Jasmine for Jennifer

 One of my readers wrote that she had purchased a jasmine plant but could not get it to bloom.  So, here is probably the reason why.

How to Get a Jasmine to Bloom

Jasmine, though thought of as a tropical, like cooler temperatures.  To get it to bloom it will need night temperatures of around 40 degrees and day temperatures of 65.  This makes it a Spring bloomer naturally which also explains why my Jasmine is not in bloom and I had to borrow pictures from other sources.  I guess that means that your best bet to get your Jasmine to bloom now is to place it near the air conditioner.  

Jasmine also like sunny windows and are prime candidates for taking outside for the summer. The best time to prune is right after it has bloomed, as new flowers are formed on new growth.  Fall pruning may also cause you to miss blooms when it will re-bloom with the cooler temperatures.  

The Basic Care

I have already mentioned that the Jasmine likes a sunny location.  It will also do well under artificial light if you balance it with complete darkness.  Like most Spring and Fall flowering plants the amount of darkness they get helps to set the buds.

Watering is very important to this plant.  It should never be allowed to dry out.  Though you should be careful not to over water, this plant will do okay with a saucer to sit in.  

Fertilize lightly.  You should fertilize every other week with a half solution of low nitrogen fertilizer.  The nitrogen is noted by the first number in the fertilizer formula so a 10-20-10 solution would be best.  A 10-10-10 solution will do if you cannot find one, as this is a general formula for all plants. 

Hope this helps.  I will write again on the Jasmine and tell you more about it as there are 200 species. In fact when searching for a picture to put in this posting, I came across the picture of my "minature Gardenia" that I talked about in the posting "Catching Up On Odds and Ends". Looks like I will have to do a little more digging on that one.  If anyone knows which this is please write and I will share with others.

If you have any questions or pictures you would like to add to this blog please add to the comments or email me at houseplantsos@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
k.k.jones