Question
I live in an apartment with a backyard garden in Ontario, Canada.  I was given 3 small night jessamine plants for Mother's Day. I presume I can't plant these outside so need some instructions on how to plant them as indoor plants.
1. Can I plant all 3 together in a large indoor planter?
2. What kind of potting soil should I use?
3. My live-in boyfriend has asthma & lung cancer, will the perfume from these plants be too much for him to handle? if so, I'll have to exchange them for something else.
4. What kind of fertilizer and insect spray should I use?

I would really appreciate your help in these matters. Thank You.

Answer
Dianne,

Yes, you can plant all three together in one pot but not too big.If they are each in little pots with a 2 inch or 10.16 cm diameter you should go to a pot with a 6 inch or 30.48 cm diameter. Do Not Go To a Pot Any Larger or your plants will not dry out well between watering and it must get fairly dry before you water it again. The surface of the soil should be dry for 2 days before you water again. There will still be some moisture lower in the pot. The roots will rot if you keep it constantly wet. It is not a swamp plant.

Potting soil, I buy the cheapest potting soil and make sure it is not moisture control potting soil unless you are a person that doesn't look at your plants for a month. Moisture control potting soil keeps things too wet if you water them regularly. I also buy an extra bag of perlite, not vermiculite, and mix 2 parts of potting soil with 1 part perlite. The perlite will give the soil better drainage so it does not stay soggy.

Some people - especially those with respiratory sensitivities or asthma - report difficulty breathing, irritation of the nose and throat, headache, nausea, or other symptoms when exposed to the blossom's powerful scent.1,2 Some Cestrum species contain chlorogenic acid, and the presence of this potent sensitizer may be responsible for this effect in C. nocturnum.3 The blooms are fairly small and it only blooms for a couple of weeks a year. They mainly emit scent at night so you could keep it in a closed spare room to keep the scent away from you live-in boyfriend.

For fertilizer I use a water soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Grow. The generic versions are fine. One for blooming plants would make your Night Jessamine bloom more.

For insect control I use a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water and add a teaspoon of dish detergent to a quart of mix. Put it in a spray bottle and spray the infected plant every other day for a month or until all signs of insects have been gone for 2 weeks.  You must be consistent  with the spraying to get any eggs that hatch before they have a chance to lay more eggs.

These instructions will work for most houseplants. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck!

Darlene