New to the group and was wondering if I can get some help with my Azalea, last 1-2 weeks after great flowering and plenty of new growth received some yellowing of Leaves.
Any help/suggestions on what it is and how to help the plant?
Hi wiggs,
What you have there is a gardenia and not an Azalea. It has very showy white highly perfumed flowers. The yellowing of the leaves I believe is a natural thing as the leaves are shed follow Ng its use by date and new leaves taking their place.
I did see this happen once as a shock reaction to extreme heat also in Melbourne during the summer of 2009 so keep it well fed and moist (not wet) and it should do well.
Absolutely agree 100% with everything above.
This is a Gardenia and not an Azalea - the yellow leaves are natural attrition as they have reached their "use by" date and are shed in favour for new ones.
Gardenia's are lovely tree's and the flowers have imo the best of all perfumes.
The yellow leaves are a danger sign. It should absolutely not have yellow leaves like this and you should not accept it. Two main possibilities. Root damage, or starvation. Also to consider....Gardenias don't like being cold and wet, they don't like too much water, they don't like dryness, they don't like sudden temp changes, they don't like Melbourne, They like semi shade, they like heat, they like humidity, they like steady feed but don't like too much at one time, they like acid pH, they like a well drained medium.
All other things being ok, yellow older leaves are caused by NKP being moved from them to the younger growth and especially flowers when then is not enough for the plant to access. Flowers fruit and seeds are parasitic on a plant like an embryo is in a pregnant woman. They take everything and give nothing.
Last edited by treeman on November 16th, 2017, 10:23 am, edited 4 times in total.
As Treeman said. gardenias are temperamental. Many show these yellow leaves at the end of winter, often as a sign of nutrient deficiency which can be caused by a range of things already mentioned above. The good news is that the new leaves look healthy so it will probably survive. Need to think about where you keep it next winter and your fertiliser program.