Gardenia Leaves Turned White?

[nellie923]

I'm not sure of the variety of this Gardenia. It is growing in a pot on my deck. Due to what has become out annual Arctic Blast, I kept the plant inside during winter months and put it out a couple of weeks ago. Some of the leaves have turned white, not yellow (as with iron deficiency) It does not appear to be powdery mildew, either. The leaves appear to have been sprayed with whitish silver paint. I have a tomato plant with the same discoloration. I gave the gardenia a dose of iron, just in case, but the leaves really don't look like they do with iron deficiency. Would a sudden cold snap do this? We have not had a freeze since I put out these plants (the tomatoes are also in pots on my deck). Any ideas what could be causing this and how to fix it? Thanks.

 

[oneeye]

I'm not sure of the variety of this Gardenia. It is growing in a pot on my deck. Due to what has become out annual Arctic Blast, I kept the plant inside during winter months and put it out a couple of weeks ago. Some of the leaves have turned white, not yellow (as with iron deficiency) It does not appear to be powdery mildew, either. The leaves appear to have been sprayed with whitish silver paint. I have a tomato plant with the same discoloration. I gave the gardenia a dose of iron, just in case, but the leaves really don't look like they do with iron deficiency. Would a sudden cold snap do this? We have not had a freeze since I put out these plants (the tomatoes are also in pots on my deck). Any ideas what could be causing this and how to fix it? Thanks.

Hello nellie, it looks like insect damage on the tomatoes. As far as the gardenia goes it looks like the plant may have out lived its container. Very gently tip the plant out of the pot and get a good look at the roots. Looking the roots will tell you if its over or under watered or needs up-potting.

 

[nellie923]

Closer examination of both plants: I did not see any insects on the tomato, even under magnification, but a closeup of the gardenia shows definite signs of invasion. Not sure what these are or how to treat them?

 

[nellie923]

My best guess is that these are soft scale on gardenia. Can't see any sign of insects on tomatoes. But I cut off much of the infestation on the gardenia (sadly, rigth before bloom!) and sprayed both with EIGHT spray. It's cloudy today in the late 60s, but no rain in forecast, so I thought it was ok to spray during the day.

 

[cpp gardener]

Did you use Eight from Bonide? Or was it a homemade brew?
Those were mealybugs and the Bonide Eight should control them. The other thing I noticed about the Gardenia’s leaves is that they seemed sunbleached like they were grown in low light and then moved to a sunnier location. Could have been caused by the move from inside to outside. The tomato could be the same, but it also looks like spider mite damage.

 

[kate_grey]

Thank you all for the info

 

[nellie923]

Eight by Bonide. The sunbleach idea makes perfect sense, and so was coincidental with the mealybugs. Did not see spider mites on tomato with magnifier, but I sprayed them anyway. Thanks for all the advice!