I just recently received a small Night Blooming Jasmine in a plant order. It's leaves were slightly yellowing and I thought maybe a reaction to the shipping. So, after a couple of days I transplanted it (Miracle Gro potting mix and gave it a shot of fish emulsion). And started to slowly reintroduce it to various amounts of daylight on our back porch. It's still pretty yellow. What could be causing this and how do I fix it? I'm really looking forward to experiencing the aroma of this plant LOL!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Denise
This message was edited May 13, 2007 7:25 PM
This message was edited May 16, 2007 9:45 AM
Yellowing Night Blooming Jasmine
Can you post a picture? And where did you get it from? Shipping shouldn't cause it to be yellow, I actually just received one this week to replace one that died during our cold snap this past winter, it was shipped here all the way from FL and was green as can be when I pulled it out of the box. So it was most likely caused by poor treatment at the place it came from--maybe they were overwatering it, maybe they didn't fertilize it, maybe they didn't have it in enough sun, maybe they let spider mites chew on it, etc. I think you're doing the right things now, I would suggest being extra careful on the watering in case it had been suffering from overwatering at the place it came from.
I just got a digital camera. I'll take a picture and try to post it (I've never posted a picture before) in the next day or two.
Denise
OK, I took a few pictures. I'm going to try to post them. I tried taking pictures from different angles (no flash) but I'm not sure if you can really see what I'm talking about. Although, I now do have an idea as to what happened to my plant. My DH was watering the flower beds for me and decided to water the potted plants, too. For one, I had already watered it. And two, he drenched it. When he went to pick it up, he remarked how much heavier the pot was to a similar one he had potted a pepper plant in. Yeah...cuz he nearly drowned my plant LOL. It's my understanding that NBJ can get root rot easily. So, should I just let the pot dry out or re-pot it?
In my next posts, I'll try to load the pictures. Again, any help is appreciated!
Denise
OK, here goes nothing...see if I can load this picture...
And here's another...I'm not sure if you can really see what I'm talking about with these pictures, but they're the best of the batch I took...
And one more...
Please let me know if you can tell me what's wrong with my NBJ! I so want to save it and enjoy it's fragrance this summer. Plus, now I'm excited to learn that posting pictures is super easy so I'll be posting pictures of more of my plants!
Denise
Well, DH giving it the extra water probably wasn't good for it, if the soil is still really soggy I would probably repot it before it starts to develop problems. I don't think that's why your leaves were yellow in the first place though, overwatering would have taken a little more time to show up and from your original post I got the impression the plant either arrived looking like that or got like that very quickly. The plant also doesn't look overwatered, the yellowing plus the puckering on the leaves makes me think insect damage or possibly nutrient deficiency. But, if it did get all that extra water I would still repot it, the last thing you need is for it to start to get rot/fungal problems on top of whatever else is going on.
Looking at the picture, it looks to me that the leaves have a stippled pattern which would suggest spider mites--can you take a close look at the plant and confirm whether that's the case or not? I'm not sure if it's really there or if it's just the lighting that's making it look a little that way. You could also try looking at the underside of the leaves and see if anything's there, spider mites are very tiny but I can usually spot them, they'll look like little brown dots and you might see some webbing. If the leaves do indeed look stippled but you don't see anything on the underside of the leaves, then it means they probably got rid of the mites before it was shipped to you, but the damage they do isn't reversible. To be safe, I'd probably hose off the underside of the leaves with a strong jet of water, then follow up with some insecticidal soap on the undersides as well. If you see mites or webs I would do that same thing, but repeat at least the hosing off part every few days or so for a while to make sure and get rid of them.
If you look at the leaves and they really don't have a stippled pattern, then I think the plant may just need a bit of fertilizer, but since you gave it some recently I'd wait for that to kick in rather than giving it more, sometimes it can take a little time for a plant to perk up from fertilizing.
I would hit it with full strength fert-fill up the pot with the fert just you are watering. Let the soil dry out some, putting it in full sun will help with that, and hit it again with fert in a week- it takes about 4 days for the plant to start showing the effects of fert. Use a fert with a higher nitrogen number like at least 14.
If the roots look whitish, I don't think that you need to repot, but do start letting the soil dry out some so the roots will grow. That is a skinny rooted cutting that they sent you! They should have pinched it back at least once. You can pinch it back in a few weeks after it starts to grow better.
If there are spider mites, you will see a fine webbing on the underneath of the leaf. Use Neem oil, that will get rid of them. You might have to spray a few times within a few weeks. I am not sure if safer soap kills mites? ecrane is probably right though that it will. I do know for sure that oils do. Alot of insectices do not work on mites, you need a miticide.
I would hit it with fert before you start to let it dry out though-its already wet and it will benefit from the fert right away.
Thank you for the advice, all! The leaves do have a stippled look. And being that I am a new gardener, I'm not familiar with many plant pests. I did look under the leaves. I didn't find any webbing but I did see teeny tiny brown specks. I just bought some Neem oil concentrate, which I've never used before. So, as soon as I can get a squirt bottle to use, I'll mix some up. I'm guessing I'll have to treat most of my plants as several shipments were housed in the same spot until planted out or potted up. Are there any plants I should not use Neem oil on? The source for the plant is a company going out of business in a couple of months and I've never had problems with other plants from him.
Denise
Yep, sounds like spider mites, the webbing is sometimes visible and sometimes not depending on how bad the infestation is. I would definitely hose off the undersides of the leaves first, then the neem doesn't have as much work to do. I definitely agree about treating any plants that were in the vicinity of the infected one, they can spread and often you won't even notice that they've spread until they're damaging the leaves on the other plants, but if you can treat them all now then you'll nip the problem in the bud. As far as plants not to use neem on--I don't know of any, but I would read the label on the bottle and see if it says anything, if there are certain plants that it's bad for they would probably list them. I would also see if you can get your money back from the place you bought it from, I think it's irresponsible that they would send you stuff that's infected with bugs that might seriously damage not only the plant you ordered but also your other plants that you kept it near if you hadn't caught the problem early.
If the vendor is FSG, I'm sure he'll take care of it but I know you have to make the claim quickly. I got my second shipment from him just last week and tomorrow the big fat plants will finally all be in the ground.
Maggie
Well, I did decide to let the vendor (FSG) know of the problem. I doubt he'll offer a replacement as it's been about a month since it was delivered. Who knows. I'm doing a little research on Neem oil today and, weather allowing, the spraying with commence tonight. The NBJ was around 2 gardenias that I ordered and I know they're susceptible to spider mites.
Good news, all! I emailed the vendor to ask for any suggestions on the NBJ. He gave several on how to water, plus explained some of the problems he had in the greenhouse because of the weird weather we had in Ohio this spring. Bottom line, he's going to send out another plant on Monday. Yippee! I might get to smell a NBJ yet! LOL
Denise
Ah Denise...so glad to hear that!!! Please share Glen's helpful hints with the rest of us. I've got 3 pots of that growing and would be thrilled with any tips on growing it!!
Good for you Denise and good for Glenn. He's a sweetie.
Maggie
Glenn's advice for NBJ is... "For proper watering wait until the soil feels dry then give it a good watering and wait again until the soil gets dry. Do not over fertilize it for you want flowers to be produced and not all-leafy growth. Give a weak solution of plant food at each watering - one low in nitrogen but high in the other elements." I should have included that in my last post but I was in a hurry :~) Plus, I thought I had the right type of sprayer for a big Neem job but it's no where in sight. So, we're of to the store today to get one. I'm looking at my NBJ and I'm not sure if what I saw on the undersides of the leaves are spider mites or bits of soil that splashed up when my DH watered it. I know they're small but does anyone have a picture of them?
Denise
Thanks for the info - try this link for pics of spider mites http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&hl=en&q=Spider+Mite
Well, I have to go on the record as saying I'm not sure that my sick NBJ is due to spider mites. It might be because, as Glenn said,... "Cestrum can be sensitive to over-watering and I may have done so on some of the plants due to the 80 degree weather we had last week. (The greenhouses get even warmer - to 100 degrees and over by late afternoon) and it may have created too much stress upon some of the Cestrum plants. The heat has also played havoc with other plants I have and has created some unfortunate 'crop failures' for the plants I had waiting for customer who ordered earlier this spring. Some plants actually thrived on the heat and the watering. That hot weather came on too soon before I could put up a shade tarp on the greenhouses to cut down on the inside heat." I'm always willing to admit I might have been wrong...although I'm a very new gardener and am learning at every turn LOL.
Denise
Denise-was your cestrum that yellowish color when you recieved it?
It has been my experience that plants in a grhouse that is really hot need to be watered every morning. I have not noticed my c. nocturnums getting shocked by the heat in the grhouse, and I had them in the hottest part because they like heat.
The stippled leaves is a dead giveaway for spider mites, and you also said you saw little brown spots on the underside of the leaves, so to me the only thing that's in doubt is whether they arrived with them, or picked them up after you received them. If there's any chance they have spider mites, I would definitely treat them like they do. Not to say there couldn't be something else wrong with it on top of that though!
The leaves were slightly yellow around the edges when I received it. I thought it was stressed from shipping (newbie gardener LOL). Afterwards, the leaves either turned yellow or light green. None of the leaves on my NBJ are even close to the green I see in the pictures of NBJ on DG.
Denise
I think it needs to be fert like I said above-and much heavier on the nitrogen than what the grower said. NBJ are heavy growers and they need the leaves to grow and to be healthy. Heavy (fast and profuse) growers need the nitrogen. You will get the blooms by letting it dry out between fertilizing, but it needs leaves to get the roots, and dryer soil to get more roots.
Well, I truly appreciate all the advice I'm getting from everyone! I'll definitely let you know when my new NBJ arrives and how it's doing (plus, if I'm able to save the one I have :~)
Denise
Well, to follow up, my new NBJ arrived and has been potted up. Here is a picture of the 1st NBJ (on the right) and the 2nd one (on left). Please excuse our weedy lawn...it is a work in progress LOL. The first plant lost a few leaves but the rest did start to green up after I fertilized it. Since I've never had this plant before, I can't say how healthy the 2nd plant is other than it looks better than the 1st :~) I just hope I get to smell one of them in bloom this summer!
Denise
They look good, Denise!! And btw....THOSE are my all time fav pots!! I use them for everything from Tropicals to Cactus!!! Misco is the manufactor, right?
My favorite too, and yes Misco is the mfgr.
maggie
You gotta stock up on them when Wally World gets them in - other wise there's none to be found by mid summer
I know, I love those pots! My husband planted peppers in a couple this year. And I hope to get more if WalMart has them here. Plus, I think there was a planter box that is similar that I wouldn't mind getting :~)
Denise
I was there last night. The style has changed, "prettier" but not sure I like it. Nevertheless, I bought all of their hanging planters and all of the large ones. this is Florida after all. Didn't know about the planterbox, didn't know to look. Thanks for the heads up.
Maggie
Denise;
Just thought I would mention something to you that I have started doing the last few yrs.
My NBJ is pretty reliable most times, I have it in the ground here it dies back each winter and comes back strong in the spring, however in early summer we get some occasional flooding and heavy winds AKA hurricanes which destroys the plants chances to have a succesful bloom season. These plants are very easy to propregate from soft cuttings so I top 5/6" off of a couple of braches early in the spring (which also seems to make the mother plant bushier) dip the cuttings in root hormone and stick them in pots of potting soil and keep in the shade afew weeks. I bring these in if the heavy rains come, then after they have bloomed I give them away.
Lance
Lance,
Thank you for those pointers!! The NBJ is not hardy to my area. I put mine IN the ground and was trying to decide if I wanted to dig it up or take cuttings.
Chantell
Yes, Lance...thank you! That's a great tip! I was wondering if I wanted to try to overwintering these two plants once they are larger. This gives me another option! Plus, I was considering planting mine outside for the summer, too.
Chantell, is your NBJ budding or blooming yet?
Denise
Not yet, Denise...I'll check tomorrow to see if I see any buds. I know it had put on new growth...I'll take that as a good sign that I haven't killed it yet. Plus I have one that I over wintered in a huge pot that has all kinds of baby leaves on it...no buds on that one, I know.
This has to be the largest night blooming jasmine I've ever seen, and it is loaded with blooms. I happened upon it in Kenner LA a suburb of New Orleans. It was in an abandoned trailer park, remnants of Katrina and FEMA. It is at least 13ft tall. I can't imagine the fragrance it generates at night.
Maybe it is why all the inhabitants left, LOL. That is a mobile home in the back ground set back maybe 12 ft.. The NBJ was wider than the mobile home and just as tall. Mine in Baton Rouge which is maybe 60 miles northeast of Kenner only grows 6 ft. before dying back. I'm certain that this one did'nt die back.
Lance
OMG....that is HUGE!!! Yeah, you wonder with a scent supposedly as strong as the NBJ how anyone could breathe near that!!
Wow, 4004! Great pic! Thanks for sharing it :~) I have yet to smell a NBJ but if it is as strong a fragrance as I've heard described...the plant in your pic would be smelled for miles LOL.
Denise
Can someone tell me what this tree is called? It has the best smell ever! It's aroma is strongest in the early evening. It stands between 8 and 10 ft. It's location is mostly shade but does get some sun. It's rarely watered.
Karen,
You might want to post a new thread with that one - maybe in the ID forum or Tree forum...and if you have photo software try to lighten the photo up or take a pic during day time hours...it's a tad difficult to see.