When the ancient war dogs did battle on Wed, 14 May 2003 08:22:03
-0400, "pelirojaroja" did speak the following bit
of wisdom:

I've had luck with Gardenias (yes, they are an inside plant) only when they
have been in cool, bright light. That can be a tricky combination --
usually light = heat. I have an air-conditioned sunroom, where they thrive.
It's cool there in the winter, too. They need to have night time temps
under-65 F to set buds -- but they don't like to be below 45 F or so at any
time. That's a narrow range.

OTOH... It is my belief that some people just have the knack with them
and others do not. My mother and I are among those who do. We grow our
plants under vastly different situations even though we only live a
couple of blocks away from each other.

My mom grows hers inside her heated sun porch and the plants *never*
go outside... ever! She keeps the porch heated to about 60 degrees at
night during the winter; on sunny winter days, the temperatures in the
porch can get up into the mid-to-high 70s. During one of our muggy,
"CT coastline" summer heat wave days, the temperatures can be
unbearably hot and sticky, even with window fans going constantly. She
waters and feeds her plants the same way all summer and winter long
and the plants are constantly, evenly moist. She also grows an orchid
or two and a few other plants (tropical hibiscus, orchid cactus,
stephanotis, schefflera and various other things) right next to the
gardenias. All get similar treatment and identical growing conditions.

I grow my gardenias strictly outside in full sunlight on the patio or
deck, all summer long. They should be going out by the end of the
month (or the first week of June at the latest) and they won't come
back inside until mid-to-late October. When they're outside, I treat
them just like any other garden plant. They get as much water as they
want and I use Miracid to feed them with. I'll throw a handful of
"cocka-doodle-doo" (dried chicken poop pellets) or worm castings at
them once at the beginning of the summer (if I remember). Otherwise,
they are on their own -- absolutely no pampering allowed! I don't have
the luxury of owning a nice sun porch like my mom, so during the
winter, mine get stored in the garage or basement (wherever they
happen to fit best that year -- considering what else I'm
overwintering) with one or two regular "shoplight" tubes set to burn
for about 16 hours a day hanging above them, plus the ambient light
from the garage door or basement windows. I water them whenever I
remember... which is often, well... not very often! If they're in the
basement, they'll often sit in the dark for a couple of days at a time
if my hubby goes downstairs and flicks off the lights and forgets to
tell me about it.

Both my mom and I count on clouds of fragrant flowers all summer long
and into the fall! Gardenias just *love* us; I'm convinced of it.
They're like weeds around both our houses; we can't pay them to die!

* * * * *
Karen C.
Southern CT / USDA Zone 6
Spammers be damned! I can't be emailed from this account...

"Gardeners know all the best dirt!"