The white delicate flower, which many consider the most beautiful houseplant, is gardenia. Caring for her is not very simple. After all, it was not in vain that she was nicknamed the capricious beauty. However, many dream of having this plant that pleases the eye, which, moreover, has a pleasant sweet aroma. Almost all summer gardenia blooms!
Care that does not take into account the characteristics of the flower can lead to rapid death of the plant. Everyone who undertakes its cultivation should know how to properly care for exotic gardenia so that it does not die.
Flower - Gardenia
Home care for this plant has begun relatively recently. Of all the existing species, of which more than two hundred, only jasmine gardenia has taken root in room conditions.
Gardenia (Latin name Gardenia) belongs to the madder family. Its homeland is Japan and China, it is also found in South Africa and India. In the natural environment, it is a shrub about one and a half meters high.
The leaves are dense, bright green in color, pointed at the ends. The flowers are large, white or cream in color, with a diameter of up to ten centimeters. They are single or collected in inflorescences of four to five pieces.
Gardenia: Care
This exotic flower requires constant attention. Photophilous and thermophilic gardenia, the care of which should ensure a stable temperature without hesitation, in the summer period needs heat not lower than eighteen, and in winter - sixteen degrees. In winter, care should be taken not to overcool the roots.
The flower is constant and does not like to travel from place to place. Therefore, in the summer it is not carried out into the air. However, it is necessary to ventilate the room where the plant is located, while avoiding drafts. After any transportation (including after purchase), it adapts for about three weeks. Only after that the purchased plant is transplanted.
Light nutrient soils with good drainage are suitable for her. You can transplant a plant only after it fades. It is advisable to transplant an adult plant only occasionally. This can be done in early spring or after the gardenia has faded.
The flower that forms the buds cannot be rotated.
Gardenia care also consists of regular moderate watering. It is advisable to use settled soft water. Excessive dryness and excessive humidity are detrimental to the plant.
In summer, you need to spray the leaves to provide high humidity. In this case, after the buds open, only the surrounding air should be sprayed. Otherwise, drops of water falling on the flowers can lead to the appearance of brown spots.
It is also advisable to place a flower pot in the summer in a pan with pebbles and water, without lowering the bottom into the water. You can use moistened peat for these purposes.
Gardenia is fed once every two weeks, alternating mineral and organic fertilizers. An adult flower is fed every week. Fertilizers for him should not contain lime.
With the slightest carelessness, gardenia can shed its peduncle, and then the leaves. Signs of problems are yellow leaves, lack of growth and flowering, shedding of buds.
Propagate the plant by cuttings. They are cut off in February-March. You can use shoots that cut off after flowering, choosing thickening and weak stems. They are cut off by about half.
The cuttings are kept in a manganese solution and planted in a substrate. After that, they should be covered with a jar, periodically ventilated and sprayed. Rooting is long and difficult. To root the cuttings in water, they must be placed in a weak solution containing root formation stimulants: root, epin, heteroauxin.