Gardenia Blooms and Insects

Sucking Insects

• Aphids are known as plant lice because they are tiny, prolific breeders that heavily infest plants. Aphids feed on the juices found inside gardenia leaves, depriving the plants of the nutrients they need. Heavy populations of aphids damage plants, creating distorted and stunted growth. Aphids also create honeydew, a clear, sticky substances that fosters fungal growth on gardenias. Spray gardenia leaves with water, and then treat with insecticidal soap to get rid of aphids. Whiteflies, which look like very small moths, feed on leaves until they wither and die. Hand-held vacuum cleaners and insecticidal soaps are effective at managing whiteflies.
  
  

Thrips

• Thrips are so small and fast they cannot be seen with the naked eye. The damage caused by thrips is easy to see when they begin to attack gardenias. Thrips feed on leaves, flowers and buds of the plant. Buds that are damaged by thrips will not open. The leaves of the plant may have silver discoloration. Flowers will turn brown, wither and fall from the plant. Because thrips have many natural enemies, gardeners should resort to pesticide only when absolutely necessary. Control thrips by keeping the soil around the flowers clear of weeds, grass and debris.
  
  

Scales

• Scales are tiny, damaging pests that feed on gardenia plants. Soft scales, wax scales, tea and black scales are among the many types of scales that harm gardenias. Like aphids, scales suck the nutrients out of plant leaves. Scale feeding weakens gardenia plants, creating stunted growth in leaves and flowers. The foliage will turn yellow and wilt when feeding is heavy. Scales are difficult to manage with insecticides because they are covered with a tough, waxy protective shell. Control scale insects by hand-scraping them from leaves. Repeat applications of horticultural oil will kill scale insects when they are young.
  
  

Mites

• Spider mites are part insect, part spider. Technically not arachnids, spider mites are often confused with spiders because they create webbing. Like other gardenia insects, mites suck the nutrients out of plant leaves. Yellow and white discoloration appears on foliage when spider mites are present. New growth may become distorted when mites are present. Spider mites create webs on the undersides of leaves and on branches. Heavily spray gardenia leaves with water to dislodge eggs and immature mites. Insecticidal soap is effective in killing and preventing spider mites.