Star Jasmine advice

[BigPinkOrchid]

I'm not particularly green fingered, so would appreciate any advice, please!

I bought two Star Jasmine plants two (maybe three...) years ago. They're in wooden planters and have been either side of my patio doors on a south facing wall. One is doing much better than the other, and I'm just wondering whether there's anything I can do to chivvy the other along?

I'm going to try and post a picture of each for you to see the difference...

I've moved them today to either side of the back door (for completely unrelated reasons) and they'll now be getting direct sunlight in the morning only, if that makes a difference.

Any thoughts?

I would change the compost in the one that's not doing so well. Or try feeding it, first. I use tomorite for flowering plants. However I've got 2 pyracantha either side of my door. One looks great, glossy and thriving, the other looks awful, spindly and few leaves. I dont know why, they both get same treatment. So what do I know? Think I'm going to bin it and get another.

Thanks for the advice, will try both things you suggest.

Good luck with your pyracantha!

Thanks. By the way if you do change the compost dont feed plant for about 6 weeks. Good luck.

Ah, good to know. Thanks.

If you get a new one you could relocate the sickly one to a partially shaded spot or pop it in the ground somewhere. It might stage a comeback!

I'm growing mine on a NE facing fence as I ran out of ideas for shady climbers. Growth has been quite slow but it's started to romp away this year and is covered in flowers

Have you treated them with vine weevil killer? They are a horrible pest in pots.

Agree with changing the soil - it might be worth doing that (in the shade so the roots don't get a chance to dry out while you're doing it) and perhaps add some mycorrhizal fungi like Rootgrow to the compost.

If you repot it, then it won't need feeding for a few weeks as the new compost will have enough nutrients in it.

Thanks for the ideas. Do they do better in the shade? It's now on an East facing wall instead of a South facing one, so might do better there to not have the sun on it all day? I have very limited planting options in my garden at the moment (hence the pots), a side patio and a small back garden, but all the planting areas get a lot of sun...well, as much as you get in the UK...

Will try changing soil first and see how it fares against the back wall instead of the side wall.

It says it prefers full sun and south facing is perfect as long as it's sheltered - it doesn't like cold, drying winds. I think everything is struggling in this heat tbh

RHS link here

As well as changing the compost you could put it in a bigger pot and/or add a mulch to the top such as pea gravel or bark chippings. Might help keep a bit of moisture in. How's drainage in your pot? Is it possible to add some broken crocks etc so the water doesn't run straight through.

Mine turned a bit reddish at one point and shed a load of leaves then recovered!

Fingers crossed!

They do change leaf colour in autumn to gold/red depending on temperature I think. Very attractive plants.