How to make potted gardenia lush and flowering
Share with everyone the content about gardenia, a woody flower, on how to make potted gardenia lush and flowering. The following is a detailed explanation by the editor.
The elegant and fragrant gardenia, with its pure white petals resembling jade and its glossy green leaves, adds a lot of coolness and fragrance to the hot summer, becoming a favorite potted flower for many homes. In the southern part of China, the warm and humid climate and slightly acidic soil make it easy to grow gardenias. For people in the north, however, gardenias require careful care. A moment's neglect can cause them to turn yellow and thin, bloom rarely, or even wither away. After several years of experimentation, the author has managed to make the potted gardenias bloom and grow lush every year, mainly by doing the following:
1. Choose suitable potting soil. Gardenias prefer acidic soil, with an ideal pH range of 5 to 6. If the soil acidity is not suitable, it will be twice as hard in future management. The cultivation soil can be a mixture of decomposed leaf mold, peat soil, or half mature sawdust mixed with garden soil. Avoid using old wall soil and coal cinders. Using store-bought soil for orchids is more convenient and practical.
2. Water scientifically. Gardenias prefer moist soil and higher humidity. Keep the potting soil moist during the growing season from April to September. Water when the surface of the soil is dry, and sprinkle water on the leaves with a spray bottle at night. If the soil dries out completely, it is not good for growth. For plants that are too vigorous with long internodes, do not water at night but water in the morning when the sun comes out. In areas with alkaline water, let the tap water sit for two days before using. Every three to five days, water thoroughly with a solution containing 0.5 grams of citric acid and 1 gram of ferrous sulfate per liter, which can make the leaves glossy and green.
3. Fertilize appropriately. Gardenias like fertilizer. In the cultivation soil, you can add 3% of decomposed cake fertilizer as a base fertilizer. During the growing season, apply a solution of cake fertilizer and ferrous sulfate every week, or use 0.1% humic acid all-purpose organic liquid fertilizer. During the bud formation period, apply a 0.1% solution of potassium dihydrogen phosphate once or twice, which can make the flowers larger and more fragrant. Stop fertilizing when the temperature is above 35°C during the hot summer and below 15°C in autumn.
4. Get plenty of sun. Gardenias like sunlight and can also grow in semi-shady conditions, but they will have longer flowering stems and fewer flowers. Except for shading during the strong sunlight from July to August and the dormant period in winter, they generally need to be placed in the sun to bloom and grow lushly.
5. Good winter dormancy. Gardenias can survive the winter outdoors in the Qinling area of China, but potted gardenias may suffer root damage after severe winters and recover slowly in spring. While they can survive in a heated room without frost damage, insufficient light can lead to weak growth, and most of the young buds formed in autumn will fall off, resulting in late blooming the following year. A better method is to place the potted plants in a cold room with a temperature of about 5°C for dormancy, or wrap the pot with foam plastic or other insulating materials to protect the roots and place it in a sheltered, sunny spot for the winter. This helps in quick recovery and early blooming in spring.
6. Replace the potting soil at the right time. Use small pots for young plants and gradually move them to larger pots. When the crown width is 2 to 3 times the diameter of the pot, it's time to repot. This can be done at any time during the growing season. After repotting, plant the soil ball in a new pot with a diameter about 5 cm larger than the original pot. When the pot reaches about 28 cm in diameter, it is usually not necessary to repot but only to replace the soil. It's better to do this in March. After repotting, cut off some old roots, shake off half of the old soil, and plant the new soil in the pot, then water thoroughly and place it in a warm, semi-shady spot. When new buds start to grow, place it in the sun.
7. Prune appropriately. For large-flowered gardenias, remove the top at a height of 20 cm above the main stem, leaving 3 to 4 branches, and remove the top again when the branches have 2 pairs of leaves to encourage branching. Small-leaved gardenias do not need to be topped. After flowering each year, do light pruning to remove inner branches and weak or diseased ones, and cut back some vigorous branches. For large-flowered gardenias, after 4 to 5 years when the crown is too large, you can do a severe pruning after flowering, usually leaving 2 pairs of leaves on the upper branches and removing inward-growing buds and buds at the base of the main stem. This will make the plant more compact and beautiful. Remember not to cut the top of the gardenia in spring, otherwise it will not bloom that year.
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