How to Take Care of a Jasmine Plant

how to take care of a jasmine plant

Jasmine plants are a superb indoor houseplant to fill your home with a natural, sweet aroma and blooming white flowers. They are perennials, meaning that they will grow year after year. Here is the complete guide on how to care for a jasmine plant.

 

Scientific Name

The scientific name of a jasmine plant is Jasminum, part of the Oleaceae, or olive, family.

 

Other Names

  • Poet’s Jasmine
  • Common Jasmine
  • Pink Jasmine
  • True Jasmine

 

Different Types of Jasmine Plants

different types of jasmine plants

There are many jasmine plants, and knowing the variations will be crucial to having a fragrant versus nonfragrant jasmine plant. The most common ones to grow as indoor houseplants that will produce white flowers giving off their sweet aroma are the Jasminum Polyanthum (pink jasmine), Jasminum Officinale (common jasmine), and the Jasminum Sambac, otherwise known as the Arabian jasmine.

 

If you prefer a jasmine plant with no smell but beautiful blooms, you will want the winter jasmine, otherwise known as Jasminum nudiflorum. This plant will grow more like a jasmine shrub and will bloom yellow flowers late into winter.

 

While the different varieties have slightly varying growing seasons and sizes, the jasmine plant care instructions and care tips will be more or less the same.

 

What Soil Works Best for a Jasmine Plant?

You should plant your jasmine any time between June and November to support new growth. You will want to use a well-draining, porous soil and keep it moist year-round without being soggy. The soil may include organic materials such as coir or bark. Coir is a fibrous material, similar to peat. It comes from coconuts and is rich in nutrients like potassium, iron, zinc, and copper that will aid the jasmine plant during its growing season.

 

During the springtime, you should feed your jasmine plant fertilizer low in nitrogen about once a month. A high phosphorus fertilizer will further support new growth and extend the blooming season.

 

How Much Sun Does a Jasmine Plant Need?

how much sun does a jasmine plant need

All jasmines prefer being in full sun or partial shade. You want your jasmine plant to have access to plenty of sunlight for at least four hours a day so that a south-facing window may be the best option for your plant’s location. Most indoor jasmine plants are zealous climbers and will need support for their growth—like an indoor trellis.

 

A caring tip to follow is that if your jasmine plant’s leaves are beginning to droop, this can indicate that the plant is getting too much direct sunlight. If that is the case, consider putting up a curtain over the window to help reduce the direct sun glare and see how that performs.

 

What Temperature Works Best for a Jasmine Plant?

Growing a jasmine plant indoors requires well-circulated air because the plant needs to stay somewhat cool. This cool temperature is why they generally thrive during the winter months. The temperature should remain between 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

 

Do Jasmine Plants Enjoy Humidity?

Jasmine plants are sensitive to radiators, vents, or anything that will cause dry conditions. For the plant to not dry out, it needs humidity around 50% or higher. Misting your jasmine plant will not be the most effective way to create humidity since this would have to be throughout the day.

 

The best way to keep your jasmine plant in the proper humidity is to keep it near other plants and use a pebble tray with water. This pebble tray will keep the air around your jasmine plant fresh and moist. Also, you can use a humidifier if you need to create additional humidity.

 

How Often Should You Water a Jasmine Plant?

how often should you water a jasmine plant

Early spring and early winter, after the blooming period, you will not have to water your jasmine plant as much.

 

For the rest of the year, you should maintain damp soil at all times. Allow water to reach the plant’s roots by heavily watering once or twice a week. Deep watering allows the moisture to penetrate through the soil to the roots, keeping your plant hydrated.

 

What Size do Jasmine Plants Grow to Typically?

Given the proper environment, jasmine vines can grow up to 10 to 15 feet long. If you are growing a winter jasmine shrub, it can grow to four feet high and seven feet wide.

 

Most Common Bugs

It is essential to look out for spider mites, mealybugs, and aphids. White, cotton-like growths under your jasmine plant’s leaves indicate that it is infested with mealybugs. This infestation will eventually cause curling, yellowing leaves.

 

To get rid of mealybugs, you will need to remove all the cotton-like masses when pruning your plant. Then, take rubbing alcohol and use a cotton swab to brush over the affected areas. The rubbing alcohol helps prevent mealybugs from returning in the future.

 

To avoid pests, use a natural pesticide made of dish soap and warm water to mist the jasmine leaves lightly.

 

Most Common Diseases

The most common disease for a jasmine plant is a fungal disease, like blight and rust. These diseases will damage the jasmine leaves and cause them to become discolored. This discoloration spreads very quickly, so you must remove the affected areas as soon as possible.

 

You can buy a fungicide for your jasmine plant or create your own out of baking soda and water to eliminate the fungal growth. Ways to prevent fungal diseases include providing well-circulated air and proper watering techniques to get the soil moist but not soggy.

 

Can You Propagate a Jasmine Plant?

To propagate a jasmine plant, you can do this using cutting around three to four inches long, with two sets of leaves. You can use a rooting hormone before placing the cutting in a well-draining potting mix. Try to choose a soil mix that contains nutrients as this will aid in root growth.

 

After about four weeks, you should see your cuttings beginning to root.

 

Can You Repot a Jasmine Plant?

Jasmine plants can go an extended amount of time without repotting. The plant enjoys being snug in its pot, so you will want to wait to repot until the jasmine plant has outgrown its home.

 

Signs that it is time to repot your jasmine are if the roots have taken up most of its current pot, so there are more roots than soil. Roots taking up most of the pot is a telling sign when the plant starts to need water a lot more often than it used to.

 

When it is time to repot your jasmine, you should do so in the springtime. Be cautious not to hurt or damage the roots, and prune them as necessary before transplanting the jasmine to fresh soil. Try to gently loosen the old dirt from the roots, to remove excess soil as much as possible.

 

Long strands of roots can be cut off of the root ball and gently slice four to five vertical lines on the root ball—this will encourage new root development. Plant the jasmine in a pot about two inches larger than the last pot it was in.

 

Why is my Jasmine Plant Dropping Leaves?

why is my jasmine plant dropping leaves

There are many causes for jasmine leaf drop, ranging from too much attention to too little attention. The common factor is usually the environment that the jasmine plant is growing in. To stop leaf drop, you will likely need to correct the environment.

 

Leaves will wilt and fall off when the plant is not getting enough water or gets too much. Keep the soil moist, but do not let the plant sit in water if possible. If the plant sits in still water for too long, it can cause root rot.

 

Another issue could be a lack of sunlight. Even if the jasmine plant moves within your home, if the conditions are slightly different, this could cause some leaves to shed due to the environmental shock.

 

Are Coffee Grounds Good for a Jasmine Plant?

Are Coffee Grounds Good for Jasmine Plants

Jasmine plants prefer slightly acidic soil, with a pH range of 5-8. Coffee grounds typically hold a pH between 5.5-6.8, so supplementing the jasmine plant with coffee grounds should work well. Let your coffee grounds sit on a sheet to dry overnight, and then sprinkle the coffee grounds around the root ball of the jasmine plant.

 

If you plan on using coffee grounds for fertilizer, it is best to let them compost for several months. Composing for a while reduces caffeine and acidity and provides safer soil conditions for your plant.

 

Conclusion: How to Take Care of a Jasmine Plant

In summary, Jasmine plants are a great addition to any room. With their nightly sweet aroma and blooming white flowers, they are well worth taking care of in your home. Best of all, this plant is relatively easy to propagate, which means you can add more of these plants around your home!

 

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