How to Propagate Night Blooming Jasmine

Overview

The night blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) is a small shrub that produces small tubular flowers that fill the night air with a wonderful jasmine scent and is appropriate in USDA horticultural zones 8-11. The night blooming jasmine prefers sandy acidic soil amended with compost or other organic matter such as oak leaves or pine needles. It is a long-lived heirloom plant that is found on old homesteads throughout the South and can grow to 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide in the right conditions.

How to Propagate Night Blooming Jasmine

Step 1

Choose a day in late spring when the night blooming jasmine plant is actively growing. You should see new growth on the tips of the branches.

Step 2

Find a limb with some green growth that is not too woody and not too green. A woody stem will have trouble rooting and a tender green shoot will quickly wilt. Count down five leaf sets from the top of the stem and cut just under the fifth leaf set. Immediately put the cutting in a container of water immersing the cut end in the water.

Step 3

Prepare potting soil by filling a flower pot that has drainage holes with new potting soil. Do not use old or used potting soil because it can contain pathogens that will attack the new roots that form on the cutting. Soak potting soil that was added to flower pot with water and let drain.

Step 4

Take out cutting that was immersed in water and make another cut just below the next leaf node that is just above the original cut. Pull off the leaves that are above the cut by pulling off the leaves with a downward motion rather than cutting. This will expose more of the plant's green area to the rooting hormone. Immediately dip the cut end of the cutting into the powdered rooting hormone, covering the cut end as well as the place where the leaves were removed with the rooting hormone.

Step 5

Stick the cut end of the stem into the potting soil deep enough so the end of the stem as well as the area where the leaves were removed is covered with potting soil. Lightly press the potting soil around the cutting to secure the stem into an upright position. Locate the flower pot with the cutting in a bright warm area (70 to 85 degrees F) but not in direct sun. Mist every day to prevent drying out the stem or soil. The cutting should root and begin growing in six to eight weeks.