Don’t underestimate the gardenia after it fades. Take good care of it so that it will bloom again next time!

Trim

It is very appropriate to prune gardenias after they have bloomed. We can just cut off the withered flowers about two or three pairs of leaves below the withered flowers.

If we want to use its buds as the main trunk, we need to pay attention to leaving the buds that grow upright when pruning, and cut off the buds on the sides; however, if we want the buds to be used as side branches, then we have to keep the buds facing outwards and cut off the buds facing inwards.

After pruning once, the buds we leave behind will slowly grow into branches. When we do another pruning at about the same time next year, we will have to leave buds that grow in the opposite direction of the previous year. To put it simply, it is opposite to the branches of the previous year.

In addition, we also have to cut off all the overgrown branches, which is what we often call "topping". In this way, the shape of the whole plant will appear fuller. When we prune, we only need to leave two or three layers of leaves and cut off the rest. Another point is to cut off the sick and weak buds and leave the strong and healthy buds.

After we finish pruning, in order to prevent the plants from being infected by pathogens, we can apply some thiophanate-methyl solution on the wound.

Fertilization

We all know that plants need to consume a lot of nutrients when they bloom, so it is necessary to supplement fertilizer in time after the flowering period. We can apply decomposed bean cake and other materials, and the frequency can be controlled to once a month. However, it is important to stop watering before fertilizing and then water thoroughly.