All about Jasmine or Mogra

The time is tough and tragic. For a long time, I debated whether to write or not, as there is immense suffering around us. Not a single day has gone when there hasn’t been a desperate cry for lack of oxygen, oxygen cylinders, icu beds and other medical requirements. I sincerely pray that we all come out of this difficult time without losing our loved ones. My heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their family members in this pandemic. I really have to push myself to write this post, as one of my close friends who is passionate about planting, has insisted to write about jasmine. Henceforth taking a deep breath I now move on to give some relevant information about the plant in concern.

  As summer 2021 approached I began to wonder how long the dahlias, petunias, pansies and other plants on my balcony would bloom. The first one to bid adieu my balcony was ranunculus or lovingly known as Buttercups followed by dahlias and pansies. Luckily, petunias are still managing though the flower size has been reduced due to gradual rise in the mercury.

It was difficult for me to let go of these plants, I desperately searched for the ways I can protect or preserve them for future. I will write in greater depth about it in my next post. Meanwhile I was also looking for summer plants. And after doing some preliminary search on them, I decided to pay a visit to local plant nurseries around me. In March, there is a lot of transition in nurseries; winter flowers are at superb bloom, and summer flowers are either available in seedling stage or in the form of tubes, like tubrose and others.  In this post I will share my experience of growing and caring mogra or jasmine, one the most affectionate summer flowering plants.

In march, I saw a fresh stock of jasmine plants in the nursery. The attendant informed that they were being transported from Pune. I picked my favorite plant after doing thorough examination of it. The attendant provided me with all of the required plant care details. And in the blink of an eye, I was decorating my balcony with it. But before giving the specifics about the plants I would like you to read my surreal experience with them.

 One afternoon while observing the plant, I noticed several buds on its branches. I was happy that soon they would bloom and my space would fill with fragrance. But I was elated to see all the buds transform into flowers on the same night and by early morning few more buds were ready to impress me. I am not sure why but, I felt grateful. You are probably wondering what I did to witness such sporadic growth. I would pen down everything here.

•    I repotted the plant after 4-5 days.
• The pot size for repotting was 12 inches.
•  Talking about the soil mixture : 40% soil, 20 % cocopeat, 30% vermicompost or cowdung compost, 10% Neemcake powder and one spoon of SAF fungicide. You can even dilute the fungicide in one liter water and give it to the plant directly.
• Place the pot where it can get 5-6 hours of morning or evening sunlight. Avoid afternoon sunlight as it may burn the leaves.
• Feed the plant with liquid fertilizer in every ten days. I have mentioned in detail on how to make liquid fertilizer in previous blog.
• Once in a month provide solid fertilizer.
• The composition of solid fertilizer is as follows; 2 tea spoons of vermi compost, half tea spoon of NPK (19/19/19), half tea spoon of Super Phosphate, half tea spoon of Potash and half tea spoon of Epsom salt.
• Add little water and mix the solution well. Keep it for three days.
• Add two to three spoons of solid mixture in 10 inches pot. Till the soil and apply water.
• If you are not able to acquire these chemicals or you want to stick to organic fertilizer then you can feed the plant with banana peels. Keep the banana peels in water for three days and then give the solution directly in the pot.
• You can also keep the banana peels under the sun till they dry completely. After it grind them well and add the mixture in the soil.
• Keep pinching the spent flowers. It will promote more flowering.
• Remove the dry or dead leaves.
• If the plant is over grown then you can do soft pruning in the month of July or August.
• Avoid soft or hard pruning in May or June. It may risk your plant’s life.
• Mist the plant daily in the morning and give water in the evening after six.

With this post, I hope I made a point to my plant lover friends. Bring your plant, take good care of it and fill your space with rich fragrance. Please share your growing experience in the comment box. Each one teach one!!!

Happy reading!!

Stay home stay safe!!

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