Yes, over watering can do it, `and so can over crowding. Why so many in one pot? It might be better to divide and repot them. Hope they do better for you. Jerry

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.. each jasmine is in a 5 gallon container

thanks

each jasmine is in their own 5 gallon container

If they're small plants, under 2 feet, than a 5 gallon pot is too big for them, and their roots may rot from too much wet soil. The main thing is to keep them moist but not soaking wet, and pray for sun; these are pretty tough plants and will take off once the weather gets better.

Jim (Not a single sign of spring around here!)

Alfred: All my Sambacs look sick too! I think it's from all the rain we have had, I have a sambac in a window on my desk at work and it looks great and has had two flushes of blooms, once in December and one in February. If they get enough light I think they grow better indoors in front of a window with strong lite. Seriously!
I have 2 planted in the ground and they look much better than the ones in pots on my patio. I also lost my Grand Duke from all the cold and rain, bummer! I never got to see if bloom. I guess I will have to buy another one.

Nope, it can't be the rain, mine hasn't had much water at all this winter and it's yellowing. I believe Jim's right, it's the time of year for the old leaves to be pushed off by new growth. You see that in Southern Live Oaks too, every spring they dump all the oldest leaves just before the new growth emerges.

Hi, I am very new to this but was wondering if anyone can offer me their thoughts...I purchased a Jasmin plant..it is not the Sambac type.. It has much larger leaves. I have it inside of my house where it seemed to be doing very well and had a lot of new growth and new leaves. all of a sudden, all the new leaves as well as some of the older leaves have turned yellow and are falling off. It was repoted right before I got it and I was told that I would not need to repot soon...i do not think that is the problem. Is it over watering? I also started using a small air conditioner but it is in another room and we do not keep it cold because I have a tropical bird. None of this is new to the plant and it was doing well all along. The plant was doing so good and now, i think i am going to lose it...any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

mistybenji,

Based on your description, you are likely overwatering your sambac.

Overwatering symptoms usually start as yellowing of a few mature leaves at the lowermost portion of the plant. When the problem is not corrected, the yellowing worsens and spreads to more mature leaves. If still uncorrected, it climbs up to the newer leaves until majority of the mature leaves are yellow leaving only the youngest leaves at the tips green.

When majority (more than half) of all the mature leaves are already yellow, the plant is usually hopeless and death is almost certain even if the buds and younger leaves at the tips are still green. By then, most of the roots will have rotted.

Better start drying the soil now or repotting your sambac to a new, dry soil. WATER only when the soil is completely dry. Looks can be deceiving so what looks like dry soil at the surface may still be very wet deep down. You can poke your finger deep into the soil before watering to determine if the soil needs watering or not. If the soil is moist, don't water.

AVOID any soil ammendments or fertilizer while your plant is still 'sickly' or recovering. It will only hasten the deterioration and is likely to kill the plant than help it.

tropical

Thank you very much for the input. Most of the adult leaves are still nice and green. All of the new young leaves have turned. What is the safest way to dry out the plant without causing it any more trauma? Should I remove all of the yellowing leaves or leave alone? When will I know if the plant is past the danger time and if I corrected the issue? Thanks so much again

mistybenji,

It would be better if you could post photos of your 'sickly' jasmine... By the way, is your jasmine a 'gardenia' or is it a 'jasminum'?

If it is a gardenia, then I suggest DO NOT remove the yellow leaves. Leave them to drop by themselves. When they drop to the soil, throw them away. (Don't leave them on the soil.) Pulling yellow leaves from a plant in 'stress' disturbs the already fragile and sickly root system. Better leave them alone.

Here's how to dry the soil:
1) Place them in a sunny area where the soil gets full sun and leave them to dry.
2) Periodically check on the soil moisture using the 'finger test' I outlined earlier and water only when soil is no longer moist to touch.

When to resume fertilizer and other soil ammendments?
You can safely resume adding fertilizer in 'conservative' amounts when these two conditions are met:

1)The yellowing of the leaves stops and you see vigorous, active new growth. Tiny leaves should slowly but surely, grow and mature each and everyday. If the plant growth remains stagnant for several days, the plant is still in critical condition even if the yellowing has stopped.

2) When all the leaves that have turned yellow and fallen are already replaced by an equivalent number of newer leaves that have matured from being a small bud, you can resume fertilizing. (This is an indication that the 'dying' trend has sufficiently reversed and the plant is picking up. It is also and indication that what you are doing is right.)

tropical

Thank-u-tropical.-ur-detailed-description-of-how-to-spot-overwatering-signs-was-very-helpful.

When do you prune yellow jasmin.

Hi , I am new to this forum , have grown sambacs for years in Idaho . last 3 yrs in Oregon have been a disaster. I have/had 8 jasmine sambacs . upto 4 feet tall bushy Mysore mulli , 3 ft round MOO , belle of India, Grand duke etc.. they were very healthy and Prolific all summer. Even got part of the 2nd floor Deck covered and coverted to unheated sun room but kept temps of58- 60 though the winter with a heater and fan and maintained humidity

Till early Jan , they all had relatively green leaves. then the leaves started to turn pale , I saw some spider mites used a neem oil derived spray . Since february , when I was expecting to see growth all started to lose leaves and a now I have bare branches on all of them many branches have died . I have checked root balls in smaller ones , healthy fleshy roots . I do use osmocot as Top tropicals recommended.

Any ideas what could be going on? I don't want to lose these plants please...

Anything I can do to save or check them?

Sorry for the long winded email.

I am sorry , i didn't know if this had to posted as a new query or continued on this.

I dont have a cure for your jasmines. But I can weep in sympathy. Just stand next to them and love them. It works with my plants sometimes.

Post it in a new thread....