How to grow a potted gardenia to keep it alive
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Gardenias have a strong fragrance when they bloom, and many flower enthusiasts like to keep a pot of gardenias at home, but they often can't keep them alive. Today, I will summarize how to grow a potted gardenia to keep it alive and help everyone grow beautiful gardenias.
How to grow a potted gardenia to keep it alive
To grow gardenias well, you first need to understand their growing habits. Gardenias are evergreen shrubs that prefer a sunny environment but can also tolerate semi-shade. If you want to grow gardenias well and have them bloom every year, you need to pay attention to the following points during maintenance.
1. -- Loose and well-drained soil --
In fact, gardenias do not have high requirements for soil. They can grow well in loose and well-drained soil, and they can also grow in heavy soil, but they prefer acidic soil.
For potted gardenias, it is recommended to choose loose and acidic soil. You can mix one part garden soil with one part acidic nutrient-rich soil, then plant after mixing evenly. If there is no acidic soil, you can also use universal nutrient-rich soil and pay attention to acidifying the soil during subsequent maintenance.
2. -- Sufficient fertilization and watering --
Gardenias grown in the ground can grow well without fertilization, but for potted gardenias, the nutrients in the potting soil are limited, so they need to be fertilized regularly to supplement nutrients. In April, during spring, you should increase fertilization, focusing on phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to promote the growth of gardenia flower buds and increase blooming. More flower buds mean a longer blooming period for gardenias.
After the blooming period, gardenias enter a rapid growth phase, during which they produce a large number of new branches. These new branches grow rapidly and consume a lot of nitrogen fertilizer. Therefore, it is recommended to apply compound fertilizer to gardenias in summer to promote robust plant growth. Robust gardenias can bloom again in autumn.
In autumn, you should increase the use of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers again, which can promote autumn blooming and also strengthen the roots of gardenias, making the plants stronger and more cold-resistant.
Gardenias love water and consume a lot of it. Therefore, you should keep the potting soil moist in summer, gradually reduce watering in autumn, and keep the soil slightly moist in winter.
3. -- Sufficient sunlight --
Gardenias prefer an environment with plenty of sunlight and can be maintained in full sunlight even in summer. With sufficient sunlight, gardenias will grow in a compact form. Even in environments with insufficient sunlight, gardenias can grow vigorously, but the number of flowers will decrease. Therefore, if possible, it is recommended to maintain sufficient sunlight.
4. -- Proper pruning --
Pruning gardenias has a significant impact on the shape and blooming of the plants. If the timing of pruning is incorrect, it can severely affect the growth of gardenias and even prevent them from blooming.
The best time to prune gardenias is in early summer when the blooming period ends, and the plants produce a large number of new buds. Pruning these new buds can effectively control the height of the gardenias and promote more branching.
Besides summer pruning for shaping, you can also prune appropriately during the winter dormancy period, removing weak, crossed, dense, and diseased branches. However, be careful not to prune strong flowering branches. If pruning is too heavy during dormancy, it can lead to no blooming in spring because gardenias bloom on old branches, and new branches are not mature enough to bloom.
5. -- Pay attention to winter protection --
Gardenias do not have strong cold resistance. They can survive the winter outdoors in areas like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, but further north, they need to be brought indoors for winter. Gardenias can generally tolerate temperatures as low as -3 degrees Celsius, so in severe winters, even in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, protection is needed; otherwise, branches may be frozen or die, leading to no blooming in spring. Therefore, during continuous sub-zero temperatures, it's best to move gardenias indoors for maintenance.
6. -- Acidifying the soil --
Actually, gardenias are quite easy to grow and quite tough. The reason many enthusiasts can't keep gardenias alive is that they prefer acidic soil. The soil in pots can easily become alkaline, leading to iron deficiency yellowing and poor growth, eventually causing the plants to wither.
To keep potted gardenias healthy, it is recommended to apply acid water once a month, which can be done with vinegar water or by watering with 800 times the concentration of ferrous sulfate. For those in northern regions, it is recommended to apply every half month because the soil there is more alkaline, and the potting soil can easily become alkaline.
Of course, in addition to continuously applying acidic fertilizers, you can also supplement with iron fertilizers or trace element fertilizers to correct the yellowing issue caused by iron deficiency.
The above sharing on how to grow a potted gardenia to keep it alive and the key points of the six aspects of how to grow a potted gardenia to keep it alive are for everyone's reference.