Help! Gardenia Plant Worms!

Question

I recently purchased a gardenia plant and up to know it is growing well. It is growing new leaves and flower buds. The first two buds that started to grow turned black and fell. Since then, I started to fertilize it at a weekly basis, at first with 20-20-20 and now with 15-50-5. It has developed new buds that until now seem to be ok.

After reading a lot about them, I decided to add coffee grounds as well as crushed egg shells to the soil. After that I noticed it has ants and a type of worm, similar to a millipede but a lot smaller, less than 1″ in length. The ants don’t seem to be an infestation though, you can see a few scattered around some branches. Now, the worms, I don’t know if they are doing harm or not. They are only in the soil and I can see many of them when I start poking the soil. The gardenia didn’t have any worms until after the coffee. What are they? Are they harmful?

I read something about adding triazicide but I am really hesitant since I don’t want to chance ruining the new buds. The plant is in a 3 gallon planter and has no issues regarding watering, drainage or sun, where I live is very humid and warm all year round. Any information or suggestions based on experience is more than welcome.

Answer 1

Millipedes and Centipedes are actually beneficial in the garden. In large numbers though they can cause issues.
Here is a few links with more information.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/gardenia/gardenia-plant.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/beneficial/centipedes-and-millipedes.htm