by Stephanie
(El Paso, TX)
Hi there! i recently got an Arabian jasmine, and its outside. its in a corner where it gets very little direct sunlight, if any. i live in el paso, tx (i believe we are zone 8).
About a week or so ago it started to get a few yellow leaves and my mom thought it was getting too much water.
now the whole thing looks sad and droopy, and i’m wondering if i wasn’t watering it enough? any help would be greatly appreciated!!! i’ve included a picture so you can see. thanks!
Hi Stephanie, one of the issues with buying new plants is that it’s impossible to duplicate the care that it would have been given by the grower.
In most cases, they would have been grown in greenhouses, under controlled conditions, and probably automatically watered and fertilized.
Sometimes, one of the first things that happens when you get a new plant is that it dries out. This can cause major problems because if they have been grown in the perfect conditions, the soil will be constantly moist, and the fertilizer is diluted with the water in the soil.
However, if the soil dries out, the water is no longer there to buffer the plants roots from the salts, which is what fertilizer is.
In future, when getting a new plant, flush the soil well to get rid of the excess fertilizer – this will help it adapt to your conditions and adjust to your watering schedule.
For this one, I’m sorry I really don’t have much advice, except to have patience, and give it time to recover.
Don’t spray it with any kind of pesticide, fertilize it, or water it with water that has been run through a water softening unit, (which you should never do) because these can just stress the plant out even more. Just keep it in the shade, and the soil should be moist, but not drenched. In time it should recover, and be healthy and happy in your garden.
Hope this helps,
Jacki
