Camellia problem

Thanks Russell, lots of good info there! And I did have to remove a wire that was cutting in already.

No flower buds yet. The new growth has really just started within the past couple of weeks, and some of the shoots haven't even opened leaves yet (but they are swelling). I expect that once the plant gets "settled" in it will start its seasonal growth much earlier (I believe Mark's camellia starts growing in May). I might remove any flower buds that form this season, but that will depend on how the plant looks going into the winter. It did manage to open a couple of flowers last November - we left a few buds on just to see what they looked like:


This was always one of my favorite camellias when I lived in Virginia, so I'm hoping to get this one healthy and keep it for a long time.

Interesting observation/comparison about the "shi-shi's". One of my plant guides states that the shi-shi's were actually considered to be sasanquas until recently, so there must be a fair amount of similarity?

Chris

Since I'm doing some end-of-season organizing/photographing, I figured I'd post a little update on the camellia. It's doing well...a fair amount of healthy new growth was produced this summer. I trimmed back some of the longer extensions and wired (don't look too closely, yes there are crossed wires ). Didn't get too aggressive with the trimming or bending yet, I'm more concerned with just maintaining the health/vigor for now. Hopefully I'll get stronger growth next year (and it may well go into a larger training pot). I believe it has 2 flower buds which I'll probably allow to bloom. Feel free to offer suggestions for modifications if you're so inclined! Yes, I'll be removing a lot of that moss before it goes into winter storage...

Front will probably be one of these two views (or something close):





View from above to see the 3-d structure. Will be putting more movement into those branches through bending and trimming.

Looks like you're on the right track to me, Chris. I do think it should be in a much larger growing pot though, and really pump ther fertilizer to it especially in the early spring/summer. 'Yuletide' is a very upright sasanqua. I've never worked with it or any others with that kind of growth. I'm eager to see what happens when you remove the wire.

Hey Russell, I meant to reply but somehow missed it. This is the second wiring for this tree. When the first set of wire came off, there was a definite tendency for some of the thicker, lower branches to want to lift up - especially the one on the right. If you look closely you can see that was bent pretty strongly near the trunk. It has held reasonably well, though, so I'm optimistic. The smaller branches pretty much stayed where they were put, but all the new shoots tend to grow strongly upward.

Chris

My yuletide camellia has made it through 2 years now, so I figured I'd post a quick update.

I had some problems late last winter/early spring with leaves turning brown and dropping. The plant lost a lot of leaves. Still not sure what was going on - some thought it might be a fungal problem, but I suspect that I let the plant get too dry while it was in winter storage. In any event, the plant responded with strong growth early in the spring. I figured I might be able to get a second growth spurt later in the summer, so I cut the new growth back pretty hard. Despite the long, warm summer we had, the plant did not produce a second growth flush. It did set a lot of flower buds late in the summer, but most of those dropped, leaving 4. Two of those opened around Thanksgiving, one is now open, and the final bud is starting to expand. I think I may have let the plant get too dry again while the buds were setting. Still learning to control watering.

I took Russell's advice and repotted into a slightly larger mica pot this spring. Roots were OK. Later in the summer I added some kanuma to the top layer of soil (that's the white stuff you see) in an attempt to acidify the soil. At the next repot I'm going to mix kanuma in, as a local grower has had better results since he switched to kanuma.

One thing I've noticed is that the growth seems stronger on the lower branches, and it's been a struggle so far to get much development in the apex. Is this typical of camellias?

Anyway, here are a few photos. Not much change from last year because of the hard pruning I did. I haven't yet wired the growth from last season so the branch tips have lifted up. Will take care of that before new growth starts in the spring.

Comments or suggestions are welcome!

Chris

1. Front view, black background


2. Front view, white background


3. View from above


4. Flower close up

coh wrote: One thing I've noticed is that the growth seems stronger on the lower branches, and it's been a struggle so far to get much development in the apex. Is this typical of camellias?

Looking good! 'Yuletide' is a fastigiated sasanqua, but it doesn't grow with a central leader. You may find that you have to guy wire those branches down rather than using conventional wiring. And, fwiw, I'd NEVER use copper on something as thin-barked as a camellia (or azalea, or maple, or crape myrtle, or...), but that's just me.

As for the thin top, it's not what I would have expected. Watch the lower growth and fertilize the hell out of it. They are always happier once the wire is removed.

R

Russell,

Thanks for the wire tip. I haven't noticed any problems using copper on this...well, except where I left the wire on too long. Will experiment with aluminum next time.

The main branches have held pretty well when the wire is removed...it's mainly the new growth tips (that were never wired) that have bent upward. Will use guy wires where appropriate/necessary.