Q: I received a big, beautiful gardenia as a gift for Thanksgiving. It was just full of buds, with a few open blooms. Much to my disappointment, most of those buds have dropped off before they got a chance to open. What am I doing wrong?
A: Gardenias have a reputation for being finicky houseplants, so don't be so hard on yourself. Your gift was probably produced in a greenhouse where it received the right amount of light, was grown at the proper temperature, and maintained on a careful watering and fertilization schedule. Some of the bud drop can probably be attributed just to the move from that greenhouse into your home.
Two of the biggest factors influencing gardenia bud drop are heat and lack of humidity in our homes, especially in the winter. They prefer cool temperatures -- 62 or 63 degrees -- to set and maintain flower buds. That is much cooler than most humans find comfortable in winter months. If temperatures get even a little too high, they will drop all of their buds. If you have a room where it stays cooler than the rest of your house while meeting the gardenia's other requirements, that may be best location for it.
Gardenias also require a high level of humidity or they drop their flower buds before they open. High humidity can be challenging to achieve in our homes during the winter when furnaces are running. Some gardeners report success by moving the plant to a naturally more humid room such as a bathroom or laundry area. You can stand the container in a saucer of pebbles that you keep filled with water to increase humidity. Try not to allow the bottom of the pot to contact the water in the saucer to avoid problems with root rot.
You may also group plants together. As the plants lose moisture through their leaves (transpiration), it maintains an area of higher humidity around the group. As a last resort, mist the leaves every other day. Too much moisture on the leaves can cause leaf spots, and moisture will spoil the flowers too quickly once they do bloom.
Gardenias prefer bright light, perhaps in an east- or southeast-facing window. Strong sun from the southwest may scorch their leaves and cause flowers to fade faster than necessary.
Q: I grew my own vegetable transplants for the first time last year. I think I started some seeds too early because I wound up with out-of-control tomato and cucumber plants. What is the best time to start different crops?
A: The most common mistake people make when growing their own transplants is starting them too early. The transplants get too big and woody by the time you are ready to set them out in the garden, and they do not adapt as well as less mature transplants.
As a rule of thumb, start your cool-season crops from mid- February to early March. These are crops that grow best in cool weather, but bolt to seed and/or get bitter during hot weather. Start cole crops such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage and kohlrabi eight to nine weeks before you want to plant them out in the garden. Start iceberg and romaine lettuce about four weeks before transplanting them into the garden.
Other types of lettuce such as leaf or butterhead are best seeded directly into the garden. Cool-season crops can be planted outside early to mid-April, as the weather warms and the soil dries out enough to work.
Warm-season crops -- those that are not planted out in the garden until all danger of frost has passed in late May -- should not be started indoors until late March or early April. Give tomatoes, peppers and eggplants eight to nine weeks before you want to plant them in the garden. If you start your cucumbers, melons and gourds indoors (they, too, can be direct-seeded in the garden), start them four weeks before planting them in the garden.
Otherwise, they get too big and take up too much valuable space under the lights.
