Tuesday
Jun032008
In Memoriam
Posted on 
Jun 3, 2008 at 3:13 AM
Jun 3, 2008 at 3:13 AM My gardenia.
It belongs on the fail blog.
(Seriously, I don't know what happened. I watered it before I left last week and then put it outside. It rained the third day I was gone and I came home to it looking like that. I've been watering it the last few days, hoping to bring it back to life, but I don't think it's going to happen. It's crispy.)
Reader Comments (17)
I am so sorry. Those small flower plants are hard to keep alive. Don't feel bad. You did your best.
I think it's still alive. I have tremendous faith in you. Cut it back to about one and one half inches high all the way around then give it just morning sun. You can do it! If it doesn't make it, remember that fabulous saying: "If you aren't killing plants you aren't really stretching yourself as a gardener".
I was just thinking about your gardenia! Sorry for your loss. I just planted one outside next to one that I've had for years that threatens to keel over every year from my neglect, yet it keeps on ticking. Have faith and don't over water...
I sympathize totally, having a "brown thumb" myself. However, we were given a houseplant cutting this winter that is now trying to take over our entire master bath, and it is starting to frighten me. I asked my brother-in-law (a pro) if I could plant it outside, and he said it is a houseplant, and it will die if I do that. Hmm...I'm tempted; it's nearly 4 feet tall. That's not the size of a plant that I want INSIDE my house.
Good luck with reviving your little beauty!
Here's what I did and what worked for my plant. I have to admit I am a plant-killer, too. Take all the dry leaves off, even if the plant looks really really naked. Then don't water it for some days until the dirt is really dry and then slowly water it a little twice a day with mineral water. It took me 4 weeks, but then my plant looked better than before and even blooms again. Jette
poor karyn. such a rough couple of days.
i hope this link cheers you up...
http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2008/06/no-were-not-alm.html
I was the one who told you that it need to be repotted.
(All info is just IMO)I do not garden.
It lookes like it was burned by the sun. Try more sunlight and less direct sun, especially sunlight after 10 am. Cut all the dead and dying leaves off. They suck all the nutrients and vitamins up not leaving any for the healthy leaves because they are dying and desperately trying to survive. So cut away anything that looks unhealthy.
You still need a BIGGER pot the roots want to strentch out and relax. They don't want to be bunched up.
Cute pots are cute but not always functional. You need one of those cheap tacky plastic ones with drain holes and a saucer for the water. Let the soil totally dry out before rewatering. Your soil looks to wet (The ceramic pots are not porous, therefore they hold the water in, which if too wet the roots will rot-or they are probably drowning)
A good way to water them is to put them in the shower. Shower them lightly then let drain. Or put them in your bathtub, water them good then let the pot drain before taking it back out. The plant will have just enough water, the soil will hold what it needs. Squirt some Miracle Grow on the soil, in the hole where the roots will sit when you repot it.
If all else fails ask a professional. Someone at a nursery. Don't give up if Deenie dies get an IVY plant. The do really well with unexperienced gardeners.
GOOD LUCK!!!
yeah i'm no good with plant life either, so sad.
Awww Karyn! I feel your pain. I am constantly killing houseplants (although, I have learned through trial and error which ones are nearly impossible to fill and have a house full of them now).
A couple of years I was trying to revive a plant that looked like yours and I kept telling my husband "It's coming back! It's coming back!" After a few weeks, all the leaves had fallen off and he started referring to it as The Stick, i.e. "I can see it - The Stick is coming back." That one ended in the trash...
However, on a positive note, I just revived a lemon tree that looked just like your gardenia. If it's dry, water it and then cut off all the dead parts, starting with the dry leaves. As you pare it back, also cut off any dry branches/stems. Make sure it is damp (not wet) and if it doesn't start sprouting new leaves within 10 days, trash it.
Or you could just go out and buy a new one and start over... :-)
Crispy?
You know in twelve step programs if you can't keep a plant alive for a year and still keep sober, you can't start dating. Even then they recommend just getting a pet. But you have the pet thing down pat so I think that overrides the plant thing. If I look at a plant it dies, when I look at my husband he doesn't die. But he has the green thumb not me.
Awwww Karyn.
Best of luck with the plant. How about an orchid? I have the best luck with them. I have 2 that are blooming so pretty in my kitchen at the moment. Just give it a little water once a week and it should be okay.
If "she" doesn't make it. We can say something nice about her for you. ~gentle smile~
I was worried this would happen!
gotta say that summer in the city fried it. you have to water alot if it outside in a little pot like that - daily i would say nearly - and direct sun is just too much for a gardenia. i would say cut your losses and try again after a deep breath :)
Perhaps it was too hot out there?
aahahahahahaa poor thing looks so sad!
Oh, dear. I too love them, but they do not love me. The last one, nice big plant, committed suicide on me in 72 hours. It was just as though being around me made it lose it's will to live.