having troubles rooting camellia

Why can't I root my camellia cuttings. Has anybody else tried with no luck? what's the best time of year?


I barely got any blooms off of 2 year old plants last season either. Should I fertilize them? I hate to, cause I have too much out there and it gets costly, but I could spare some for the camellias to get them to bloom

Hi kathy-ann I just use the azalia food on my camellas and fertilize them at the same time. I also put azalia food on my gardenias. It works for me.

Jeri

I'll try that, do you fertilize them in the winter time? or just spring/and summer /fall.

I'm a bad plant mama. I just do it in the spring mostly. Some times I'll do another treatment in the fall but usually in the spring after the azalias flower.

Jeri

WEll, don't feel like your the only bad plant mama LOL

Good morning kathy_ann!!!

Camelias appreciate a lovely thick mulch of aged cow manure, too much fertilizer pushes off the flower buds in favour of growth.
The camelia cuttings should be taken in warm weather ...struck in a good seedling mix and grown in the shade, good luck :)

Have you ever heard of coffee grounds? I use grounds on Azalea and Camellias after they are a year old. I was always told to trim after they bloom so that's when I root most of my cuttings.

no , not heard of using coffee grounds. I'll have to try rooting mine after they bloom, how do y ou root yours JJ

I reviewed http://www.camellias-acs.org/qanda/growing12.asp
Take the cuttings according to the directions above. I couldn't find a way to explain how I cut and its about the same as described. I guess my cuttings this time of year are considered hardwood cuttings, but, I take the cuttings from the areas that are green first and then on to the hardened part of the branches that I trim. The only thing I do different is run my pruner blade down one side of the cutting to expose more of an area before I dip in rooting hormone powder. I have tried several brands of powder and couldn't tell a difference. First I wet the soil which is usually in a 1 gal shrub pot and then put the cuttings in the pot after I pre poke holes in potting mix. Make sure all buds are cut off and leaves cut into 1/2 on cuttings first. I fill up a pot with cuttings and they sit until Spring. I never covered pots before. Now that I am trying the cuttings in the greenhouse I can see that they are drying out quicker than when they were left out, so covering pot may be beneficial. I don't have the humidity correct because I haven't adjusted to a larger greenhouse that I recently put up. I use Metro Mix 360 potting soil for rooting and have much lower success if I try anything else. As I think about it, the pots that are outside that get little care are doing better than ones in either greenhouse. The less I spend messing with them after they are in pots the better they do. I took some cuttings about a month and half ago of some old camellia that were going to be removed while neighbors were clearing land. They have done ok not great. I'll take more cuttings 1st of January from the ones around my home and I don't think I'll put those in the GH. You may have better luck with cuttings during the time frame mentioned on the link. I have a difficult time rooting in the heat of our summer and early fall because I can't keep the soil consistently moist. I play the numbers game with Camellias because cuttings are plentiful, so I am open to any suggestions one can provide.

Thanks JJ for the help, i'll try this.