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Winter Jasmine Plant Care: Keiki Paste for your Winter Jasmine
This tutorial shows to use Keiki paste for new stem growth on your Winter jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) –one of the few winter-flowering houseplants.
Although perhaps considered old-fashioned nowadays, jasmine is currently the favourite in my collection. It’s a houseplant that definitely deserves more attention than it gets.
The history of Jasmine
Jasmine has a fascinating global history. Native to Eurasia and Oceania, it was used by ancient Egyptians in garlands and baths. It reached China via the silk road, where it was used in teas and medical concoctions.
The first Western encounter with Jasmine came in the sixteenth-century through the Portuguese and Spanish colonisation of the Indian Ocean. As a result, some varieties became naturalized in the Northern Mediterranean. The Spanish jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum) speaks to this Iberian connection. This variety even began to grow wild in the Caribbean island of Tobago – a former Spanish colony. Jasmine also came to the attention of Westerners through the gardens of Northern China. The plant was rare in England during the eighteenth-century until Scottish botanist Robert Fortune introduced Jasmine nudiflorum from China in 1844. Its popularity among British gardeners exploded and has remained a favourite outdoor shrub ever since.
Why use Keiki paste on Jasmine?
There are many advantages to using Keiki paste on jasmine. Jasmine is a vigorous trailing plant. The more stems it puts out the better as it can be trained around frames easily and pruned back for improved shape. Also, many varieties have scented flowers. You won’t be able to get enough of its mid-winter fragrance.
Jasmine is also perfect if you are a beginner with Keiki paste. With its supple, whip-like stems, the Keiki paste worked extraordinarily quickly on my jasmine. Within two weeks, new stems developed where I had applied the paste.
How to use Keiki paste on Jasmine
Follow these steps for using Keiki paste on your winter jasmine.
1. Select nodes
Nodes are points on a stem where new shoots and leaves emerge.Jasmine nodes are located just above existing leaves.
With a prolific plant like Jasmine, you’ll often see little shoots already emerging from them, as below.
2. Apply the Keiki paste
Take a tiny amount of Keiki paste onto a cotton bud. Swab the paste onto each node.
3. Wait
The Keiki paste takes around a fortnight to work. While you wait, give the plant optimal condition.The jasmine needs bright (not direct) sunlight and a cold environment.
During the growing season (winter and spring), you should be watering around once a week. The soil should be kept moist (but never waterlogged). Sit the plant pot inside a container of water until the whole pot has absorbed it.
You will need to fertilize your plant after applying Keiki paste. This helps it push out new growth. Jasmines need a phosphorus-heavy fertiliser, called a 7-9-5 fertiliser (7 percent nitrogen, 9 percent phosphorus for flowers, and 5 percent potassium for strong roots).
If you have applied Keiki paste during dormant season when it does not flower (summer and fall), give your jasmine one dilute dose after applying the paste. You should not be fertilising the plant otherwise during the dormant season. If you have applied Keiki paste during jasmine’s growing season (late winter and spring), give your jasmine a dilute dose of fertiliser on top of your weekly fertiliser.
Never let the soil dry out or you’ll see browning petals and wilting leaves.
The results
New two new stems will emerge on either side of nodes you painted with Keiki paste.
Keep checking our blog for Keiki tutorials on other species.
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