Why Can't I Grow Jasmine????

I have tried everything, from building a pond in the living room for humidity, to making a specieal terrarium for them. Still, they keep dying. Why is this happening to me???
Lee Anne (jasmine murderer)

You will soon be a reformed Jasmine murderer:)

Tell us what kind of soil you use(all components, brand, e.t.c.), temperature in your home, kind of pot you use, how often you water, sun exposure.

GH

It would also help if you knew what jasmine it is--do you have any more info on it? (or a picture would help if it didn't come with a tag). There are a ton of true jasmines (genus Jasminum), but then there are also a ton of other plants that are in different genera and probably require somewhat different care, but are still know by the common name jasmine. But even if you can't figure out which one it is there are some general things like light, water, and fertilizer that should be pretty similar for many of them.

I think you may be trying too hard with the pond and the terrarium...it most likely just wants a nice bright window, water often enough that it doesn't dry out but also careful not to water it too much, and some occasional fertilizer. Also if you could tell us the symptoms they exhibit as they're dying that could help figure out what the plant's getting too much/too little of.

ok..here goes..
The last one I killed was a Madagascar Jasmine. I have tried both plastic and clay pots, the temp in her in the winter is a steady 70 F, in the summer its pretty much what is is outside cept I have a big industrial fan going :) I don't have a forced air furnace, it's hot water pipes so the temp is really steady. They never live long enough to need to be repotted :( and I water when they feel dry if I stick my finger down an inch. What they do is, the leaves turn yellow and fall off, then the stems go brown at the growing tip and the brown travels the length back to the roots.
Thanks for any help, I really love the scent of these things, I can grow hibiscus and oleander in the house with no trouble as well as a hundred other tropicals, but for some reason jasmine hate me.
Lee Anne

Lee Anne, it sounds like your jasmine is rotting to death. Try a different soil, one that is well aerated. The crunchier, the better- IMO.

GH

I agree, sounds like it was rotting. If you hadn't mentioned how you stick your finger down in the soil to check for moisture I would have assumed that you were overwatering it. One other thought--are there drainage holes in the pots you're using? If there aren't, the top little bit of soil might still feel dry but you could have a big puddle soaking in the bottom of the pot. The same thing would happen if the pot has a hole but you have it sitting on a saucer and the saucer regularly has water in it. If the roots are constantly sitting in water it will cause the leaves to yellow and drop off and the plant will eventually die. The other possibility is that since you were going to such extreme lengths to create extra humidity with the pond and the terrarium, you may have gotten too much moisture in the air, and warmth + moisture is great conditions for fungus to grow.

Great info, thank you..
lol..saw some at the A&P the other day, may go back for a jasmine refill....lol. I can see hubby rolling his eyes now.
How crunchy a soil? Like I use for my succulents, which has been 1 part potting soil and 1 part chicken grit...?
Lee Anne

I am no Jasmine expert, but I have managed to keep my wife's alive for 4 years now.

I would look for a soil with about one fourth or slightly more of perlite in the mix. If you have any cactus mix left over it might be benificial to use 1 part of that to one part of a good general purpose potting soil that contains perlite. I have had good success using peter's potting mix as well as the miracle grow mix. I have a bag of perlite and I tweak these mixes as needed depending on what I am using it for.

I have grown all sorts of jasmines (including Madagascar Jasmine...Stephanotis floribunda if you're interested in the Latin name) in plain old Miracle Grow potting soil and have no problems. Changing your soil to something better draining will help you, but I still think you also need to address where the excess moisture was coming from that was causing them to rot.

maybe I shouldn't have been misting them??

There shouldn't be anything wrong with misting them as long as you're not doing it excessively...but you mentioned in your first post about building a pond in your living room and putting them in a terrarium, I'm presuming to try and give them extra humidity, so if you were doing that and misting it a whole bunch that could have created too much moisture. I never mist mine unless I'm having trouble with spider mites, and I keep mine outside where we have ~20% humidity in the summer and they never have any trouble, so misting probably isn't necessary. They're really not any harder to grow than other tropicals and shouldn't require special care that's any different from what you would need for the other tropicals you say you're successful with