A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Gardenia plant

Can someone help me with my Mom's gardenia? What is happening is it's giving off a "sticky" substance. It was all over the table and all over the leaves. She wiped the leaves off and the sticky stuff came back. She took it and washed it in a soapy water. She said it's starting to come back again. What's causing this? We've never had a gardenia plant. Also, it did have a bud but it fell off before opening. I'd appreciate any info anyone has about this. We don't know what's causing this.
Thanks! Melissa

Melissa,

Welcome to the forum! Gardenia's are notoriously prone to pests, at least mine are. Chances are the sticky stuff is sap from the gardenia. Insects of some sort (spider mites, aphids, etc) are probably causing the damage which is leading to the sap leaking out. Check underneath the leaves or along the stems for insect damage or the insects themselves. The good news is that the soapy water should kill most if not all of the pests allowing your gardenia a chance to recover.

PAR_Gardener,
Thank you for the response. I will have my Mom check out the plant on the underside of the leaves. I've never heard of anything like that before. The plant is still growing, it has alot of new growth. So it's apparently not hurting the growing. We will give it a try! Thanks again!