Camellia dying, help please!
nicole93089
13 years ago
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luis_pr
13 years agonicole93089
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Camellia dying - please help
Comments (14)Hello, jenni reany. Camellias like well draining, moist, acidic soil and protection from the strong afternoon summer (so morning sun, afternoon shade is ok; dappled sun is ok too. I wonder if your soil is going thru periods of wet and moist and causing problems. Start by doing a soil analysis to determine how acidic it is and if it has any mineral defficiencies. Plant nurseries sell soil pH kits to tell you how acidic (or not) your soil is. If the nurseries are nearby, they could simply tell you if the soil is alkaline or acidic. If alkaline, amend it with garden Sulphur, green sand, iron sulphate, iron-chelated liquid compounds sold at plant nurseries, etc. An easy way to tell if the soil is alkaline is to monitor the leaves. If the plant is in an area that is too alkaline, the leaves will turn a light green or yellowish color but the leaf veins will remain dark green. This is called iron chlorosis. It occurs when the shrub cannot absorb iron from the soil because the soil has become too alkaline. Amending the soil as described above will correct this within a few weeks. You may need to reapply once or twice more but remember to make a habit to do it yearly in spring and again as needed. Then start a watering program with the finger method. Begin by inserting a finger into the nearby soil to a depth of 4 inches (10cm) daily for 1 or 2 weeks. Determine if the soils feels dry, moist or wet. If it feels dry or almost dry, water the soil early in the morning. Then make a note that you watered on a wall calendar. After two weeks, observe how often you had to water. Set your sprinkler to water on that same frequency (once every 2/3/4 days). If your temperatures change a lot with the passage of time, monitor the water usage for another two weeks with the finger method and tweak things as necessary. Maintain 3-4" (7.5-10cm) of mulch year around to reduce of your waterings and protect against windy locations. They can be fertilized using compost, composted manure or cottonseed meal or you can use a chemical general-purpose slow-release fertilizer with an approximate NPK Ratio of 10-10-10. In the southern part of the US, I fertilize in early March, early May and early July. That probably translates to September, November and January for you. The last thing I was going to mention is hard to test for. It has to do with circling roots. When the plants were planted, any roots that were growing in a circle around the pot needed to be pruned by making vertical cuts every 2 inches (5 cm) to prevent them from continuing growth in that circling fashion. Unfortunately, this is hard to test for after the plants have been in the ground for a while. At some point after being planted, the circling roots absorb all the minerals from the potting mix and then have health problems afterwards. Does that help you? Luis...See MoreCamellia Dying?
Comments (18)Re-reading your initial post, I see that the camellia is probably 30-40 years old, and you've had it for 20 years since you bought the house. But it sounds like you've only been covering it for two years? Or did you use a different sort of cover prior to that? I wouldn't worry about the camellia's ability to recover from a cold winter- it's old enough that I think it's survived worse, though it may not always bounce back quickly. I do wonder if keeping the cover on for several months at a time is necessary/useful/counter-productive, but I have no experience of growing camellias in a cold climate, and can only advise you to be observant about how different conditions affect your plant's health, and her ability to bloom well. And ditto to what Luis said above... Virginia...See MoreHelp me with this giant camellia, please!
Comments (11)I think that any pruning should be done in the late winter, just before new growth gets started. In reality, fall is probably the worst time to prune. If you prune in the fall, the plant could be pushed into the normal reaction of a plant after pruning.....to GROW new leaves to replace those lost. Pruning is a growth promoting activity, after all. This can be extremely costly for the plant. It will have already begun its winterizing processes of storing energy reserves in the roots and of hardening off the vegetative growth. Plants must be able get themselves ready for winter. Plants have a bank of reserves in the roots. In the spring, those reserves are remetabolized so that the plant can begin to grow. If a plant is forced into growth at the worst time possible (the fall, it loses its winter hardiness as well as having to withdraw the stored energy waaaay too early. The other, more obvious hazard of fall pruning is that you would be removing its winter protection, exposing old wood to freezes and winter winds. This is true anywhere you live. I'd give my eye teeth to limb up that tree for you, shaping it into a work of art. Camellias are quite lovely when pruned in that manner. But it does take some knowledge and experience or it will end up looking like a hatchet job. Lots of that going around....See MoreCamellia Dieback please help
Comments (11)Brad, I got this reply: "William from ACS forwarded your email about your friend's camellia problem. I help William out with questions like this because I am a plant pathologist. When I first read the email I thought you might be referencing a friend in Callahan, Florida that has called me about a similar problem with his camellias. I spoke to Jerry Rice tonight and he has had the extension service out to his place twice investigating his problem which is very much like what you are describing about your friends camellias. At this point they have not identified the problem. Jerry would like to visit your friends camellia collection and see if the problems are related. You can call Jerry at 904-879-6906. He is an experienced camellia grower that may be able to help. Hope this will help your friend. Mark Crawford Valdosta, GA 229-460-5922"...See Moreluis_pr
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