Camellia Growing, Propagating and Enjoying

Happy---

Sorry I keep posting pictures of the same Camellia. It is the only one have ever grown--
So--I have no other one to share...I love the one I have.

I cut it back severely a couple of years ago--as it was having serious leaf-fungus problems.
And am now awaiting for it to re-grow and bloom. It is re-growing amazingly. I do not expect +
any blooms this year--though.
Silly me! i KNOW it will not happen until, maybe, next year...It only blooms on year old growth.

Gita

Happy_macomb - never fear! The National Arboretum has developed some great Camellias that we can grow! Look at their web site - the winter-blooming types are what you want. I am in the same zone as you, bought a "Winter's Snowman" at the end of a hot summer, took it home, found a horribly root-bound, dried-out root system. Brazenly I took it out, put it on top of a hill I'd made of acid soil, and then, left it sticking up out of the soil by about two inches. Hard to see this, I like to see it all tucked in, but boy, that shrub is thriving! Your blossoms will NOT be like the more exotic Japonica type, but you'll have Camellias blooming successfully! Best of luck and have fun!

Thanks, Gracye. I was just wondering what happens to Camelias that are not bred for this area, especially given global warming trends.

I'm going to place an order with Camellia Forest. If anyone wants me to add to my order to save on postage, that's fine -- it looks as if postage would then be about $7 per plant, depending on plant size. You'd have to pick up from me though; if I go to the swap I'd be happy to bring the plants, but I'm not 100% sure I'd make it.... But I could also let you know if I travel close to you.... Just a thought....

[quote="ibartoo"]
I am happy to share what has worked for me and what hasn't. I love to try new ways to multiply them and would love to trade or share any varieties that I have with.

I have 5 camellias planted as a hedge at the end of my house, don't know their name but they are all the same color, a pink-salmon color. They have lots of petals not the single row petal type.

I love camellias and would love to have some white, pink and other colors as well. They are hard to find in my area for under $40 a plant.

I'd be happy to trade cuttings of my plants to trade with anybody that has doubles in white or pink.

I'd be happy to mail you cuttings of what I have -- I just bought several -- but I think they are challenging to root, and I'm wouldn't think mailing cuttings in the summer heat would do them much good....

H_M, are all of your new camellias doing well? Mine has put on so much new growth and is looking very happy.

However, it's leaning to the left! I thought it would fix itself, but it's put on more growth on the leaning side, so it's looking even more lopsided now.

Should I leave it alone? try to stake it?

SS: Mine are incredibly healthy looking. I would think the leaning would right itself, but I haven't a clue -- I'd be cautious about pruning at this early stage. I'd call Camellia Forest -- they were fairly helpful. Try to get someone with "technical" knowledge.

I am still sitting here hoping that i WILL do some of the stem-propagation on my Camellia.
(the baggie and the sphagnum moss and the nicked stem). I have to! Not too many other options.
Did see some of the lower stems almost touching the ground....now that they are all growing Gung-Ho.
May be able to try the "Layering propagation" method that Happy suggested...

IF I could propagate my "Bob Hope" Camellia in any way---lucky would be the person that receives it.

Nice weather today. I simply MUST....MUST....finish planting my long S. bed--and then, basically,
they will all be done. I may need a few extra plants--as spaces become available after all the
bulb foliage dies off. Soon--I hope! Also--I can see that I need some taller plants to be in the background.

I DO want to grow, again, one of each Datura. They also have to fit into the S. bed. I have seedlings....
They take up about 3x3 foot area each. NOT gonna happen--so i have to finagle things a bit...
Saw ONE Cleome sprout in my small front bed. Have to find a home for that too....

And so things go! I want to be DONE!!!!! And you know what will come, immediately next?
The beginning of collecting seeds. AAAGGGHHHH!!!! There goes my nice, cleared DR table---again...

The Columbines and the Wood Hyacinths are almost ready to pop their seed pods.
The Foxgloves won't be far behind. Then--the Rose Campions.......The Tiger Lilies....etc...

Yesterday--I started stripping off all the seed pods from my Bleeding Heart. They had already popped many of them
on their own. SO! I am stripping and stripping--as my hands are turning bright orange---like a HD apron. Honest!
Odd--where does the orange come from? Same as when you handle Swedish Ivy stems--your fingers turn
a brown/orange. Luckily--it washed right off....Phew....Judy---Did you know that?????

How I live for that moment when I know everything, but the watering, is all done!!!
In reality---there is NEVER a moment when ALL things gardening are done!!!!! I know that.

Pic. #1---What is this plant?
Pic. #2--What is this thistle-looking like plant? The leaves are not dry or prickly. They are regular leaves...
I have it coming up in a couple of places in my "YUK" bed.

Happy gardening to you all! Thanks--Gita

OK! Loading these two pictures took over a minute and a half.

Coeleup--you have become our "warrior" on this issue....Go get them!!!!

Gita

Gita, this 'warrior' doesn't have the right mix of tools to fight with....Sigh

Also, Gita, you do not have to wait for a branch you want to propagate to touch the ground you can bring the soil up to the plant by placeing any height container, even on top of a table or some support and pin the said branch to soil there! Trick is to minimize the branch pulling out of soil and disrupting the taking root process. Think of it as sphagnum moss in a pot instead of a baggie.

Last year I cut back my |April Blush camella and stuck a few cuttings in water. Nothing happened, so I put them in potting soil, put them in the greenhouse with some other misc. cuttings and just the other day I noticed there are still three of them alive but they so not seem to be doing anything. The weather has made it almost impossible to keep the GH at a decent Temp. and humidity so I am pleased with anything that survived this past winter. These cuttings are dated 8/11 so it is almost a year and they are still alive. Who knows what may happen. I can only hope it happens soon. LOL JB

Well---Y'all!

I did 4 top branches of my camellia today with the "air layering" method. We will just wait and see....

I also was able to bend 2 branches, near the bottom, to the soil. Dig the soil up a bit--putt he branch in it--
cover with some soil--and then put a brick over it.

I also did a gazillion top cuttings today. Trimmed back , most leaves removed, two remaining top leaves cut in half,
bottom of softwood stem scarred a bit, dipped in rooting hormone and all stuck in an
8" shallow pot with a plastic dome over it. Will keep it in semi-shade and keep it watered.
What do I have to lose???????? Just trying something new....

I am dying to propagate this Camellia!!! Time will tell.... Gita

JB: I bet they are rooting up a storm. I'd just keep on doing what you are doing!

Coleup: What a sensible idea, to bring the ground up to the branch. I layer all the time, and never thought of that.

Gita: Do you think the slow "loading" of photos might have to do with your internet speed? I haven't experienced any delays on the Plant Identification forum, and my internet speed is quite brisk.

Someone please explain to me what I need to do to change the speed at which
my ISP uploads pictures. Terry also suggested that way in the beginning.
She said that my ISP may be trying to conserve band width. I do not know what that means.
I also do not know where I need to go to change that. Please HELP!!!

I have Comcast X-finity. Use Firefox. Where would I know what my internet speed is????
My computer is quite powerful--My Son-in-law built it for me. Yes! He can do that!

Other than knowing my way around DG and my e-mail page--and general use....
I am not all that computer literate. I also do not like to venture out into the cyber space to
see what I can learn and find out...can't explain this mentality. I just don't.

Thanks--Gita

Try running either www.speedtest.net or www.speakeasy.com, and see what your speed is.

I ran the former just now, for point of reference, and got:
ping: 7ms
download speed: 43.09 mbps
upload speed: 32.13 mbps

This is with a lot of junk open, and I haven't rebooted in a while . I can upload photos to DG quickly. Does that help you diagnostically?

Will try tomorrow. I am semi-brain dead right now. Time or bed....
I did click on the link--and still do not know what I need to do to test this....

Dum-Dum me.......Gita

If you go to the first of the two links I suggested, www.speedtest.net, just hit the icon that reads: "Begin test" (and not "Start Now", which is a teaser to get you to buy a program). I'll just take a few seconds, and the results will show on your screen.

This message was edited May 31, 2012 10:37 PM

Ibartoo, what cultivar is the beautiful flower on your initial post of this thread?

Happy-- Here are my results:---Second test in parentheses.

Ping (what is this?)--11ms..........................(12ms)
Download Speed---5.10Mbps...................(5.10Mbps)
Upload Speed--2.46 Mbps........................(3.46Mbps)

My download and upload seems wayyyy lower that yours. I will re-do the test. See results above in ( ).
Anyone else run this test? How was your results?

It has been ages that I did a Disc Clean-up. Will run it in a bit...Would that help?
Could also do a Defrag....
What else could I do?

Will re-test after that.... Gita

A defrag is unlikely to help - the problem is probably just your internet speed. Call your internet provider and see if they will increase your speed -- it might cost you a little more, but might well not. Or shop around for a better provider. (We use Verizon FIOS which is pretty good, though I detest the guys they contract out to for service.)

Happy--

My internet is bundled with my TV and Phone service. I pay $133+ a month for all of them
through Comcast.
I can try and call to see about the speed.....maybe it is no extra charge?

In your opinion--how BAD are my speeds? I hav never had any problems with speeds--until
all this stuff with the multi-picture uploads.
In just regular computer use (mostly DG an just my e-mails) there are no big issues.
I do not venture much out there--in cyberspace....

Ahem---we are "killing" the Camellia topic here.....:o(
I DO appreciate your help. We could continue via D-mails. Thanks. Gita

I'll dmail you.

Hello Everyone,
Once again, I will apologize for being gone so long. Judy came looking for me this time. THANKS JUDY!. Anyway, I am trying to re-read and catch up on all of the posts since then and all of my camellias have finished blooming for this year, but they were gorgeous ( all but 1) when they bloomed and now it is time to begin propagating them. This is truly my favorite part. LOL I am a big sucker for rooting stuff.

Happy The shape question got my attention because I never thought much about it. My camellias are kind of scattered through the yard, ( we don't have much grass) and yes there are very different shapes, but I don't remember ever seeing them categorized in a catalog by shape like you would other shrubs. I have some that are short and spreading, some tall and narrow and some kind of medium and roundish.
Camellia Sasanqua, are sometimes grown into espalier's and they have a much more open growth habit than do the Camellia Japonicas.

I will try to take some pictures tomorrow of the different shapes I have. Trust me there are many more than what I have.

Also 1 thing I have noticed, in 3 varieties that I know for sure are short growing and spreading, they tend to have large flowers ( usually formal shaped) but the flowers are so heavy that they fall to the underside of the stem and don't show up as prettily as they should.

Hope this helps.
Linda

I think I have answered all of the questions, either here or in dmails. If not, just nudge me. I promise to get things straight and not be gone so long again.

Thanks, Linda

Just wanted to say I'm sorry to learn that the shorts ones "tend to have large flowers (usually formal shaped) but the flowers are so heavy that they fall to the underside of the stem and don't show up as prettily as they should." I just bought 3 to use under a window... I bet mine will do that because it is in deeper shade than they would ordinarily like.

I have to consider whether to buy Camellia Japonica "Mary Alice Cox" -- very handsome.

I can't find "Mary Alice Cox" for sale anywhere -- so let me know if your propagation efforts bear fruit!

I will be happy to share some cuttings with you Happy. Mary Alice Cox is very hard to find and very beautiful. I was very blessed to meet Mr. Cox ( the propagator) while working in a nursery years ago. He taught me about them and using gibberalic acid to make the blooms bigger. He was a fascinating man and I could have listened to him endlessly. LOL

The tam americana is another really pretty short one, but it too holds it's flowers underneath the stems. I will try to remember the others.

The neat thing about camellias is that they have a pretty slow growth rate most of the time. Even if you have a very upright variety, you can usually keep it trimmed to the size you need without damaging it's appearance. I can't stand to see them sheared into shapes, but nicely pruned into an acceptable size is a completely different story.

Linda, I am so happy to see you back. My camellias are growing like weeds. They are outside in their containers and they are all getting new leaves. Is this the time to take cuttings? I hate to mess with them because I have no idea what I am doing; I tried one time but none of them rooted and I hate to keep cutting them. If you have extra cuttings please put me on your list but I want to pay the postage for sure. Hugs to you. So glad you are ok and back. JB

I tried rooting some of Gita's Bob Hope camellias years back, and it was very frustrating. I think ultimately 4 made it for more than a year, then died later because I lost track of them and didn't tend to them properly (for which I feel very badly indeed). They were just SO slow growing.

Hi JB, I've missed you too. Are the camellias that you want to cut from the cuttings I sent before or from established plants? in other words take them from the established plants. I will be glad to share some cuttings when I begin taking them. I will tell you what has been keeping me away later on.


Happy, sometimes they will sit there and appear as if they are doing nothing for a year or more and then suddenly they will begin to grow, but patience is a must. That is one reason not too many people grow them from seeds. It is another reason there aren't very many nurseries that specialize in camellia production. The wholesale nurseries love fast turn around and camellias just don't provide it. I love cam forest. I haven't been to the actual nursery, but I met the owners at a landscape nurseryman's convention in Atlanta and learned a lot in one of their seminars. They have the best varieties and the most cold hardy varieties of any I have found.

Jberger, how big of containers did you use?

Linda, I never got camellias from you did I? If I did they died because I only have April Tryst and April Blush. i forget where I got them but I have had them since they were little. The dog ate the tags so I do not know which is which but the smaller one is pink and the other 5ft. one is red. That one blooms more. I think I may have a picture someplace but do not have time just now to hunt it. I will look. They are now in 15 inch pots I think. Maybe bigger. Sorry I am not sure without measuring.

JB, I thought I had sent you some when i posted pics for you on doing the cuttings. Maybe I just dreamed it. LOL Oh well, We will try some this summer and see what happens.

I cut mine back and I am attempting to root the branches I cut off. Any thing I should do special?

Make sure the humidity is really high around them either with a plastic bag or daily water. I like to root mine in the shade, usually in a flower bed under some plants where they will get watered every day or so. Trim all but the few top leaves off and cut the top leaves in 1/2. Other than that, be patient.

ibartoo---

I did a bunch of tip-cuttings when I was doing the air-layering.

Stripped the bottom leaves off and left just 2 or 3 at the top--cutting them in half.
Put them all in a semi-shallow pot , dipped in rooting hormone (old!) and covered the pot with
a clear plastic dome-shaped top (like what you put under HB's). Plenty of space below for air.

This pot sits on my patio table which is up against my house and under my patio roof.
Gets some early AM sun--then bright shade. This is, more or less, an experiment.....

Today I noticed all the leaves have dropped off the little stems. Should i worry?
Me thinks not! But I do not know. I believe stems rooting can drop all their leaves and still be OK.
Too much moisture? Too hot? What???

Yes? No? Gita

They may still be fine Gita, keep checking on the growth buds at the ends. As long as those are green the cuttings are ok.