Question
We winter in central Florida. This year we planted a nice small gardenia plant. It receives several hours of morning sun and gets watered and fertilized regularly. The leaves are quite green and look very healthy. There are buds all over the plant and it is producing more all the time. However, the buds drop off before they open. What could be causing this? Too much/little water, sun, etc. Other older gardenia plants in the neighborhood are in full bloom now.

Answer
George,

I found this on the Pettiti website for Grdenia care "To have success with blooms on
your gardenia, there are two factors that you have to consider temperature and sunlight.
Gardenia抯 need at least 4 hours of sunlight a day. They are not fussy about daytime
temperatures, but they need nighttime temperatures to be no warmer then 62癋. One
warm night can prevent buds from forming. Gardenias need constant moisture, in both the air and the soil. Feed with Multi-cote
for acid loving plants following directions on the label. Dry air, drafts, too much or too
little water or too many dark winter days can cause bud drop."

I hope this helps.
Good luck,
Ed Gulliksen