Harshringar Plant Complete care

Harshringar, known by many names like Parijata, Night-flowering jasmine, Shiuli, or Shefali is a tree, which has appealing flowers of orange and white colors. It can be grown in medium-sized pots to fetch beautiful and aromatic flowers.

• Harshringar is a holy plant with lots of benefits.
• People worship this plant and also offer it to gods.
• It also possesses various medicinal and health benefits. Leaves of this plant have the potential to cure fever, sciatica, and knee pain. Different medicines are processed from these leaves.
• Flowers can be used to add natural food color to different foods. Dried flowers can be used in place of saffron in dishes.

This perennial plant is a very hardy plant and very easy to care for. Once settled, it would run for 100 years. In a world of diversity, the needs, behaviors, and requirements of each and every living being is different. In this write-up, all the aspects of Harshringar will be detailed to make everyone a parent of it.

BEST SEASON 

• Growing Season – Harshringar is a typical summer plant and grows well for 8 months from February till September. New branches and leaves come out at a magnifying pace in this span.
• Blooming Season – Flowers bloom in the autumn season (October – December) only.
• Relaxing Period – Winter is the dormancy period of this plant. Especially, in north India from December end till January it goes under stress.
• Again, in February pruning can be done to follow the cycle of growing, blooming, and dormancy period.

PROPAGATION

• It can be propagated from cuttings.
• Seeds can be used to grow a plant. For the above two, the best time to grow a plant is February.
• It can be bought from nurseries also. The best time to have it from nurseries is March end – April.

HOW TO IDENTIFY PARIJAT IF BUYING FROM NURSERIES?

Initially, there are no flowers in the plant, so leaves can be monitored to identify the plant.

• Its leaves are slightly pointed with a rough texture (which can be felt by rubbing a hand on them)
• Leaves are not shiny, growing with a matte finish on the outer surface.
• Leaves are dry, fold them with a hand, and little dryness will be felt.

POT SIZE

Generally, Large size clay pots are preferred here. Any pot of size like 12 inch, 16 inch, 18 or 21 inch can be opted.

SOIL MIXTURE 

The soil of this plant should be soft and friable. Avoid clayey and hard soil, plants would not survive in that soil.

• Take local soil and clean it wisely.
• Take the sand in half the quantity of soil.
• Take compost (Cow dung compost is suggested here) in half a quantity of sand.
• Mix everything properly.

FACT: Hard or clayey Soil, Incorrect Pot (always opt for clay pot for this plant at least for 1 season), and over-watering can hamper the growth of the plant.

• After shifting the plant, the following measures need to be followed to make it more bushy till the time it starts flowering.

SUNLIGHT REQUIREMENT

Once the plant has settled after shifting, keep it in a place where there is maximum sunlight. At least 4 hours of sunlight is mandatory here.

PRUNING 

Cut the tip of all the branches just above the node. Approximately, after 25 days new branches will grow out from the point where tips were being removed.

WATERING  CYCLE  

Many plants need moist soil to sustain but here it is not advised. Harshringar needs water when the soil is dry from the inside also.

• For the first time give water properly in instalments till it comes out from the bottom hole.
• After that, loosen the topsoil and give water if the soil is dry from the inside. If the soil is wet then wait for some more days to give water.
• This plant dies due to overwatering but not from underwatering.

FERTILISERS

• The cycle of giving fertilizer is different here.
• February to  September – Cow Dung Liquid Fertiliser is suggested here, once a month at a fixed date. Alternatively, vermicompost tea can also be used at this duration.
• October to January – For these 4 months, liquid fertilizer of mustard cake is preferred.

Moreover at this time, any liquid tonic(Onion peel, Epsom salt, or Banana peel) means micronutrients should also be given in the gap of 15 days.

Autumn is the flowering time of this plant, so proper fertilizers should be fed to it to have blooming flowers back to back.

FACT: This plant has a unique flowering routine, flowers come in autumn and bloom during the night then the next morning they fall on their own. Harshringar blooms for around 1.5 months and after that winter is the dormancy period of this plant.

This was all about the plant Parijat.

Grow it !!! Cherish it !!!

Harvest lots of flowers from this plant by taking care of it.

Happy Gardening !!