of active growing and flowering, in spring and summer (1-2 times monthly). Use liquid complex fertilizers for flowering crops, but at half the dosage recommended in the instructions.

Trimming

The crop not only tolerates pruning well, but also needs it periodically. Cut off the shoots after flowering ends, leaving half or a third of them. During the period of active growth, you can pinch the tops of non-flowering shoots to stimulate the growth of new ones.

Cut parts of the stems can be used as apical cuttings for propagation.

What kind of soil does gardenia need?

Calcareous and alkaline soils They are not suitable for it, they need high acidity levels from pH = 5 and slightly higher. When replanting gardenia after purchase, you should try to preserve its soil lump as much as possible; for adding to it, it is recommended to buy a ready-made substrate for azaleas. It’s best not to experiment with making your own soil mixture to begin with. For later transplants, you can add a composition of equal parts of three types of soil (coniferous, turf, leaf) and quartz sand.

How to replant gardenia after purchase?

First of all, there is no need to rush to do this. Let the plant stand and adapt to new conditions (about additional measures adaptations written above). After this, you should make sure that the plant is cramped (usually this is the case) by carefully removing it with a solid lump of earth and inspecting it. If a lot of roots are visible on the outside of the coma, the gardenia should be transferred to another container, completely retaining the substrate and adding up to the volume of the prepared soil mixture for azaleas.

Planned transplant

The frequency of planned transplantation is usually two years. The new container should be 2 cm wider than the previous one. In order to replant the gardenia painlessly and correctly, you need to handle its root system as carefully as possible, preserving the earthen lump. Do it in early spring before the start of active growing season and release of buds. During flowering, replanting is categorically not recommended and can only be justified by the threat of death. The flower will not only shed its buds, but may also die. Good drainage must be provided!

Reproduction

As a result of planned pruning, excellent material remains for vegetative propagation- apical cuttings. They should be about 10 cm long. For their rooting, use a warm nutrient substrate (see above) and any root formation stimulator. Setting up a mini-greenhouse using a jar or transparent bag will speed up the process. It is acceptable to keep the cuttings in water, but in this case they may not produce roots. After the cutting has doubled in height, it is pinched. You need to be prepared for the fact that the process will be lengthy and not always successful.

Pests

The most frequently observed pests were thrips, aphids, scale insects and spider mites. The reason for the first three is most often infection from neighboring crops, and the appearance of a mite can be caused by too dry and hot conditions. Control methods are traditional using insecticides. If the number of pests progresses, treatment is carried out three times with a week break.

Possible problems

• Very slow development, lack of flowering, pale foliage. The flower lacks nutrition and light.
• Gardenia leaves turn yellow or become covered yellow spots-divorces. There is not enough soil acidity, the soil needs to be acidified.
• The flower droops, loses its buds, and the leaves become limp. It is necessary to check the temperature; most likely, it is below normal.
• Leaves fall, sometimes remaining green. Cold water watering, lack of moisture.
• The gardenia is drying up. Various unfavorable factors may occur, the most common being dry air and lack of moisture.
• Reset of buds and flowers. Drafts or moving the pot from place to place, sudden changes in lighting intensity.

In areas where the plant grows in the wild, it is used to prepare decoctions and infusions. Their action is directed against pulmonary diseases, herpes, infections of the oral cavity, externally for healing wounds, tumors, eczema, burns. Chinese herbalists widely use gardenia as an antiseptic and diuretic, as well as to solve sexual problems in men.

Gardenia is rightfully considered one of the most fastidious plants. It is demanding on absolutely all maintenance parameters: lighting, care, air and soil temperature, watering, soil, etc. However experienced flower growers they know how to create all the necessary conditions for it and enjoy long and beautiful flowering.

Description of the flower

Gardenia belongs to the Madder family. In the wild it grows as a bush that can reach one and a half meters. Found in wild forests of India, Japan and China. At home, gardenia grows to the size of a small bush, 3 times smaller than in the wild, no more than 0.5 m. It has shiny dark green leaves, wide, but their tips are pointed. Flowering period – July-October. The buds are large, up to 7 cm in diameter, and can be single or collected in inflorescences. However, this is quite difficult to achieve.

What conditions does a flower need?

It is necessary to maintain all the parameters that gardenia requires. Caring for a plant at home requires skill, labor and patience. Need to create optimal conditions for its growth and avoid their changes.

Lighting

Gardenia grows in warm climates; it loves to have light, but suffers from direct sunlight. Therefore, it is worth placing it on window sills facing west or east. In winter, you can move it to south-facing windows. When the sun is hot, it is advisable to shade the window so as not to damage the delicate flower.

Gardenia does not like changes in light levels and reacts poorly to any rearrangements and movements. During the flowering period, and also when the future beauty is just being established, you cannot move the plant to another place or even turn it, because due to a change in lighting, all the buds may fall off.

Temperature

Gardenia grows in countries with hot climates; it is a heat-loving plant. Best temperature it counts up to 24°C in summer and up to 20°C in winter. The minimum comfortable temperature is 16 °C; buds are well formed when the thermometer shows 18 °C.

It is also important to monitor the soil temperature. If it is cold, the gardenia will hurt and the flowers will fall off. As a result, the plant may even disappear. It also does not like sudden changes in temperature.

Watering

Gardenia loves moist soil, but it should not allow water to stagnate in the roots. If you dry out the soil, the plant will have a hard time surviving it. In the spring-summer period, watering is plentiful, the rest of the time - moderate, but you need to make sure that the soil does not dry out.

The flower is demanding on water quality. It must be soft. You can use boiled, filtered and rainwater. For irrigation, you can only use warm water.

Air humidity

If the air is dry, the buds and their ovaries will fall off. Gardenia needs high level humidity. When a flower is actively growing, it needs spraying, but it is considered unacceptable for water to get on the buds.

To create the necessary conditions for this parameter, use trays into which sphagnum moss or expanded clay is placed and water is poured. In this case, the flower pot is placed so that the bottom does not touch the liquid.

Priming

Gardenia prefers acidic and slightly acidic soils, whose pH level is 4.5-5.5. Does not tolerate liming. Purchased soil for azaleas will be optimal. You can make your own mixture for the flower. To do this, you need to mix turf, coniferous, leaf and peat soil equally and add the same portion of sand. The soil should remain loose, well ventilated, providing good drainage. Gardenia also likes the ground to be warm.

Flower care

After and during flowering, you need to monitor the gardenia and prune faded shoots. Dried and fallen flowers are also removed.

The plant is replanted no more often than once every 2 years, after it has flowered.

In spring and summer, the plant needs feeding. The procedure is carried out every 2 weeks. In this case, the dosage of fertilizer is taken to be half as much as indicated in the instructions.

Gardenia- a whimsical plant, but with proper care it will delight the owner with long and beautiful flowering.

For those living in China, Japan and other Asian countries with a hot and humid climate, gardenia is familiar, as it is found in the wild and attracts with its decorative properties. In the gardens of the emperors, gardenia bushes, covered with pure white or cream-colored flowers with an exquisite aroma, were given pride of place. In countries with temperate climate This flower has firmly taken its place on window sills and indoors thanks to the American biologist Alexander Garden. There are more than 250 species of this plant in the world.

The most common type of gardenia is jasmine. This evergreen low shrub grows in greenhouses and indoors, reaching a height of at least half a meter. Long oval leaves of a dark green hue, pointed at the base, cover the bare trunk. On the apical part of the shoots, usually in mid-summer, single flowers or three connected in inflorescences appear.

Flower growers took notice and spread several forms of gardenia, which are distinguished by large, fragrant, double-shaped flowers:

• The Fortuna variety is characterized by large camellia-like flowers up to ten centimeters in diameter.
• Mystery flowers have a long flowering period.
• Gardenia Carinata can be recognized by single flowers that change their tone, starting from snow-white, turning into yellow-lemon and ending with orange.
• Gardenia Tahitiana has flowers of enormous size, double and simple in shape, and she covers herself with them whenever she pleases, spontaneously.
• Gardenia Thunberg is named after the famous naturalist. This species has narrow leaves growing at the ends of bare branches. But the flowers amaze with their aroma, which intensifies at night. They emerge from cream-colored buds with a green tint, twisted in an intricate way. The species is quite unpretentious and hardy, so it is used for rootstock.

Some types of gardenia thrive in gardens where the climate is ideal for them.

Any plant goes through a period of aging and needs to be renewed. To do this, use the method of rooting cuttings, which is simple, effective and for propagating gardenia.

When the bush fades, branches are cut from it that are not at the growth stage, but have already matured. Definitely a must take apical stalk with a heel, that is, with a piece of wood, then rooting will be easier. The mother plant from which the cuttings are cut must be healthy and resistant to adverse factors.

The prepared branch must have at least six buds.

It is best to root cuttings in the ground, but if we use water for this, then we need to put one or two tablets in it activated carbon to avoid rotting of the liquid.

Now let's see which soil substrate is most useful:

• The best solution is a mixture of equal amounts of peat and sand, to which a little sphagnum is added.
• Moss has the ability to make the soil loose, absorbing moisture well, and then when the plant grows, the lump of earth will stick tightly to the roots.
• The next step is soil disinfection, which can be carried out in microwave oven or in a saucepan on the fire. With such sterilization, microbes, fungi, and seeds are destroyed in the substrate.

Now you can place the cuttings cut at an oblique angle, previously lowered into Kornevin, into a cup with soil. It is imperative to create a greenhouse effect for the sprouts by covering the containers with film. Conditions high humidity activate the appearance of gardenia. And then they transplant it into a pot, where the substrate will contain not only sand and peat, but also coniferous soil. The last stage is pinching the cuttings when they reach fifteen centimeters in height. The resulting new plant will grow stronger and bloom under certain conditions.

Knowing the birthplace decorative flower, you can create similar conditions on the windowsills of your home:

• Gardenia lives wild in the southern regions of Asia and Africa, where it is always hot. For flowering bushes, the optimal temperature is considered to be at least 25 degrees in warm periods, and 20 in winter. At low temperatures, gardenia will not bloom: it is very afraid of sudden changes in air temperature.
• In the subtropics, the humidity is quite high, and for an indoor flower you need to create it indoors. And frequent spraying will help with this, especially during the formation of buds. But for flowers, a shower can be disastrous; you must try to prevent water from getting on them. They also place wet moss or sand in the trays of gardenia pots, keeping it so wet all the time.
• Sun rays are good for growth indoor plant, so window sills on the western, eastern or southern sides are suitable for him. But with gardenia you need to shade it from scorching ultraviolet radiation. And there is no need to move flower pots from one window to another - the plant will drop its buds. In winter, if there is not enough lighting for the plant, then additional lighting is created in the form of fluorescent lamps.

If the conditions of the subtropics are created, then the gardenia will repay only with gratitude - it will be covered with fragrant white flowers.

Now about the advice of gardeners on caring for gardenia:

• Although the tropical plant loves moisture, it should be watered abundantly in summer and spring, up to three times a week, and moderately in the cold season. Not just any water is suitable for this procedure, but warm and preferably settled or purified with a filter. If the soil lacks acidity, then you can drop a little lemon juice into the water for irrigation, diluting a liter of water with half a gram of iron sulfate. It is also recommended to acidify the soil with peat-infused water.
• Decorative bushes will need feeding twice a month, either with organic matter or... Peat-humic substrates are also well accepted. If there is a lack of iron, when the leaves suddenly begin to turn yellow, you can spray the crown with a weak solution of metal sulfate.
• Gardenia tolerates it easily, so once every two years you can carry out this procedure in March or immediately after the plant has bloomed. After transferring the decorative bush along with a lump of earth on the roots into another pot, then add soil to the desired level.
• Another procedure that gardenia cannot do without is cutting bushes by a third or half of the shoots. By removing weak and thickened branches, the plant becomes strong. And pinching the tops of young shoots leads to the active appearance of new lateral branches and flower buds.

Although they consider gardenia jasmine to be capricious, all types of care for it are easy to understand and do not take much time.

Indifference to plant care leads to problems that arise when growing gardenia:

• Improper watering, when the water stagnates or, conversely, the soil is too dry, causes a malfunction of the root system, and it begins to get sick. And a signal about this will appear as yellow spots on the leaves. Another reason for yellowing foliage is a lack of iron in the plant’s body. And here the drug Ferovit will help.
• If the temperature and watering rules are not observed, the buds, having appeared on the branches, begin to fall off. The period of appearance and development of buds is the most important for gardenia, and any deviation from the norm in care and growing conditions will affect their condition.
• Dry, hot weather with low air humidity can result in buds not appearing on gardenia bushes at all.

Pests especially cause a lot of trouble indoor flower aphids, thrips, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites. These insects most often infect leaves flowering plant, sometimes they can be found on buds.

More information can be found in the video:

Careful attention to gardenia will allow you to avoid risk factors that can destroy your indoor flower.