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Hi fellow gardeners

It has been so many days since I got the gardenia plant from the nursery but it refuses to bloom. The bud was there at ths nursery as well and the guy told me that it will bloom in a few days. But alas..please advise me what should I do to have the gardenia bloom.

Thanks

It will take more than a few days. The bud should be opening soon. You took this picture at night. The gardenia should be in a well lit place or out in morning sun in the tropics. The pot looks small and the leaves are yellow. It needs to be repotted and fed. Use an acidic fertilizer like Miracle grow for acid loving plants, rose or citrus food. You want something that contains micros especially iron. Gardenias like a slightly acidic soil and they will not do well in alkaline conditions.

The bud has actually fallen off without blooming
The plant is in a well lit place. Not sure why the leaves are a bit light green in colour. I just repotted it today. I did a little bit of root pruning as well. So I will probably wait for a few days before adding fertilizer. Thanks for your help.

Bud drop can be from insects or stress. By the color of the leaves, I think it was stressed. A bigger pot, acidic soil, food and water should improve things. BTW gardenia is an understory plant. The leaves may be yellow because it is in more light than it was when it was in the nursery. I would go for morning sun for now and bring it out to more light when it gets acclimated. It usually like being in the dappled light of a larger tree. It is the season for blooms now. if there are other new shoots on the plant they can still bloom again. Gardenias bloom on new wood and they need to be fed when the new leaves come out.

Thank you, I have fed my gardenia today and there is a big bud too! Hopefully, it is gonna bloom this time