The beli, Bangladesh's fragrant white jasmine, is grown in gardens, in pots at home and as a commercial flower. Its place in garlands, bouquets and hair decorations makes it a cash flower as well. This growing guide, first published by The Agro News, has been checked against reliable sources.
What the beli is
Beli is Jasminum sambac, a member of the olive family Oleaceae, known in English as Arabian jasmine. Banglapedia lists it among the common garden shrubs of Bangladesh. According to Wikipedia, it is an evergreen vine or shrub 0.5 to 3 metres tall, native to Bhutan and India. The white flowers are 2 to 3 centimetres across. They usually open in the evening, around 6 to 8 pm, and close the next morning.
Three forms are known by the size and shape of the flower: a single-petalled, strongly scented beli, a medium-sized double form and a large double form. The flowers are strung into garlands and bouquets and are also used in perfume and jasmine tea. It is the national flower of the Philippines and one of the three national flowers of Indonesia.
Propagation, land and pots
Cultivated beli rarely sets seed, so it is propagated vegetatively: by air layering (gooti), ground layering and cuttings. An Indian B.Sc. (Agriculture) e-course on jasmine production notes that J. sambac is raised commercially from terminal and semi-hardwood cuttings.
Beli grows in almost any soil except sand and heavy clay. The site should be sunny, with irrigation and good drainage. The course advises digging pits about 45 centimetres long, wide and deep at least a month before planting and leaving them open to the sun; a few days before planting, fill them with two parts farmyard manure and one part each of fresh soil and coarse sand, then water them so the mixture settles.
In India the recommended spacing for J. sambac is 1.25 metres between plants and between rows, about 6,400 plants a hectare. Planting there is best done in the monsoon, from June to November.
Beli does well in pots on a veranda or rooftop. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) of the United Kingdom advises a well-drained loam, bright light with shade from the hottest sun, a low-nitrogen fertiliser once a month while the plant is growing, and less water in winter.
Watering, feeding, weeding and pruning
Beli needs steady moisture but must never stand in water. The Indian course suggests irrigating once a week or once every ten days depending on the soil and the weather; in the rainy season, water only when the rains fail.
Beli responds well to manure, but too much feeding pushes leaf growth at the expense of flowers. Fertiliser is usually given in two parts: once at the start of the rains and once after pruning. Which chemical fertilisers to use, and how much, is best decided after a soil test and on the advice of the upazila agriculture office.
Weed fields and pots regularly by hand. A mulch of chopped straw around the plants keeps weeds down and holds moisture in the soil.
Beli flowers at the tips of shoots and in the leaf axils, so more new shoots mean more flowers, and the plants need pruning every year. The Indian course reports that pruning J. sambac to 30 centimetres above the ground in November or February gives the highest flower yield. Feed the field or pot a few days after pruning.
Pests, diseases and picking
Red spider mites build up in hot, dry weather and feed on the undersides of leaves, which turn yellow and drop. Bud worm larvae bore into young buds. The RHS also lists aphids, scale insects and mealybugs. The main diseases are fungal: leaf blight, which leaves reddish-brown spots, and wilt, in which the lower leaves yellow first and the plant eventually dies.
If pests or disease appear, ask the upazila agriculture officer or the sub-assistant agriculture officer which miticide, insecticide or fungicide to use and at what dose.
Beli flowers mainly in summer and the rainy season. For sale, fully developed but unopened buds are picked in the morning. According to the Indian course, jasmine plants give an economic yield from the third year for 12 to 15 years, after which yields decline.
Photo: Bijay chaurasia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sources: The Agro News (Staff Correspondent), Banglapedia (Garden Flowers), Indian B.Sc. (Agriculture) e-course: Production Technology of Jasmine (eagri.org), Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Wikipedia
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