How to Grow Night-blooming Jasmine? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Cultivation Methods
Night-blooming jasmine is also known as night fragrant flower, night orchid fragrance, night clove, thousand-mile fragrance, etc. It originates from South China, and is now cultivated for ornamental purposes in all provinces and regions of southern China. Its flowers and leaves can be used medicinally, with effects of clearing the liver, improving eyesight, and removing eye films. In South China, it is used among the people to treat conjunctivitis, infantile malnutrition with eye symptoms, etc. Now let us take a look at the cultivation methods for night-blooming jasmine!
Growth Habits of Night-blooming Jasmine
Night-blooming jasmine mainly grows in the jungles, woodlands, or shrub thickets of subtropical and warm temperate regions. It likes warm, humid, sunny, well-ventilated, dry climates and environments with good drainage and loose, fertile soil. It is drought-tolerant and barren-tolerant, but not waterlogging-tolerant and not cold-tolerant. After leaf drop in winter, growth stops; after the warmth of spring, it sprouts branches and grows leaves, and bears fruit in winter. It has high temperature requirements, with the average annual temperature controlled at around 20 degrees Celsius. It likes fertilizer, and during its growth process it should be fertilized frequently in small amounts. It also has high water requirements. In hot summer, it should be watered more; in winter, the soil should be kept moist, but be sure to avoid waterlogging, and especially avoid frost. In the Yangtze River basin, it can only be grown in pots. It is tolerant of pruning.
Cuttage Propagation of Night-blooming Jasmine
1. Cutting selection: For night-blooming jasmine cuttings, choose branches that grow vigorously or are free of pests and diseases. On the same plant, choose sunny-oriented branches from the middle and upper parts of the current year's growth. The branches should have shorter internodes, thick and strong stems and leaves, and plump buds. Do not use branches about to bloom or leggy branches.
2. Substrate selection: For night-blooming jasmine substrate, use peat soil, leaf mold, and sand mixed respectively at 3:3:4. Bed soil prepared this way has the characteristics of raising bed temperature, retaining water, providing aeration, being fertile, and being slightly acidic, and is suitable for branch rooting and sprouting.
3. Cutting treatment: Before cutting night-blooming jasmine, treat the cuttings with agents such as ABT rooting powder, which has the effect of promoting rooting. Cut the cuttings into segments of 8 cm to 12 cm, with 2 to 3 buds on each. The lower cut of the cutting should preferably be 0.5 cm below a node. The cut should be smooth. Remove the lower leaves, leaving only 2 to 3 leaves at the top. The insertion depth should generally be about 3 cm.
4. Rooting conditions: The suitable rooting temperature for night-blooming jasmine is 20°C to 24°C. Generally, soil temperature 3°C to 5°C higher than air temperature is favorable for rooting. The relative air humidity of the cutting bed is 80% to 90%, which is favorable for rooting, and light of about 30% is required. Moisture should be appropriate; in the early cutting stage, moisture should be slightly greater, and later slightly drier. The suitable period for open-field cutting locally is from early May to mid-June. At this time, the climate is relatively good and can better satisfy the temperature and humidity conditions required for cutting rooting.
5. Post-cutting management: After cutting night-blooming jasmine, water thoroughly, cover with plastic film, and place in a relatively shady place, or scatter straw on the film to prevent direct sunlight, and increase light at night to help the cuttings survive. Ventilate 1 to 2 times a day to replenish the required oxygen and prevent disease. Spray water frequently to keep the cutting bed moderately moist, but do not spray excessively; otherwise the cutting bed will be too wet, often affecting callus formation and rooting of the cuttings. When the new roots of the cuttings grow to 2 cm to 3 cm, they can be transplanted into pots at the appropriate time. After flowering, in winter in the Nanjing area, they should be moved indoors for care.
Cultivation Methods for Night-blooming Jasmine
1. Potting soil: Night-blooming jasmine likes loose, well-drained, organic-rich, slightly acidic soil. Its potting soil is generally made by mixing 3 parts peat soil or leaf mold, 2 parts coarse river mud, and a small amount of farmyard manure. When potting, fill about 1/5 of the depth at the bottom with granular crushed brick pieces to facilitate pot drainage, and use the prepared potting soil for cultivation in the upper part.
2. Light: Potted night-blooming jasmine requires well-ventilated environmental conditions. From early May to the end of September, it is suitable to place it in a sunny part of the yard or on a balcony for care. Although it likes sufficient sunlight, direct sun exposure should be avoided at noon in summer.
3. Fertilization: During the growth process of night-blooming jasmine, liquid fertilizer should be applied once every 10 to 15 days. Starting in late April, apply dilute liquid fertilizer once every half month. From mid-May onward, continuous flowering can be ensured. If high-efficiency humic acid liquid fertilizers such as Chunquan 883 or Huimanfeng are applied, the effect is even better.
4. Water regulation: Summer is the peak growing season for night-blooming jasmine. In addition to applying sufficient fertilizer, the potting soil must be kept regularly moist, and if necessary, water once a day. If it is a seedling, spray water on the leaf surface 1 to 2 times a day.
5. Suitable temperature: In mid-to-late October each year, night-blooming jasmine should be moved into a greenhouse or indoor space. The greenhouse temperature should be kept at 8°C to 12°C. If the temperature is lower than 5°C, the leaves will turn yellow, dry up, and fall off until death.
6. Repotting: Repotting night-blooming jasmine is best done in early April in spring before it is moved outdoors. When repotting, remove part of the old soil and old roots, replace with new culture soil, and prune heavily to promote new branches. After repotting, keep the potting soil moist, but there must be no standing water in the pot. If the young leaves are found to droop slightly after repotting, water promptly.
7. Plant shaping: In the cultivation and management of night-blooming jasmine, a trellis needs to be set up. After the plant climbs onto the trellis, promptly pinch the top to encourage more branching. After flowering, promptly cut off the remnants of flower stalks and apply additional fertilizer. After the flowers fade, cut off dead and dry branches and leaves and overly dense branches, and shorten leggy growth. The branches of night-blooming jasmine grow relatively quickly. If allowed to grow naturally, they can grow about 1 m in 1 year, so annual pruning is needed to sprout more side branches and bloom more. Pruning is generally carried out in autumn, with each side branch kept 10-12 cm long. After the flowers fade, cut off dead and dry branches and overly dense branches.
8. Harvesting: When 40-50% of the small flowers of night-blooming jasmine are in bud and a few flowers are open, pick the entire inflorescence. Generally pick once a day. Flowers that have already opened should be removed so as not to affect other flower buds and lose commercial value.
9. Disease prevention: The main pests of night-blooming jasmine are mites and scale insects, and the disease is fusarium wilt. For mite control, 800-fold dilution of Kangman 23 emulsifiable concentrate, 2000-fold dilution of 73% propargite, etc. can be used. For scale insect control, 600-800-fold dilution of 40% dimethoate emulsion can be used. For fusarium wilt control, 600-800-fold dilution of Kuwei Like, 600-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim, etc. can be used. If diseased plants with fusarium wilt are found, they should be promptly removed, taken outside the garden and burned, and the soil around the diseased plants should be turned over and sprinkled with quicklime, then replanted after 1 month.