Need some assistance - Issues with indoor Gardenia

[4nmolrai]

Hi,

I need some assistance in identifying what the issue is with my indoor gardenia plant, as you will see from the images below. I am currently based in the UK living in the South West region.

I had another Gardenia plant before making this purchase but that died as a result of overwatering as the leaves would just peel off the stems very easily.

Therefore having learnt my lesson from that mistake, I have been VERY sparing with the watering now however I am beginning to see brown patches especially on "newer" or "younger" leaves which seems to be spreading to other leaves but very gradually. I check the state of my plant multiple times a day on a daily basis but obviously there is something wrong which I am not seeing?

I think this may be due to the current hot weather so to counteract this, I mist the plant a lot regularly. I place the plant near the windowsill of my bedroom which is North West facing (I know not really ideal). It might be unseen pests I don't know or maybe my bedroom is not humid enough.

Thanks.

 

[oneeye]

Very gently tip your plant out of the container and get a look at the roots. Are the roots white or brown and is the soil too dry in the middle of the pot or too wet? Gardenias love acidic soil and sometimes giving the plant tap water that's alkaline can be a problem in the long run. Post a photo of the plant from the side so I can see the pot and the plant trunk in the soil.

 

[4nmolrai]

Hi oneeye, thank you for the information. Firstly I thought I’d say that I had posted this elsewhere in 2 other online forums a few days and one user had responded to me highlighting the important of humidity. As such due to being frustrated with the current climate here (predominantly quite dry and having medium/low light) in the UK, I decided to put the plant in a large plastic storage box with partially closed lid and just heavily mist the plant all over near the windowsill. I have been doing for the last 3 days now and it seems to be coping fine (for now).

I actually did what you have mentioned above in regards to checking the roots just yesterday . You see I have 3 gardenia plants and they all seem to be showing the same symptoms? The soil and roots for one of the plants was adequate hydrated although the roots were slightly brown in colour. The second (the plant in the images above) had two thirds COMPLETELY dry white roots and soil as only the top part was barely moist so yeah… immediately watered using bottled water which I have been doing for the past week or so for all three plants instead of tap water. My concern now is that I may have overwatered them .

I have taken more photographs of my plant you requested as well as of the roots.

 

[4nmolrai]

Update:
Since the above post, More leaves from the lower and middle stems have dropped quite considerably. I have re-potted the plant in a slightly bigger pot as well as increased the humidity even more by using a humidifier fairly close to the plant. Currently, I am still seeing new leaf growth at the top of the plants turning brown and eventually a dark blackish colour? It’s almost as if they have been in contact with an open flame or something. My plant is away from the window and am using LED grow lights. Let’s see what happens.

 

[oneeye]

Increasing the water volume of a plant can cause problems. If you add more soil than the original container the plant will have more water exposure. So you may need to extend the watering frequency by a day or two. Try not to overwater and allow the soil to almost dry out before watering again or you could get a fungus.

 

[oneeye]

Some of the more common fungal diseases that affect gardenia include:

• Anthracnose.
• Dieback.
• Fungal leaf spots – young tender leaves with small round spots is Bacterial Leaf Spot. Rhizoctonia Leaf Spot shows up as tan to brown spots about 1/4″ inch in diameter.
• Powdery Mildew.
• Sooty Mold.
• Google