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Camellia Sinensis Dying - Please Help!

9 years ago

Around the beginning of the year, I received a camellia sinensis plant. Its condition has been deteriorating terribly. The leaves all turned brown starting at the tips. Most of the leaves have now fallen off, but the stalk is growing. I can see new leaves growing, but they too have brown tips. It is still in the soil it came with, and seems to react negatively to watering every day, so I have reduced it to every two days. Putting a humidifier in the room didn't help...maybe I should spray it? I keep it under a growth light which cycles on/off every 6 hours. I'm about to replant it in a larger pot with new acidic soil and fertilizer, which I hope will enable it to recover.

Any advice on what might be killing it or how to help it recover is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Here it is a month after I got it:

Here it is now:

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Comments (4)

Vicissitudezz
9 years ago
Camellias are woodland plants that prefer shade, mulch, somewhat acidic soils and temperate climates (cool-to cold, but not extremely cold winters). Generally speaking, they are not indoor plants, and will usually do best if grown outdoors. In areas with very cold winters, camellias can be grown in unheated greenhouses, on porches that provide protection from cold winds, or in a well-lit, unheated room.

The dirt should not be allowed to dry out, but shouldn't need to be watered daily or even every other day. If the dirt is drying out that quickly, it's probably because of indoor air circulation... the warm, dry air that humans like in the winter is not the cool, moist air that a camellia wants.

If the grow light puts out heat, that is another thing camellias don't want, and it will do its part to dry out the soil too quickly. 12 hours of bright light daily isn't necessary, and may be counter-productive.

It would help to know what part of the world your camellia lives, but if you have a space where you can grow it outside without it getting frozen on a regular basis, that would be ideal.

A stressed camellia should not be fertilized... that will push the camellia to try harder to do something it's already having trouble doing. If the plant really needs a larger pot, that may help, but it sounds like the plant is getting over-watered and is probably in a too-warm, too-dry environment.

Good luck,

Virginia
goldenjoe
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm in the northeast United States, so it'll definitely die if I leave it outside. Thanks for the advice.
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If you've been watering and it didn't help the leaf droop then something could be wrong with the roots - either root rot or something perhaps girdled the main trunk and/or dug under and/or chewed the roots . You might want to check down near the ground to see if anything was chewed... maybe consider getting some cuttings just in case. Alternately, if anything was sprayed in the area (herbicide, pesticide, etc), it could be getting impacted by that. A picture might help to see better what is happening and you could also send a branch to your County Extension office to better diagnose the problem.
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I bought from plant from a person out of OH. The plant had been stressed, as it went from outdoors to indoors because I live in NY (zone 5a I believe) where it was too cold to live outside. Once it moved indoors, the leaf "blight" continued. I used a general fungicide that was recommended by a local nursery -they admitted they were not very familiar with the plant. The water did drain out, but I fear it may have drained out too quickly sometimes. Around the fall time when I brought it inside, I also was unlucky to have fungus knats infest it, which definitely weakened and stressed my poor plant. It sadly died despite my best efforts to keep it alive :( With it also being indoors, I think it was too dry for it. I do not have any full scale photos offhand, but I will look for some when it was alive to post later.
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The truth is that, oftentimes, camellias don't seem to take well to being grown inside. Birdinthepalm is a happy exception! It appears to be difficult to create the kind of atmosphere that they will thrive in. Particularly during the winter, when typical indoor humidity levels go way down inside. That, in combination with some improper watering practices (maybe?) could cause some real problems. A fast draining potting mix is always best for containerized plants, making over watering more difficult. If your medium drains properly, then you SHOULD water it to overflow each time, rather than giving it little sips. However, I've sure seen some soils that were mucky and soggy, and difficult to manage. Birdinthepalm explained it perfectly....they like being uniformly moist, but must never be overwatered! A fast draining mix makes that possible.
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vinny, could you give us a little more information? What did the root ball look like when you took it out of the pot? Was it root bound? Was there much soil or just a lot of roots? I find many grasses purchased at this time of the year have already outgrown their pots. When I plant these I always try to loosen up the root a little bit. Then I soak the root ball in a bucket of water to make sure the whole thing is hydrated. Then I plant it and tend to it a bit like a new tree. Water the planting hole really well as you are planting. Once or twice a week water the plant deeply. Often if the potting mix gets too dried out it is really hard to re-wet properly so, your repeated light waterings may just be watering the lawn & surrounding soil rather than the grass. just a thought & very long winded ...... :o)
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I would guess over or underwatering -- or uneven watering. Pot looks too small and likely the bottom portion remained too wet. I'd consider putting it in a deeper pot but really trying to maintain even watering.

Also, the air may be too dry in your house and temperature too warm for the winter.

I have C. japonica seedlings growing under lights (12-14 hours on) though and they look just fine. I water very carefully though. Not too much; not too little. No fertilizer until they are established and actively growing. You can burn the fragile root hairs.

Hopefully yours will recover when you put it OUTSIDE for the summer. I think increased light, night-day temp fluctuations and increased humidity from outdoors will start it up.
longriver01
9 years ago
Over water. The plant would drop moist leaf one by one. Possibly the root is already bad. Or. You keep the plant indoor too long.

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