Jasmines are truly beautiful plants. They are commonly known to have gorgeous white or yellow flowers. Not to mention they have the best-smelling natural fragrances of all time.
It is a great plant to have either in the garden or indoors. Besides its beauty, it has many different beneficial uses. Taking care of the jasmine plant is easy to a certain extent. It does not require much attention and care. However, Any jasmine owner needs to know what damages the jasmine plant.
Jasmine’s leaves’ change of color can indicate many different things. The foliage can turn either red, yellow, pale yellow, purple, lighter green or brown. Each color tells us a different thing.
Generally, when leaves turn red, a chemical called anthocyanins is produced. This phenomenon occurs from the sugar built-in plants reacting with proteins in the cell sap. This natural reaction is what creates the pigment that turns green leaves into red leaves. In some cases, the pigment from chlorophyll reflects different shades of red and purple.
Why Jasmine Leaves Turning Red
There can be many causes of why your jasmine leaves are turning red. Red foliage can be a problem if your jasmine is an evergreen plant. Because there are some types of jasmine which their foliage turns red naturally during spring and fall.
1. Natural Cause
In most cases, red leaves are normal. They can indicate the beginning of a new season. That only if there was still a noticeable growth of new leaves and the old red leaves should fall down after a while. If otherwise, your plant needs help.
2. Water
Jasmine does not require a lot of water. However, it does not like dry soil as well. It needs rich soil with a good draining system. Water stress can create many problems and among them is red leaves. Water stress will disturb the phosphorus and the sugar which will lead to creating red pigmentation.
3. Nutrient Deficiency
Nutrient deficiency is often responsible for the color change of any plant’s foliage. Premature senescence in the early season is related to a lack of nutrients. Thus, it will turn your jasmine leaves red. An absence of one of the following minerals could be the reason why the leaves are turning red: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), or potassium (K).
You can tell when your plant lacks phosphorus when the lower short leaves turn red. This happens because the sugar built up in the cell sap increases and caused red pigmentation. The redness can appear either covering the whole leaf or as spots.
4. Plant Stress
The cause of red leaves in jasmine can be because it is under stress. That means your plant is lacking feed, overwatered, underwatered, or its environment is too cold.
How to Treat Jasmine’s Red Leaves
Based on what caused your leaves to turn red there are a few simple things to do to treat your tree and prevent this disturbance to occur once again.
1. Change of the Season
Change of the season is the number one reason why leaves turn red. Generally, the change of seasons is not something to worry about because it is all natural and it happens very often. After a while, the color will go back to green. Give your red leaves some time before judging the issue. If your plant remains red and there is no growth, that’s when you need to worry.
2. Cold
If you live in an area where the winter is too cold, transfer your plant into a pot and put it indoors. Frost can directly kill your plant within a couple of days. So you need to be careful during winter and watch over your plants.
3. Water Stress
Water stress is a very common cause. Too much water can kill any plant out there. In the case of jasmine plants, the leaves might turn red and eventually die. To check if you’re overwatering your plant, you can notice that the top of the soil turns greenish (due to algae) And the soil will also look too compressed. As a solution, you can turn the soil over using a shovel. You can also try to provide a drainage system so that the access water can be ditched.
Underwatering problems can be simply solved by watering your plant three times a week during spring and fall. Once a week during winter and every two days during summer. However, if your region is too hot during summer, water your plant every day.
4. Nutrients
Make sure you provide the necessary minerals. Jasmine plants love to live in rich soil, you can feed it seaweed and other solutions provided in the nursery. Rich soil makes all plants happy and healthy.
IMPORTANT NOTE
In order to feed your plant with any minerals, you need to get your soil tested first. Some nutrients such as phosphorus can be dangerous if added while it is already in the soil. Too much phosphorus can kill a plant and damage the environment.
Conclusion
Any deficiency will lead the plant to stress. Once the plant is stressed, various issues appear. Make sure to give your jasmine plant some attention. They are very nice and low-maintenance plants. All they need is a little attention from time to time.
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