Camellia mistake

Hi, we bought an unnamed Camellia from Wilkos in May as The Teenager suddenly couldn't possible survive without one.

We potted it up in a 30cm container and there it has stayed without doing anything. I had a nagging feeling I had forgotten something... Yup. It needs acidic compost and we just used the general type. I'm a killer! The Teenager will be traumatised for life!

Now it has suddenly burst into growth with very healthy looking new leaves.

Should we re-pot it this summer with ericaceous compost, or just leave it until next summer? Would it suffer more from a new compost and disturbance, or will the netural compost stress it more over the winter? What do you think?

Thanks!

 

Selleri, this is a fallacy about camellias needing acid soil. They don't. However, if potting one I would use an ericaceous john innes compost.
So, if you have kept it well watered and it is big enough, it could flower next year; they are precocious plants.
The problem, as I see it, is if you have used mpc????!! If you have I would repot it in September using john innes or an acid john innes.
Neutral soil is absolutely fine though.....here I have 4 or 5 camellias in my neutral soil. They do well. The only things I do for them are to keep reasonably well watered.....critically during
July and August when flower buds are forming.....and to spray a couple of times with epsom salts in spring. Oh! I lightly prune after flowering to keep them compact

 

Thanks very much Verdun, this was informative and reassuring!

We'll just leave it for now and keep it well watered. And if it dies I'll blame you

Thanks!

 

Wont die .....besides I may be fleeing to New Zealand

 

Selleri I had mine potted for a year and it soon out growed the pot but because it was potted in ericaceous compost...when I put it in the ground I just used Multi purpose then because it was incased in ericaceous compost when removed from the pot and it's not failed me yet

 

@Verdun do you think I should clip mine as I've never done it yet and it as new stems sticking out

 

My compliments to Verdun for a fine reply. You say that it's a fallacy regarding acidic soil/compost. That your Camellias do well on neuteral soil.
I have a few Camellias and,NO, I don't go around with a pH test meter etc in my pocket. To be honest, I have this thing about Camellias. Cammellia sinensis leaves provides us with all time drink, the cuppa. In my experience growing Cammellias in parks/gardens, woodlands and the back garden IMO they can vary as much as the cuppa, the latter being strong...like paint stripper or so weak like gnats pee. Botanically the pH for growing Camelias is rated at 4.5-5.5 on the pH scale 7.0 is rated neuteral. I doubt very much if outside a lab you could get an exact pH reading, so much of our gardening has to be, trial and error.

 

Gail, what do you mean by,"clip" Usually to clip a plant/shrub etc implies to get the hedging shears out ant chop away. That's OK with hedges, privets etc but the broarder leaved shrubs etc, prune. Avoid leaving dead ended twigs sticking up, and leaves chopped in half. Be selective. Cut almost to wher a leaf joins the stem or cut as low as possible between a pair of leaves.

 

Gail, yes you can clip those "new stems sticking out" but I wouldn't unless you want to maintain your bush as a neat, clipped topiary specimen......and I know you like that. Time for that is immediately after flowering. You can clip camellias or prune carefully with secateurs or not prune at all but then they simply become overgrown and often leggy. Camellias make fine hedges, commonplace down here, and the shears then are simply taken to them like any other hedge.

(Mike is right about using secateurs when cutting broad leaf shrubs though and it is worth using secateurs on a specimen plant to avoid damaging the leaves. I always use secateurs when pruning my camellias.....pruning to outward buds for a wider bush, to inward buds for a narrower one or to a pair of buds for density)

Have to respectfully disagree with you Mike on this one, viz., PH of the soil ....it is essential for everyone to have a good idea of what sort of soil he or she has. It's not about carrying a ph metre around in your pocket; take the readings once and that's it. Readings are not meant to be exact; they are to give a useful approximation only.

Wish I had known about soil alkalinity/acidity when I first got into gardening; would have saved a lot of money as I planted out several azaleas, etc. in my neutral soil and duly lost them

 

Sorry Mike...it's how I speak I meant prune mate

Verdun mines looking leggy now at the top in new growth but i'll leave till next year now because the end of August beginning of September small buds start forming for next year, so i'll leave well alone till after it's flowered next year, as you know I love my camellia

 

You're learning fast Gail.....well done

 

Doing my best Verdun with plants I've never had before...my main issue is remembering full names so annoying at times

 

Verdun my dear friend. Apologies not needed. However please go back amessage or so. You apologise to me saying "its a fallacy bout cameloas needing ericacious compost. Then you openly admit. Had you previously listened to and accepted the advice, you would have saved yourself lots.

As I say. No problems. I from time to time express my views regarding the rights and wrongs of gardening. We as interested individuals, read books, watch videos etc. So at some point , still persuing an interest in gardening/horticulture, we try out some of the growing procedures. Some of us win, others might say, sod that for a lark. So it all comes down to the fact that what lifelong experienced gardeners have tried and tested and written about might not suit everyone. So we branch out and try this and that. Then comes along a gardening website, at last I can have my say. Here we meet amateurs, professionals and the upper crust profs etc.

At the end of the day. Listen, learn, try it out. Not happy then. Do it your way.

The pH scale os useful and scientifcally valuable. Scientifically a survey of an aera would call for several if not hundreds of soil samples being tested so as to get a graph reading. In our gardens circumstances change. From house construction, often imported soil is introduced. Then the selection and planting starts to emerge. Take this in stages. This new build site is upon heathland, say the New Forest. Tons of imported soil is deposited to make up a garden area. A pH test of the imported soil, compared to that of the forest shows a massive pH scale differential. Using something like time lapse. Soil scientology will prove that,the now subsoil and the imported tipsoil will begin to integrate and mix, so a pH test from one part of the garden that hasn't been added to, will read one thing. Now take a test reading from a now communial area. Wowee.

Now take into account how we gardeners chop and change. Perhaps this plant will look better there. So the wise gardener will check what soil pH is best. So dig the hole and add neutriments etc plus ericacious stuff or alkaline. Plant and sit back. Summary. Consider your plant's desires, provide at least the minimal fill-in compost. Hope this helps. Happy gardening Mike.

 

Very well put@Mike Allen . A few years ago I read an interesting article about certain aspects of gardening and how advice given in books etc wasn't always right or accurate. It was making the point that not all authors bother to try or test what they are advocating and instead just regurgitate what someone else has advised. Take Peonies for example. Most books will tell you that the chances of being able to move them is small. In my experience I have moved tree, intersectional and herbaceous many times with zero deaths. Yes ok you can't just yank them out with little care taken but with gentle treatment they move no bother.
Another thing I've read is that Hostas should almost be treated as aquatic plants and have to have incredible amounts of moisture. Rubbish IMO, yes to be at their best they do like plenty of moisture , however they are perfectly happy to accept dry conditions once established if the soil provided for them to grow in is reasonable.
This summer we have had drought condition for 3 months. I have about 75 different Hostas. The Hostas have fared considerably better than many of my other herbaceous plants which have really struggled with lack of water. Yes the Hostas have not grown as big as usual and I doubt will put on much girth but they look not bad in comparison to lots of other things. Another bugbear of mine is the advice about "oh you must buy Snowdrops in the green" (usually delivered with a snobbish voice!). I grow literally 1000s and 1000s of Snowdrops and regularly dig them up by mistake when they are dormant. They can be dug up and moved at any time of the year in the green or otherwise, it's whether the bulbs have been out of the ground and dried out is the critical aspect so buying in the green is yes an indication that the bulbs are fresh but it is not necessary to buy them like that.
As my granny used to say "there is more than 1 way to skin a cat"....oh and by the way she liked cats!

 

It is true that plants are very adaptable......hostas here grow in the sun for example. The soil they are in though is pretty good, fairly moisture retentive. However, grow them in poor soil in full sun and they will suffer so it is wise to take account generally of plants's needs....esp new gardeners....who could end up losing a lot of plants and money if not suitable.

However, we have strayed a little.....my point was about PH. For sure, if an ericaceous plant is put into alkaline soil it will die. Not struggle or adapt...it will die. It is true soil alkalinity/acidity can vary from area to area in the same garden for various reasons but a PH test will give a good indication of what the basic soil is like.