Potting new camellias

Hi everyone

Last year I re-potted 2 camellias and planted a third in the ground. In doing so, I successfully killed off a beautiful white one (some of you may remember the saga of my forgetting to put drainage at the bottom of the pot) . The 2nd re-potted one is alive, but not healthy - dried out buds etc. and the one in the ground is doing OK. It has lots of buds but struggling to flower - there are about 3 open. So I decided to re-stock on white ones. One is established with a few buds, but unlikely to flower this season. I also bought 2 baby ones in 10cm pots at B&Q. They both have buds, but again, not sure about flowering. I'm not sure that these are pure white. I've attached some pics for info. I'd really like some advice about re-potting all three after the flowering season. I've watched this link: , but he doesn't say much about drainage.
Also, it's been practically impossible to find pure white camellias in Dublin this year. Is there a general shortage?
Thanks in advance
Monica

 

Monsclara,
I have come to the conclusion, through bitter experience, that most shrubs and trees will be happier in the ground long term.

 

I've got two camillia's bought from Morrisons in the ground that are doing well with no feed. Couple of buds on each.

 

Make sure the compost you are repotting with is ericaceous ie sligtly acidic with no lime

 

Hi Monsclara,
did the B & Q one's have a name? There are quite a few white ones in existance, it will help to know their variety/habit. But most important rule, free draining is required , they don't like bogs,so crocks or pebbles in the base of the pot.
Jenny

 

I must admit to not actually growing Camelias in pots, I do agree with Sirius that if possible the ground would be better.
I find camelias like moist soil, one good reason they dont like pots, let them dry out late summer when the buds are forming, or any time after, and you are likely to get bud drop.
Constant watering and feeding all summer, otherwise they start to look sick, especially if you water with hard tap water in summer, when rain water might be in short supply.

I dont think I have ever used crocks at the bottom of a pot, even for succulents, it just takes up root room and achieves nothing as far as I can see.
The drainage is in the compost.
Just make sure the pot has holes at the bottom.

 

I agree Sirius, But I live in the city and sadly very little ground for planting

 

Jenny. The B&Q ones just say Camellia Japonica White. I must admit that another reason why my last white one died was because I added some manure to the potting compost and I thing it may have burned the roots..

 

P

Pete. I've managed to grow a couple in pots reasonably well until my re-potting saga last year when I killed the white one by not having crocks at the bottom of the pot. I don't really have any room to plant them, hence the pots.

 

Yup, I agree, crocks at the bottom of a pot doesn't do much.
Drainage is more a affected by the composition of the soil you use.
If you grow something in a heavy clay soil in a pot, even with loads of crocks, the outcome won't be good.

If you use a light open mix, with plenty of grit or perlite, the plant will be happier.

 

I'm not an expert because I only bought my first ones last year, but I can tell you what worked for me (and what has worked with my Rhododendrons which are also ericaceous).

I bought lots of young Camellias last year - some of them went into the ground and some went into pots. The ones in the ground are doing okay (soil is mainly clay and on the acidic side) but those in pots did better.

I like to grow things in pots because I don't intend to stay here for ever so I don't want to spend a fortune on plants, lovingly tend them and watch them grow, then move and leave them behind. Plus, I can move them about if I choose.

Growing them in pots does mean giving them more TLC but then I really enjoy looking after them, so it's not a hardship

I used good sized pots to allow them root space (they are shallow rooting so I like to give their roots space to grow outwards). The pictures in this link will show you what I mean. I use chunks of polystyrene, probably to about a third way up the pot, then ericaceous compost and always ensure they are up on pot feet.

Sometime this month they will be fed with slow release ericaceous fertilizer (Miracle Gro) which will last them most of the season and then probably once a month, they get fed with a dilute solution of Vitax organic seaweed fertilizer.

 

IMO that's a lot of wasted space that could be better used with soil that contains nutrients.

 

I didn't actually see any use of polystyrene in the link.

 

I merely referred to the pictures in the post not the method.

I don't see the space as wasted if I use large deep pots which get changed before the roots have filled all the space. Besides which I wouldn't have thougt the compost would have any nutrients left by the time the roots got down that far.

Saw the polystyrene thing on an Alan Titchmarsh programme years ago and as I said, it's what works for me.

 

Thanks Merle. I'm happy to go along with your advice - it's always good!