My Gardenia is dying, what can I do to stop it?

I live in Utah, hot, dry summers, Gardenia vetchi is in 14" pot, outdoors now, brought into house when weather turns cools.



This G. isn't a single stem, but many small stems.

Today I saw the center has died out. No insect damage showing.

I checked pH.

The pH at the cntr is 7.2, but at the edge of the pot, where the G is thriving, pH=5.5. I don't know how it got this way, but could that have something to do with the cntr dieing? Also the leaves, new %26amp; old are yellowing with green veins as move toward edge of pot. Acid fertlizer must not be workng?. Water must be leeching what keeps the potting mix acid? I have sulphur I can add to soil, but that may take too long. Can I acidify the water I use, by putting vinegar in it, or would that be too much a shock to the plant? I don't want to loose the G.vetchi. But whatever is killing it is moving from the center out: pH 7.2 in center, lowering to 5.5 at the very edge of the pot, where the leaves are very green.

Thanks,

BobMy Gardenia is dying, what can I do to stop it?
I guess in your situation what I would do is remove every dead or damaged leaf and get it out of the full sun (unless your summer has been mostly rainy). What they seem to like is diffuse light, high humidity, and heat. In fact, I guess what I would _really_ do is send the gardenia to New York City! There's plenty of heat and humidity and hazy sun here to make a zillion gardenias happy. I'm not sure what "food' they like, but you might try Peters 20-20-20. All the watering could have washed out the nutrients in your potting soil. I also find that giving them very diluted coffee about once every 2 weeks seems to help. The new foliage _is_ pale and fragile looking, so that may not be a problem. You could also try bringing it indoors, if you have a place with diffuse light that can be kept warm and humid enough. Try to replicate the conditions of Home Depot,where they seem to grow like fiends. Also, if you're not misting the leaves, do that twice a day -- they like that better than frequent waterings. Other then that, I guess just beg on bended knee, doing a voodoo dance, sanging to it (Patsy Cline seems to work), and shaking a chicken over it. Good luck.My Gardenia is dying, what can I do to stop it?
move it in doors if you can or move to a shady spot and give as much water as you can, remove any bad or dead branches to help the ones that are alive.My Gardenia is dying, what can I do to stop it?
Submerge the plant in water..leach it.. let it drain.The centre is a problem...I would use Epsom's Salts..diluted of course and apply sparingly..monitor response..the yellowing in the leaves you describe is either Magnesium/Iron deficiency which can be helped by Epsom's Salts (Mg SO 4) or chelated iron...I would give the Salts first shot.Both minerals acidify the soil that Gardenias like.(No scale present?)
mine in vegas bit the dust too, i guess its just too hot unless you really pour the water to it or give it some light shade.