Growing Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata): Seeds, Cuttings, Care and Flowers

Ylang ylang (Cananga odorata, also spelled ilang-ilang) is grown for one thing above all others: the scent. The drooping yellow flowers, with their six long curled petals, are the source of the perfume ingredient the tree is famous for, and a single mature specimen will scent a garden at night. The fruit is edible too, but it is a secondary crop. Decide which of those you actually want before you buy — it changes what you look for and how you prune.

The 5 °C line: where ylang ylang can actually live

Ylang ylang is a genuinely tropical tree, and the number that governs everything is 5 °C (41 °F) — below that it does not survive. That places it in hardiness zone 10b and above outdoors, with zones 9b–10a possible only if you actively overwinter it: shelter, protection on cold nights, or lifting a container plant under cover.

Beyond temperature it wants high humidity, and this is not a detail you can skip. Ylang ylang comes from humid tropical air, and in a dry climate the tree may survive on paper while never really thriving — growth stalls and flowering disappoints. In a Mediterranean or dry subtropical garden, plant it where it gets shelter and where the soil stays consistently moist. Light is easier: full sun to half shade, with the best flowering in sun.

Seed, cutting, air layer or a bought plant?

This is where most ylang ylang projects succeed or fail, so be honest about your setup.

A bought plant — the default recommendation

Both seed and cuttings are demanding, and neither is forgiving of imperfect conditions. If you cannot supply the warmth and humidity that propagation needs, start from a nursery plant. There is no horticultural penalty — grafting is not necessary for this species, so a plant is a plant.

Air layering — the easiest propagation method

If you have access to an existing tree, air layering is markedly easier than either seed or cuttings, because the branch stays attached to the parent and keeps receiving water and food while it roots. It also gives you a clone of a tree whose flowering you have already seen.

Seed and cuttings

Ylang ylang is difficult from seed, mainly because germination needs conditions most gardens do not naturally offer and can take weeks. Cuttings are hard without controlled conditions but very doable with them. Both methods are set out below.

How to grow ylang ylang from seed

Soak the seed for 24 hours in water that starts slightly warm — warm to the touch, not hot. Hot water will kill the embryo. The soak softens the seed coat and rehydrates the seed so germination can begin.
Prepare a pot of soil and soak it thoroughly before sowing, so there are no dry pockets.
Sow, then keep the medium humid and moist at all times. Drying out once at the wrong moment is usually fatal at this stage.
Give the pot at least 8 hours of full sun a day, and keep it warm and humid — a covered propagator, a greenhouse or a clear plastic box with ventilation holes all work.
Wait. Seedlings emerge over roughly 4 to 10 weeks, and unevenly, so do not throw the pot out early.

How to take ylang ylang cuttings

Time cuttings for early spring, or take them whenever you can hold a temperature of about 26 °C (79 °F). The requirements are non-negotiable:

Peat-based medium, kept moist throughout.
High humidity — a greenhouse, or a small plastic box with holes punched in it. The holes matter: without ventilation the cutting rots instead of rooting.
Rooting hormone on the cut end. With a species this reluctant, it makes a real difference.
Steady warmth around 26 °C (79 °F). A cutting has no roots, so it can only replace water lost through its leaves once it forms them — high humidity plus warmth is what keeps it alive during the gap.

Planting ylang ylang in the ground

Plant in spring to summer in zones 9–10a, spring to autumn in zones 10b–11, and at any time of year in zone 12 and warmer.
Dig a hole 20–40% deeper and wider than the root ball.
Mix organic matter, humus and dried leaves with some of the excavated soil and put it back into the hole.
Loosen the outside of the root ball a little before you set the tree in, so the roots break out into the new soil instead of circling.
Backfill and firm the soil moderately — hard enough that the tree is stable, gentle enough that you have not compacted the air out of the soil.
Mulch the surface to hold moisture, then water in thoroughly.
Water every day for the first two weeks, ideally in the morning.
If the tree is not stable, support it with a bamboo cane or stake so wind cannot topple it before the roots take.

Watering and feeding

Ylang ylang needs an average to large amount of water, and while the tree is young the soil should stay wet most of the time. The exact amount is entirely conditional: soil type, wind, sun exposure and humidity all change how fast the root zone dries, so judge by the soil rather than by a schedule. A windy, sunny site with sandy soil may need daily watering where a sheltered, humid one needs it twice a week.

Feed three to four times a year in rich soil, and keep the mulch topped up — it conserves moisture, which is what this tree cares about most.

Pruning: keep it short on purpose

Left alone, ylang ylang reaches 5–30 m (15–100 ft) and grows at a medium to fast rate to get there. That is a problem, because the crop is the flowers — and flowers thirty metres up are flowers you will never smell up close or pick.

So prune deliberately and from early on to keep the tree low and wide enough to reach. Prune in autumn or winter, when growth has slowed. Regular light shaping while the tree is young is far more effective than trying to reduce a large tree later.

Growing ylang ylang in a container (and as bonsai)

This is not a houseplant — it will not do well indoors long term — but it grows well in a container outdoors, and it can also be grown as a dwarf or trained as bonsai. Container work is also the practical way to grow it in zones 9b–10a, where it can be moved under cover for the coldest nights.

Match the pot to the plant. A small plant goes straight into a small pot; if you are using a large container, it should be roughly 30–50% larger than the root ball, no more.
Pot on each time the roots fill the container, stepping up gradually until the tree reaches the size you want it to stay.
Replace the soil every few years. Potting soil loses its structure and its nutrient-holding capacity over time; refreshing it does more for a long-term container tree than feeding harder.
Watch moisture closely — a pot dries far faster than open ground, and this is a tree that dislikes drying out.

Flowers, fruit and what each is good for

The flowers are showy, strongly fragrant, yellow, with six curling petals, and they are what the perfume industry uses. They are not edible. A tree normally starts flowering 2 to 4 years after planting, with the main flush running from spring through summer, and flowering continuing into autumn in warm conditions.

The fruit is the edible part: small purple fruits about 1–2 cm across with small seeds inside, produced from around 3 to 5 years old and available over a long season from summer into winter. They are most often cooked, and made into jam; they can be juiced, and eaten raw, though that is less common. Note the reversal, since it catches people out constantly: on ylang ylang you smell the flowers and eat the fruit, which is the opposite of what most people assume.

Buying a ylang ylang: what to check

Decide your purpose first — fragrance, fruit, or both — because it changes what you inspect.

Confirm the species. Cananga is sold in several forms; there are ylang ylang plants grown as trees, as shrubs and as vines, and the plant you buy needs to be the form you actually want in that spot. Make sure you are getting Cananga odorata and not a different species altogether.
If you want fruit, taste the fruit of the parent plant first where you can.
Inspect the trunk for holes, and the plant for pests and disease.
Check the pot soil for ant nests and other insects.
Check the leaves — the foliage should be clean elliptic green, light to dark. Distorted leaves can indicate disease.

Then run through the requirements honestly: above 5 °C year round, high humidity, rich moist soil, sun to half shade, and room for a tree you will have to keep pruned. If any of those cannot be met in the ground, grow it in a container where you can control them.

Pests

Aphids are the main pest. They gather on soft new growth and flower buds, sucking sap and distorting the shoots, and their honeydew leads to sooty mould. Catch them early — a strong jet of water or an early treatment on a young flush is far more effective than trying to clear a heavy infestation later. Ants running up the trunk are usually a signal that aphids are established above.

For the full plant profile see our Ylang ylang tree growing page.