Q. I love Veithcii Gardenia and I noticed that a local
nursery has them for $10 for a 5 gallon plant. How do you keep the plant alive
in the winter in Las Vegas and should it remain in a container and not in the
ground? I have seen two of these plants in containers in Sun City Summerlin
under a tree blooming profusely in the summer.
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| Gardenia In Las Vegas in filtered light |
A. “Veithcii” is a popular selection or variety that has
a longer bloom period than some others. Gardenias are grown by a number of home
gardeners in our desert but you are right, they don't belong here so we have to
put them in the right location and amend the heck out of that soil if we want
them to do well.
. It is
best if they are grown in containers rather than growing them in garden soil. A
good spot would be in filtered light which is what you would get growing them
under some trees for protection from intense sunlight.
Gardenias
in general perform best in a bright northerly or easterly exposure. The soil
should be 50% compost or at least high in organic matter. You can grow them in
the ground but they will be more difficult to manage because the soil will
slowly revert back to desert soil unless you continually add compost to the
soil surface.
It is
also important to put a two or 3 inch layer of wood chips. I would use two drip
emitters and never let the soil get overly dry. Fertilize 3 to 4 times a year
and add a good iron chelate to the early spring application of fertilizer.
The
important things to remember is having a good soil, the proper exposure to
light and irrigation frequency. The container should allow for drainage of
water and you should see a small amount of water exit the container every time
you irrigate. Good luck!
I have a couple of Veithcii Gardenias in my courtyard which gets about 6 hours of direct overhead sun and they are doing well. I have, as you mentioned, amended the heck out of the soil. I had a difficult time with them initially but they finally came around with the liberal use of an acidifier/drainage product. I try to keep the area well watered. I have both plants under the roof drip line and suspect that the infrequent rains that we have are very helpful to them by flushing away the mineral build up from the Colorado river water.
ReplyDeleteA product I have found very helpful in lowering soil pH (acidify) with no lag time like you have with sulfur is Organic Magic which you can get from Viragrow. They are the only ones carrying it in LV. It is certified for organic use and I have measured a drop in pH in less than one minute using that product. About as fast as Aluminum sulfate without the aluminum!
Deletehello, I live in N LasVegas, I just moved here a year ago. I have never had good luck with Gardenias, but now that I'am retiered, I have more time to study them I planted three gardenias in my back yard, they get southern shade, I put amed at the bottom and amed aroud the plant, when I trsansplanted them. I see flower buds, but they have not bloomed yet, like the are tsaking alot of time to blossom. Any suggestions?
DeleteMost of the people I know who have gardenias more than a few years are good gardeners in the desert. They realize that gardenias are not supposed to grow here so they alter the environment where they are living as much is possible to get it as close to their natural environment as possible.
DeleteThis means they grow them often times in containers on the east side or north side with filtered light or morning light only.Buy a house plant soil moisture sensor and use that to gauge when to flower. If they become too dry, they will drop their flowers. If it's too hot, they will drop their flowers. If they are pruned improperly, they will not produce flowers. So you can see that growing them in the desert is a matter of location, soil modification, proper irrigation and proper pruning. Throw on top of that regular fertilizer applications, the same type that you would use for roses, will promote flowering.