Secrets of growing gardenia jasmine

Growing some indoor flowers requires a special approach and considerable experience. Gardenia jasmine is a vivid example that confirms the validity of this statement. Scientists know it as Gardenia jasminoides, while growers affectionately call it a Japanese beauty. This plant makes you fall in love at first sight. Everything is beautiful in it: smooth and shiny leaves of a rich green color, large double flowers that fill the air with a pleasant but strong aroma, the splendor of a bush. But to admire its luxurious perfection on the windowsill, you have to try to create ideal conditions for the gardenia.

Lighting

The capricious beauty prefers bright and at the same time diffused lighting, needing it throughout the year. The pot with it is best placed on a window that faces the west or east side. The jasmine gardenia is also successfully grown on the southern and south-western windows, shading it in especially hot hours (from 11 to 17).

A barrier to the scorching rays of the sun is created from improvised means:

• paper;
• tracing paper;
• gauze;
• lightweight fabric.

You can buy floral wrap or special curtains at the store. Growing a flower on northern windows will bring even more hassle. It will have to be artificially illuminated, otherwise it will quickly lose its decorative effect.

In warm weather, the jasmine gardenia pot can be placed on the balcony or taken out into the garden.

If the site is in the middle lane, you need to reliably protect the plant, which is harmful to some environmental factors:

• direct sunlight;
• precipitation;
• drafts;
• cold north wind.

In the southern regions, a shady place is chosen for a flower pot. If the gardenia is growing outdoors, it will need spray maintenance. It is held twice a day: early in the morning, while it is still cool, and in the late evening, when the sun goes down.

Winter with its short daylight hours is a difficult period in the life of the jasmine gardenia. LED or fluorescent lamps (LB, LBU) will help to preserve its beauty. They are placed in the amount of 4 pieces per 1 m². It is not recommended to use incandescent lamps: they heat the air, disrupting the usual gardenia microclimate. The plant will tell about the lack of light by itself. Its symptoms are drying and falling of buds, stunted appearance of the flower.

Advice

Gardenia jasmine is sensitive to permutations and turns of the pot, which entail changes in illumination. They are fraught with especially serious consequences during the period when the flower is picking up buds: it can throw them off. Therefore, at home, it is better to immediately choose a permanent place for the plant.

Temperature and humidity

The lush flowering of the jasmine gardenia will delight, if the temperature regime is strictly observed. In spring and summer, the air in the room with the plant should be warmed up to 22, to a maximum of 24˚C. The gardenia brought out to the balcony or garden is returned to the room when it is about to bloom. But before that, the temperature in the room is brought to a comfortable level for her.

The flower buds of the jasmine gardenia form in the autumn-winter period. At this time, the optimum temperature for the plant is in the range of 16-18˚C. In such conditions, it forms more buds. Higher temperatures will stimulate new shoots to grow and the gardenia will not bloom well.

The soil in the pot should not overcool. This can kill the plant. To avoid unpleasant consequences, they use insulating coasters.They can be made from materials such as foam, travel sponge, sponge rubber mat. They are placed under the pot if the window sill is cold. It is correct if the soil at the roots of the jasmine gardenia and the air in the room have the same temperature. Drafts are also dangerous for the plant at home, so you need to open the vents for ventilation with caution.

The subtropical origin makes the flower sensitive to moisture levels. Frequent spraying helps to increase it. They are especially important for gardenias in the summer heat. They need to be carried out carefully, processing only the leaves of the plant, which should be covered with very small drops, and without affecting the flowers and buds. It is quite difficult to achieve this result, so it is recommended not to point the spray gun at the gardenia itself, but to spray water into the air around it.

There is also a safer option - to place the flower pot near the evaporator or aquarium, or place it on a tray filled with damp substrate.

As a substrate, you can use:

• small stones;
• moss;
• sand.

In this case, you need to make sure that the pot does not come into contact with water. Constant evaporation will keep the air around the plant moist enough without putting the roots at risk of getting wet.

Soil requirements and replanting

Important for gardenia jasmine and soil composition. In order for the roots of the flower to absorb nutrients better, the soil should be slightly acidic. Of the ready-made substrates, those that are intended for growing azaleas are suitable for him.

If the soil for transplanting gardenia is prepared independently, the following components are mixed in equal proportions:

• deciduous land;
• sod land;
• coniferous forest soil;
• high-moor peat;
• coarse sand.

Drainage must be placed at the bottom of the pot. Better if it is boiled expanded clay. Such treatment is necessary to cleanse its pores from salts.

As the soil becomes depleted, it needs to be renewed. A jasmine gardenia transplant is needed every 2 years. If the flower is still very young, it can be moved to a new pot earlier - after a year. During the growing season, plant transplantation is contraindicated. It will result in the dropping of buds. An exception is made only for those gardenias that need to be urgently saved.

The plant is transplanted when flowering is complete - from late autumn to mid-winter. If it is young, it is transferred from one pot to another. With an adult bush, there will be more trouble. Shaking off the old soil from its roots, they are shortened. The cut sites are treated with crushed activated carbon. Then the underground part of the plant is immersed in a solution of a rooting stimulator according to the instructions. For transplanting an adult gardenia, you can use the same container, but the substrate in it must be changed.

Watering frequency

Gardenia jasmine grows well in slightly moist soil. The substrate should not dry out all year round. In summer, the flower needs constant moisture. In winter, watering is carried out less often. By the next procedure, the soil should have time to dry out slightly. Lack of moisture will affect flowering: the gardenia will shed its buds. But you cannot overdo it with watering at home, regardless of the season - this will destroy the plant. Good drainage will protect the roots of the flower from moisture stagnation. The pallet must be freed from excess liquid after watering.

Water quality also matters. If it is hard, watering will lead to salinity of the soil in the pot. And when sprinkled with it, the smooth leaves of the plant will lose their attractiveness, becoming covered with ugly spots. Moisten the jasmine gardenia with soft warm water, which is pre-defended. It is better if it is rain or river.

To preserve the acidity of the soil, the plant is watered twice a month with water, to which a couple of drops of fresh lemon juice are added. You can insist on peat.It is wrapped in cheesecloth and dipped into a container with liquid, periodically replacing the contents of the bag with fresh.

Top dressing and pruning

The most important element for gardenia is iron. Therefore, the flower is fed with fertilizers containing its chelated salts. You can dilute them in water and spray the leaves of the plant with the resulting nutrient. Do this 1-2 times per season. Before use, you need to carefully study the composition of the drug. It should be free of calcium and magnesium. If these elements nevertheless fall into the soil, you cannot do without transplanting the jasmine gardenia. She will not be able to fully develop in such soil.

In spring and summer, formulations with a high content of phosphorus and potassium are used for dressing. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of new shoots and leaves, but excess nitrogen will delay flowering and make it scarce. They also approach the introduction of other elements with caution. Mineral salts, which are unnecessary for the plant, accumulate in the soil, poisoning it.

In order for the jasmine gardenia to be lush and beautiful, it needs care in the form of pruning. They begin to form a bush while the plant is still young. The tops of its shoots are pinched. When the last buds on an adult gardenia wither, prune it. Only strong shoots are left on the bush, shortening their length by a third. Weak, poorly developed, improperly growing branches are removed.

You can give your gardenia a jasmine-like tree shape. Its lateral shoots are removed without touching the top of the plant. When the flower reaches the desired height, it is pinched. Further, the remaining shoots are trimmed, the purpose of which is to form a crown.

Breeding features

You can grow a jasmine gardenia in 2 ways:

1. from seeds;
2. planting a cutting.

Generative reproduction of a flower will only be successful when fresh seed is used. It can be harvested at home from an adult plant or purchased from a store. For sowing, take a wide container, in the bottom of which there are drainage holes. Having filled it in ⅓ with expanded clay, soil is poured on top, composed of equal volumes of coniferous earth, peat and sand.

Advice

A mixture of coarse sand and small pebbles is also suitable as drainage.

The day before sowing, gardenia seeds are poured with a growth stimulator solution. Then they are laid out on the surface of the soil mixture, covering it with a thin (0.3-0.5 cm) layer of soil from above, slightly crushing it. Crops are moistened with warm water using a spray bottle so as not to wash them out. The planting container is covered with foil and kept warm and exposed to light. Growing a flower from seeds requires observing the temperature regime. Seedlings appear only in the soil warmed up to 25 ° C. It takes about a month to hatch them. Periodically, the film is removed for ventilation, moistening the soil as needed.

With the appearance of real leaves, the matured seedlings dive into separate shallow cups. They are placed in a dark place or covered until the young gardenias take root. They will delight with the first buds only after 2 years. Before that, they will have to undergo several more transplants.

Florists prefer to propagate the plant vegetatively. If you root a jasmine gardenia stalk, caring for it will take less energy, and it will enter the flowering phase much faster - after 6 months. Lignified shoots are used as propagation material, cutting off their upper part. This is usually done in the summer, during the formation of the bush. The stalk is placed in a wet substrate of sand and peat and a mini-greenhouse is built around it. When it takes root, it will need to be transplanted into a soil mixture that is optimally suitable for the plant.

Advice

The stalk will take root faster if, before planting, treat it with a solution of a drug that stimulates root growth.

Falling leaves

Gardenia jasmine is not a patient plant.She will not adapt to unfavorable conditions for her, immediately signaling that she is not well with external changes. If the leaves on her bush turn black and fall off, this is a reason to check the condition of the soil in the pot. Such symptoms occur when the root system does not work properly, due to which the flower does not receive enough nutrition.

The following factors can cause blackening of the lower leaves:

• compaction of soil in a pot, due to which air cannot penetrate to the roots of the plant;
• blockage of drainage holes, leading to stagnant moisture;
• excess nutrients in the soil.

If the color of the top of the jasmine gardenia has changed, the cause may be pests. Some diseases of a bacterial and viral nature are also manifested by such symptoms.

With fungal infections, the leaves of the flower become covered with spots and bloom and die off. It won't be easy to save the plant. It will have to be treated with fungicides. Diseased leaves and shoots are removed and burned, after which spraying is carried out. The roots are also treated. The next step is to transplant the jasmine gardenia into a fresh substrate. It is advisable to use a new container as well.

No less excitement for flower growers arises if the plant sheds its leaves. So it shows that care is not being taken properly. Here you will have to check whether each of the gardenia's requirements for the conditions of detention is met.

Yellowing of the plant

There may be several reasons why the leaves of a flower turn yellow. To understand the nature of the problem, you need to carefully examine the plant.

Advice

With a lack of iron and nitrogen, their levels are gradually restored. Otherwise, the bush will suffer even more.

Gardenia jasmine-shaped also turns yellow with illiterate care. The following factors lead to a change in the color of the leaves:

• sudden changes in temperature;
• planting a plant in an unsuitable soil for it;
• direct sunlight.

The impact of any of these factors will be the answer to the question of why the plant does not bloom.

No matter how whimsical the jasmine gardenia is, lovers of indoor cultures forgive her everything, even her poisonousness. For the sake of the lush beauty of its flowering shrubs, they are willing to take risks and try to grow it again and again. If you provide a gardenia with competent care, placing it in the most comfortable conditions and without changing the microclimate, it will bloom new buds almost continuously. Agree, the luscious colors on the windowsill, combined with the enchanting aroma that fills the room almost all year round, are worth the effort.