Camellia Culture Articles CAMELLIA SOIL MIXES FOR LANDSCAPE AND CONTAINERS By Brad King Camellias prefer a well-drained soil that is high in humus and slightly acid. A PH of 7 or less is acceptable but 5.5 to 6.5 are ideal. The use of coarse peat moss or oak leaf mold provides humus and the acid condition. When either is mixed in equal parts with “sharp” or “potting” sand a loose well-drained quality mix is obtained. Fine peat moss frequently found in garden centers is not recommended. It easily becomes too wet or too dry; both conditions lead to loss of camellias. Read more… CAMELLIA CULTURE Marilee Gray Claremont, California Camellias are the jewels of the shade garden that brighten the winter months with blooms of incredible variation and beauty. It is unfortunate, however, that many people consider camellias difficult to grow, when, in fact, they are very easy to grow once their needs are understood and met. Most camellias don't just die; they are killed by too much TLC or ignorance about what the camellia can and cannot tolerate. Knowing the characteristics of camellias makes all the do's and don't's of their culture readily understandable, so it helps to define their culture in terms of their characteristics. Read more... GROWING CAMELLIA FROM SEED Brad King Camellias are easy to grow from seed but take five to seven years to bloom. In Southern California seed ripen in late summer to fall depending on the Camellia species. The seed pods develop during the summer growing season. When the round or spherical pods split open they have from one to 9 seeds. A mature seed is dark brown or black. A light colored seed or white seed indicates the pod was harvested prematurely. Read more... THE BASICS OF FERTILIZING CAMELLIAS Marilee Gray Claremont, California Camellias are so easy to grow that many people claim that their camellias are beautiful and productive even though they receive no special attention except watering through the dry seasons. Yet others, who are in the conscientious, attentive gardener classification, despair because camellias are so difficult to grow. Their dead and dying camellias attest to their frustration. Why this disparity? The most likely culprit for the latter is their fertilizing program, for camellias survive better on neglect than on too much attention, particularly where fertilizers are concerned. The attentive gardeners, failing to understand the feeding needs of camellias, smother them with tender loving care and succeed only in killing them. An understanding of the characteristics, the likes, and the dislikes of camellias will establish a few basic rules to permit effective and safe fertilizing. Read more... PRUNING THE CAMELLIA PLANT Harold L. Paige, Lafayette, California C. Norwood Hastie, Jr., Charleston, South Carolina ...There are two primary reasons for pruning. Other reasons apply in specific instances, such as the growing of camellias for the cut-flower market where symmetry and form of plant contour is unimportant, but the two principal reasons for pruning are those which confront every camellia grower: one is to improve and maintain the health and physical well-being of the plant; the other is to improve the appearance of the plant.  Read more... DISBUDDING T. Savige, Australia The practice of disbudding (removing surplus flower buds from plants) is as old as horticulture itself and based upon the simple mathematical principle that the fewer divisions made in any substance, the larger each will be. Theoretically, it presupposes that a plant can produce only a certain total quantity of blooms satisfactorily; consequently, if better blooms are desired, their number must be reduced. This applies not only to the size but to the quality of the flowers as well, for the available nutrients and water (the latter constituting over 90% of the substance of a camellia flower) are then spread over a fewer number of blooms. Read more... GROWTH SEASON FERTILIZING Camellias produce stronger growth and larger more colorful blooms when fertilized properly. Care should be taken not to overfeed, however. Read about two of our members growth fertilizing regimens. CAMELLIA PROPAGATION: Grafting, Air Layering and Cuttings Brad King ...Cleft grafting is usually done in February or early March depending on the weather. The under stock may be a big old camellia whose blooms are no longer desired or a pencil sized potted camellia chosen for its value as under stock. e.g. Kanjiro. In the latter case, the under stock is cut at a 45 degree angle with a sharp knife, small saw or shears and the top is squared off then split vertically and wedged open. The scion is taken from the mature wood from the camellia being propagated. More..   CAMELLIA PROPAGATION: Secrets of Root Cuttings Ray Bond, TX At Bond Nursery Corp., we have spent a lot of time and money on research and development, particularly in the area of camellia propagation, i.e., rooting cuttings. We have had outstanding success and our average loss rate is now less than 30%. Many have asked what our “secrets” are and we have been hesitant to divulge information until we have had time to test and check sufficiently to give us the confidence in our process. Read more... GRAFTING CAMELLIAS Hal Vanis Grafting is probably the best way to increase your camellia collection, whether from your favorite plant or a new hard to get variety. Cuttings can be bought from different sources, but most camellia growers will gladly share “wood” with you. Read more... CAMELLIA VARIEGATION Genetic and Virus Variegation Ray Bond, TX One of the factors that makes camellias so eye-catching is the variegation that the plants show in their blooms. Other families and species of plants can display signs of variegation, but this will be about camellias. You can probably think of other kinds of plants with variegation after reading this article. There are two basic reasons for the camellia variegation phenomena. Read more... CAMELLIA CALENDAR: How to Treat Your Camellias in September through December Ray Bond, TX Month by month breakdown of bloom season care.