Mathilde's Rock Jasmine (Mathilde's androsace) care

Light

Aim for at least 4-6 hours of direct sun on the leaves. Requires full sun with excellent air circulation; in warmer lowland gardens, light afternoon shade reduces heat stress on the cushion. If your only bright window faces south, that's perfect for mathilde's rock jasmine — same window any aroid would fry on.

Watering

Watering mathilde's rock jasmine: sparingly; allow to nearly dry between waterings. The number that matters isn't the day of the week — it's how dry the top 2-3 cm of the pot feels. A finger in the soil tells you more than a watering app. After every watering, tip the saucer. Water from below or at the base — never wet the rosettes, as moisture on the cushion triggers lethal fungal rot, especially in winter.

Soil and pot

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine grows best in sharply drained gritty alpine mix. Use a 50:50 mix of coarse grit and lean loam or a commercial alpine compost; plant in vertical crevices in tufa rock or a raised scree bed for best drainage. A pot with a working drainage hole is non-negotiable for this species — even free-draining mix will turn soggy in a closed planter. If you love the look of a decorative pot without a hole, use it as a cachepot around an inner nursery pot you can lift out to water.

Humidity and temperature

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine sits happiest at around Low humidity and -25 to 20°C (-13 to 68°F). Thrives in dry mountain air; avoid humid or still-air conditions, which encourage botrytis and cushion collapse — open, breezy sites are ideal. If you keep the room above year-round and avoid placing the plant near a cold draught, a hot radiator, or an air-conditioning vent, you have already handled the two biggest indoor stressors.

Fertilising

Feed mathilde's rock jasmine sparingly. Apply a single light top-dressing of slow-release low-nitrogen alpine fertiliser in early spring; excessive feeding produces soft, rot-prone growth. Skip fertiliser entirely on a stressed, recently-repotted, or actively wilting plant — fertiliser salts make damage worse, not better. Wait for a round of healthy new growth before resuming a feeding rhythm.

Common problems

Below are the issues we see most often on mathilde's rock jasmine in the Growli community. Each is annotated with the most common cause so you know where to start.

• Cushion rot (Botrytis / fungal collar rot) — The most serious threat: stagnant moisture at the crown, especially in winter, causes rapid blackening and collapse of rosettes. Ensure overhead dryness and place a grit collar around the cushion base.
• Vine weevil — Larvae feed on roots and crowns at soil level, causing sudden wilting. Treat with nematode biological control (Steinernema kraussei) applied in early autumn when soil is still warm.

Propagation

Root individual rosettes as cuttings in early summer in a mix of grit and sand; alternatively, sow seed on the surface of moist gritty compost in winter, allowing a cold stratification period of 4–6 weeks before bringing to 18–20°C for germination. Propagation is the cheapest, most satisfying way to expand a collection — and it doubles as insurance against losing a mature plant to an accident. Take a backup cutting once the parent is established and healthy.

Toxicity to pets

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine is mildly toxic to pets. Androsace is not currently listed in the ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant database; in the absence of confirmed safety data, this species is classified as mildly toxic as a precaution. If a pet ingests any part, monitor for GI upset and consult a veterinarian. If you keep cats, dogs, or curious children in the house, weigh placement carefully — a high shelf or a hanging planter is enough for casual safety. For severe ingestion incidents, call your local vet and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (in the US, 888-426-4435).

Pet-safety status is sourced from the ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List, which catalogues the most-asked-about plants for cats, dogs, and horses.

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine deep-dive guides

Every aspect of mathilde's rock jasmine care, each with its own calibrated guide:

• Common mathilde's rock jasmine problems & fixes
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine watering schedule
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine light requirements
• Best soil mix for mathilde's rock jasmine
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine fertilizing guide
• When to repot mathilde's rock jasmine
• How to propagate mathilde's rock jasmine
• How to prune mathilde's rock jasmine
• What's eating my mathilde's rock jasmine?
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine growth rate & size
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine cold hardiness
• Mathilde's Rock Jasmine temperature & humidity
• Is mathilde's rock jasmine toxic to cats & dogs?
• Is mathilde's rock jasmine toxic to cats?
• Is mathilde's rock jasmine toxic to dogs?
• All 13 Androsace varieties
• Getting mathilde's rock jasmine to bloom

Featured in these plant shortlists

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine qualifies for 4 curated Growli shortlists — each one filtered objectively from our structured plant-care library, so the selection is consistent and checkable:

• Best flowering houseplants — Indoor plants grown for their blooms — selected from the flowering species in Growli’s plant-care library.
• Best small & tabletop houseplants — Compact houseplants that stay under about 40 cm — desk, shelf and windowsill plants that never outgrow a small space.
• Best houseplants for full sun — Houseplants that want direct sun — the species for a hot south or west-facing windowsill where shade-lovers scorch.
• Best houseplants for a cool room — Houseplants that tolerate cool conditions down to about 10°C — for an unheated spare room, hallway, porch or a home kept cool.
• Browse all 29 plant shortlists — pet-safe, low-light, drought-tolerant and more

Related guides

Mathilde's Rock Jasmine is also commonly called Mathilde's rock jasmine or Mathilde's androsace.

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