How to Grow Jasmine? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Growing Methods

Jasmine likes warmth and humidity, and grows best in a well-ventilated, semi-shaded environment. Soil rich in humus with a slightly acidic, sandy texture suits it best. Most varieties are sensitive to cold and drought, and cannot tolerate frost, waterlogging or alkaline soil. When winter temperatures fall below 3°C, the branches and leaves are prone to frost damage, and if the cold lasts a long time, the plant will die.

The Growing Environment for Jasmine

1. Light: Jasmine likes hot, humid, well-ventilated conditions and needs plenty of light. Jasmine is sensitive to cold; in the south, potted jasmine can be grown outdoors through the winter, while in the north it needs protection in autumn and winter and should be moved indoors to a south-facing spot. Strong light produces sturdy branches, dark green leaves and abundant, fragrant flowers, while insufficient sunlight leads to sparse nodes, few flowers and no fragrance.

2. Water: Jasmine cannot tolerate drought, but it also dislikes waterlogging. In the rainy season, empty any standing water from the pot promptly, otherwise the leaves tend to turn yellow. On hot, sunny summer days, water twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. If the leaves curl and droop, spray water on the leaves to encourage growth.

3. Soil: For growing jasmine, fertile sandy or semi-sandy soil is best. Grown in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6 to 6.5, the roots are dense and the plant grows vigorously. If the soil is heavy clay, lacking organic matter, low in fertility and poorly aerated, the roots will be few, the plant short, the stems and leaves thin, and the flowers few and small.

How Jasmine Propagates

Jasmine is mostly propagated by cuttings, but layering or division can also be used.

1. Cutting propagation: Carry this out from April to October. Select mature one-year-old branches and cut them into cuttings with more than two nodes, remove the lower leaves, insert them into a cutting bed of half sand and half soil, cover with plastic film, keep the air humidity high, and roots will form in about 40 to 60 days.

2. Layering propagation: Choose a longer branch, gently make a wound below a node, bury it in a small pot filled with sand and soil, keep it moist regularly, and it will begin to root in 20 to 30 days. After 2 months it can be cut away from the parent plant as a new plant and potted separately.

How to Plant Jasmine

In the height of summer, water every morning and evening, and if the air is dry, mist the leaves as well. During the winter dormant period, control the amount of water; if the potting soil is too wet, it can cause root rot or leaf drop. During the growing season, apply a dilute cake fertilizer once a week. After repotting in spring, pinch out the growing tips regularly to shape the plant, and after the peak flowering period, prune hard to encourage new shoots, so the plant stays neat and strong and blooms abundantly.

How to Fertilize Jasmine

From June to September, during the flowering period, apply liquid fertilizer rich in phosphorus frequently, ideally once every 2 to 3 days. You can use well-rotted soybean cake and fish waste liquid fertilizer, or ammonium sulfate and superphosphate; generally, too strong a chemical fertilizer mix will burn the jasmine plant to death. You can also use a 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate water solution and spray it on the leaves in the evening, which can also encourage more flowers.

Caring for Jasmine During the Flowering Period

Jasmine is extremely fond of fertilizer. With proper care, a potted jasmine can bloom three times a year. If fertilizer is insufficient and nutrients are inadequate, it will bloom once and then stop flowering. With good management, it can keep blooming from the end of May to the beginning of November. The key is pruning, sunlight, and the right balance of fertilizer and water.

Jasmine begins flowering in early summer and, with proper management, can produce three peak blooms.

In early June, jasmine begins to produce its early flowers. The way to pick them is to remove the flower together with the leafy young shoot, which encourages new shoots to grow and the foliage to become lush. At this time, apply dilute fertilizer water twice a week and keep the potting soil moist.

Late June to early July is the first peak bloom. At this point, strengthen fertilizer and water management, applying light fertilizer frequently, once every 2 days, using fully rotted organic liquid fertilizer at a fertilizer-to-water ratio of 1:4. Water generously, generally once a day. Watering is usually best done in the morning, while fertilizing is best done in the evening. Continue this until late July; thanks to the ample fertilizer and water, the flowers will be large and numerous.

In early August, the second round of flowers forms. At this time, fertilize a little more concentratedly than before, generally half fertilizer and half water. To encourage jasmine to bloom better, you can also spray a superphosphate solution on the leaves. By late August, gradually reduce fertilizing to once every 6 to 7 days, while watering still needs to be fairly frequent, keeping to once every 2 days.

From early September to early October, the third round of flowers forms. At this point, stop fertilizing, and gradually reduce the amount of watering. As the weather has gradually turned cooler, this will affect the formation of flower buds, so this batch of flowers is fewer in number. After mid-October, flowering comes to an end, and you only need to keep the potting soil slightly moist.