Yes I know I'm carrying on like a high-school girl on Prom Night who gets a gardenia corsage but I've never had one before! A gardenia I mean, or for that matter a corsage. I am just so proud of my little white beauty - like I really done much other than water it faithfully. I'd still like to know what is causing the leaves to yellow?
17 giugno - San Adolfo
4 comments:
Yellow leaves- ask Tony.. too much water??
But thanks again for the Gardenias, you know they're my favorite.
I think the water may be too acidic..but I'm not sure.
I think it might be a mineral deficiency such as potassium or magnesium, but I too, would ask Tony.
Gardenias come from Asia (atleast the ones we grow in our gardens in S. Europe. In the wild they live in a hot and humid environment. So, they need lot's of water and air humidity. Humidity you can raise by spraying the plant with water daily (bad in the flowering season though as it tends to make flowers yellow) or having a tray of water under the pot but making sure the pot is not IN it.
In the wild the ground where it grows is quite acidic from all the rotting plant matter. And the water it feeds from the rain is neutral and (soft). But in our balconies where we grow them we water them with tap water that is high with salts and therefor it is basic. All these salts stay in the ground making it basic and preventing the plant from getting all the nutrients it needs. Therefor at times it suffers esp from lack of iron or magnesium making the leaves turn yellow... A slow release fertilizer and some added iron would help a lot. Also removing the top soil every year and adding new special soil for acid loving plants (azaleas, rhododentrons, hydrangeas) can help a lot as well. Gathering some rain water and watering it with that or letting it soak in some summer rain (yeah right in Rome) can help as well..
So there you go... or you can just throw it away each year and get a new one :-)
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