What's growing on my Night Blooming Jasmine?

I would probably try repotting this one and see if it comes back--it's impossible to say whether it can be saved or not but it doesn't look in that bad shape, so I think if you get it out of the overly wet soil and overly large pot it could still have a chance. If you find brown mushy roots when you un-pot it I would trim those off too.

I don't add anything to the potting mix--MG comes with some fertilizer in it so I generally wait a little while before adding any additional fertilizer. Also you should never fertilize a plant that's under stress, you need to wait until it recovers and starts putting out some new growth and then you can fertilize it. Compost isn't really necessary for container plants, and because it decomposes rather quickly it tends to collapse fairly quickly and not leave large enough air pockets in the soil, so I would not put it in. I also never put gravel in the bottom for drainage--it actually hurts rather than helps. Go over to the Container Gardening forum and read the sticky threads that are at the top of the forum, those will explain why adding a "drainage" layer is counterproductive, and I think there are some comments in there about why compost and other fast-decomposing things are not good in containers either. There are also some recipes for making your own really good container mix, so if you don't mind taking a little more time to make your own mix those recipes will give you something that's much better than Miracle Gro potting mix.

Take a look....

Whatcha think?

Have Miracle Grow Potting Mix in a small pot standing by... (I live 2 minutes from a store that carried it).

How much of these roots do I need to trim?

Will put it into just soil - no gravel no additives.

Thanks, Ecrane3!

Mac

It's hard for me to tell from the picture--you're going to have to figure out for yourself if any roots need to be trimmed or not. If some of the roots are rotten they will be sort of slimy and mushy. If you find ones like that, then cut them out. If you don't, then you may have caught things in time before the roots started rotting.

Okay... well, I felt of the roots and none of them felt "mushy" or even wet for that matter, so therefore I did not try any of them.

Straight into a pot about 1/8 the size as the previous pot of MG Potting Mix.

Just enough water to moisten the soil and straight under the 150W Ecobulb that it proves to thrive under. Will give it the Ecolbulb until it gets some life back, then transition it to my afternoon sun windowsill.

Thanks again, ECrane3. Sorry I am such a rookie. I am learning and hopefully I will learn some things and be able to share my experiences with people greener than I to pay it forward.

Cheers,

Mac

The plant had two stems growing out of it. The two seperated at the root ball as I was planting it, so I separated them into two pots. The piece of stem (see pic shown), is stuck into a piece of that block foam stuff used in artificial flowers, or it sure looks like it. Is this a common thing to use for growing cuttings or something? It and about two small roots are all that is on the bottom of the "twig" plant.

When I first received the plant and started to replant it, I didn't disturb the soil from around the root ball so I never saw this foam block thingy. Should I have removed this, and is THIS possibly why the plant would not grow well?

Wow im sorry. clip off all the roots that aren't healthy and white. Also get a second opinion on this but, if you trim the roots you've might have to trim the top also, it has to stay balanced. A plant with to much top growth and not enough root structure won't be able to absorb all the water and nutrients it needs to sustain all its top growth. You need to leave enough leaves for photosynthesis. Trim all dead looking leaf material. If plants can strike from cuttings, your little guy still has a chance, assuming it's only been wet feet, not a fungus or something that's causing the distress. Good luck. WE

Sounds like you can ignore my previous advice. Could be that this is a newly struck cutting and does need to be babied for a little bit.

Wow mac you have certainly been trying very hard to save this plant, I hope it makes it for you. I have had a NBJ for a couple of years now, bought it as a small plant and it now grows to about 4 -5 feet tall. I have it in large pot in the yard in a shady area. It gets a small bit of morning and afternoon sun. Mine blooms wonderfully. I even leave it out during the winter with some mulch on top, and while it does die down, it comes back in the spring. I water it about once a week. I also use Miracle Grow potting soil. I pretty much ignore it and it does wonderful. I fertilize it probably every few months with Miracle Grow. I carefully peel off as much as I can of those lil foam seed starters when I get them. Not sure if this is the right thing to do, but it hasn't hurt any that I've done it too. The couple of plants that I left it on didn't seem to do as well. Maybe someone else with more knowledge can help with that. You seem to move it around a lot and I'm wondering if you would do better to leave it in one spot for a while and let it get acclimated to that spot. I am by far no expert and have killed quite a lot! lol I hope you can make this baby happy, you will enjoy it so much if you can. Good luck!!

G'day everyone!

I HAVE indeed been trying tirelessly to save this plant! I hate to lose ANY plant, much less one I REALLY want in my garden for it's scent. I guess I am not an experienced enough gardener yet to make it easy on me. I have learned SIX valuable lessons however, through this experience with the NBJ, so if I continue to learn at that rate, I will eventually get the hang of it. I owe all of that learning to you guys and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I have really only moved it between 1 of only 2 places outdoors and back inside to go under the Ecobulb as needed to keep it alive (this Ecobulb and being indoors in the AC are the only things that seem to revive this plant). I put it out three days ago in FULL shade and I really left it alone. Yesterday it looked bad, and today it looked just horrible. If I had done nothing today, I am certain it would have been dead sometime tomorrow. The heat here in FL might be too much for the wee thing. Either that, or the humidity being ultra low right now for FL is not helping it, or possibly both.

I left some of the foam seed starter block stuff on the "twig planting", simply because there wasn't much EXCEPT for this. I am betting the twig plant will surely die. I planted it anyway in the hopes of increasing my odds at having at least ONE good plant. I did clear the other plant, (the green wilted one) of all of the foam, so maybe that one will take off and grow now. This is my hope.

As far as the roots go, I didn't have a lot of white root present as you can see from the photo, although they didn't smell, feel soaking wet nor mushy. I left ALL the roots as is, as nothing seemed mushy really. The roots weren't white though. They were light brown and limp, but I left them be for fear of cutting roots off would further its demise. So far my batting average with this plant isn't good and gets worse with each thing I try to do to it.

I will not dig this plant up again. It will recover and grow, or it will die. I can't keep shocking it by digging it up repeatedly. I have trimmed off all of the dead foliage, and hopefully it will continue new root and foliage growth now that it is in good potting mix and not the Hyponex rubbish. I am going to leave it in the only place I have had it thrive, which is indoors in the AC with the 150W Ecobulb 2 feet above it. That's it. It's all I can do.

I cannot thank all of you enough for your assistance in this endeavour. I started gardening to help reduce my stress and blood pressure, and this particular plant has not helped either! Bloody hell, man. Haha... :{)

Cheers,

Mac

I think the "foam block" you found is probably the medium that they used to root the cuttings. There are a few different types of media that can be bought as little cubes that you stick your cutting into. It shouldn't hurt anything so don't worry too much about trying to remove it.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your plant...but the good news is even if it doesn't make it, you've learned a lot in the process so you'll have a much better chance with the next one!

Just thought I would let you guys know that the previously unknown shrubs in the front of my home have finally flowered. They are Star Jasmine!! (Jasmine nitidum). I have SIX of them that are very well established and healthy, although I only have one flower (opened last night) out of the lot of six bushes. More pinkish pods though, so I should have more flowers tonight maybe!

Anyone know how strongly scented these are? Will I not be needing the NBJ to provide my home with fragrant flowers after all?! I will keep trying to resurrect it though, as I need it or something relatively large for a bald spot in my lot line.

They are fragrant, I don't think the scent is quite as strong or carries quite as well as the NBJ though. They also smell different and I don't think you can ever have too many scented flowers so I'd keep trying on the NBJ.

Rest assured.... after all I have been through with this NBJ, I am going to fight it's loss until it's a dry, burned out reed! LOL If I lose it, I will get another.

Thanks Ecrane3!

G'day everyone...

Despite my valiant efforts, I regret to announce that the Night Blooming Jasmine I have been desperately trying to save has finally succumbed.

Upon taking the plant out of the pot, the roots were rotten. Thanks for everyone's advice in trying to help me get this plant established.

Oh, so sorry Mac. Wishing you better luck on the next go around if you decide to try one again.

Have a great day.

Rachel

Sorry to hear that--are you going to try again with another one?

dmail me your address

RIP NBJ : (
Mac please try again.

G'day everyone! Thanks for the replies.

Yea, the NBJ is pushing up daisies as they say.

RJ: Will d-mail you momentarily. Thanks for the offer. You are too kind and a great asset to the board. I appreciate your generosity. Had an emergency trip back to Australia so sorry for the delay, mate.

Cheers everyone!

Mac