Gardenia Plant

Question

I brought my gardenia plant indoors for the winter and put it in the laundry room. It was across from a window but did not get any sun. All the leaves fell off. I watered it about once a week and saw white spots in the corners of the branches. I used alcohol to remove the white spots. It gets leaves on the tips of the branches, which turn black. I have pruned most of the dead tips off the branches. What can I do to revive the plant? It grew great in the outside garden and I hate to lose it. Let me know what to do.

Answer 1

First of all, plants will lose foliage when bringing them inside/outside due to not acclimating properly to a new environment. This article will help with acclimating your gardenia to an indoor environment in the future: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/acclimate-plants-indoors-winter.htm Weekly watering in winter is a bit much and in the future should be dropped to once monthly, as plants do not need as much water during winter. The blackening leaves could be sooty mold. It happens when the plant gets a pest infestation. I would recommend using neem oil, as this will get rid of the sooty mold fungus and kill the pests. Here is some articles that will help you: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/disease/how-to-get-rid-of-sooty-mold.htm , https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/problems/pests/neem-oil-uses.htm