Camellia cultivation methods and precautions

Camellia looks very beautiful, with lush green leaves that look shiny, and bright flowers, and is deeply loved by flower lovers. Planting camellia requires a certain amount of patience. Here we talk about the cultivation methods and precautions of camellia.

1. Soil

The soil for growing camellia should be loose, breathable, and well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Usually peat, rotten sawdust, red soil, and humus are used, and they should be mixed evenly for cultivation.

2. Temperature and sunlight

Camellia prefers a warm and humid environment, and prefers sunshine but cannot tolerate high temperatures. It can be exposed to full sunlight in spring, autumn and winter, but needs to block 50% of the light in summer. The suitable temperature for camellia is between 20 and 32 degrees Celsius. It will stop growing when it is above 29 degrees Celsius, and the leaves will burn at 35 degrees Celsius. Moreover, camellia needs a certain temperature difference to bloom. If the environment is warm or hot all year round, it will not be conducive to its flowering and growth. Most varieties of camellia can withstand temperatures as low as ~8℃.

3. Watering

Camellia is afraid of both dryness and waterlogging. Usually, try to keep the soil in the pot moist. When watering, do not water halfway. Water thoroughly when you need to. If the surface of the soil in the pot is relatively dry, water it thoroughly. If the surface is moist, no watering is needed. In winter, the soil in the camellia pot should not be too wet. It should be placed in a windproof and sunny place, and the soil should be kept slightly moist. In too cold weather, it is best to keep the soil in the pot dry to avoid frost damage. The best water for watering camellia is river water or rainwater. If it is tap water, it needs to be left for a day or two before watering. It is best to add some ferrous sulfate to the water regularly to improve the alkalinity of the water. This is best for watering camellia. Camellia prefers weak acid, not neutral or alkaline.

4. Fertilization

Camellia likes fertilizer. Generally, when potting or repotting, apply enough basal fertilizer at the bottom of the pot. It can be controlled-release fertilizer or decomposed cake fertilizer. In autumn and winter, because flower buds develop quickly, decomposed light liquid fertilizer should be applied once every half a month, and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied 1 to 2 times. Too much nitrogen fertilizer can easily cause the flower buds to scorch. After flowering, less or no fertilizer can be applied. It is better to apply fertilizer with dilute alum fertilizer water, and avoid applying concentrated fertilizer. Generally, after budding in spring, apply thin compound fertilizer water once every 20 days or so. Do not apply fertilizer in the hot summer. Apply alum fertilizer water before flowering, and apply quick-acting phosphorus and potassium fertilizers when flowering to make the flowers large and colorful and the flowering period long.

5. Reproduction

The main methods of camellia propagation are cuttings, grafting and high grafting. Camellia cuttings can be done in spring and autumn, but September is the best time. Choose healthy semi-lignified branches, cut about 10 cm, keep the upper 2 leaves, cut into oblique ends with a sharp knife, use the hormone indolebutyric acid to prepare a solution according to the proportions in the instructions, soak the wound for about 15 minutes, then dry the wound and insert it into a sand pot or vermiculite pot. Water it for about 40 days after insertion until the wound heals, and it will take about 60 days for roots to grow. Cuttings treated with hormones will root earlier than those without hormones. Using vermiculite as a planting bed will make roots grow much faster than using a sand bed.

Grafting: Choose appropriate rootstock and graft the camellia. The grafting time is generally between Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. When grafting, use a knife to cut off about half of the parts of the camellia and the rootstock where they are to be joined. The cut should be smooth. Then make the cut surfaces of both sides fit tightly together. Wrap them with plastic film and water the rootstock twice a day. It will heal in about two months. In February of the following year, cut off the mother plant and cut off the tail of the rootstock with a knife, then you can plant it.

High grafting: The method is: ring-bark the weak branches that need to be pruned at the appropriate position. The ring-barking length can be between 5 and 8 mm. Tie them with plastic film and fill the film with sterilized peat soil or leaf mold. It will take root in about a month. This method has a high survival rate.

6. Pest and disease control

The main diseases of camellia include dieback, ring rot, sooty mold, anthracnose, flower blight, leaf spot, gray mold, etc. The main control agents are: carbendazim; thiophanate-methyl; and carbendazim for regular control. The main pests of camellia are red spider mites, bridge-building insects, aphids, scale insects and leaf rollers. The main control agent is chlorpyrifos mixed with carbofuran or long-lasting phosphorus and sprayed with water according to the instructions.

That’s it