My poor Gardenias

[Archaia]

Hello!

I am fairly new at gardening (and I only have house plants!) and I have recently purchased some gardenias. They have been doing fine for the couple of weeks I've had them, but now they have developed some strange white "pebbles" that I cannot figure out what are. They are porous, about 0.04 - 0.12 inches in size.

I started noticing them in the top soil, and thought they were fertilizer in the store bought soil, but then the leaves started withering, and I noticed the white stuff around the stem of one of the plants. At this point, I didn't connect the two things, and thought that it was mold developing on the stem. This plant died.

The two other gardenias I have left have also got the little white pebbles in the top soil, but I have now noticed it in the crown leaves as well! Where you would normally see a bud or a flower, there are now little white pebbles. I have thrown away all their soil, cleaned their pots, and now put them in a little bucket with water around their roots. I intend to buy new soil for them in the morning. I would love to know what it is, though, and what I can do to prevent it from reoccurring.

Thank you in advance!

[Kisal]

A picture would be a great help in identifying the problem.

How to Post Pictures & Photos on Forums

[Archaia]

Thanks! Unfortunately I had already cleaned them when I posted, but I managed to find a couple of the white "pebbles" in between the leaves, and in the windowsill, so I am posting photos of those. There were several in both the soil and on the plants themselves. The pebbles feel almost like salt flakes to the touch, they break easily.





Hope this helps!