They love plenty of rainwater @Desi_in_London, so I wouldn't worry about that. It would only be a problem if they were just sitting in a wet, water logged site. They're not normally bothered by many pests. Have you a pic of the insects? If it's only a few on a couple of buds, it's unlikely to be a major problem.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl will try take photos this afternoon ( tbh the worst affected bud i just took off -pretty much covered on the green bit of it -- ie vs the petals bit) -- didn't seem to move much so i guess could have been insect poo eurgh ) will just add to this thread unless you think i should start anew.
@Desi_in_London You are more than welcome to "highjack" this thread, do not worry and I am interested in case I encounter a problem like this one day.
@Fairygirl I was very diligent about following Monty's advice about watering the camellias and azaleas plenty over the summer, so they should be good on that score
Here are the photos, resolution / photography skills lacking , but having looked IRL at the insects ( on leaf where you see me holding the bud, i think they fell off the bud post-spray/rain) - i saw spidermite, couple blackfly/small ant type things and as i was rifling around trying to get pictures of other damaged leaves some light brown/green tiny flies flew up as well so am guessing some mix of aphids - one of those just visible on that leaf. Does the webbing on leaf underside corroborate spider-mite as well?
camellia overall pic (last) is to show rough proportion of yellower leaves (much stragglier than SophieK's, not pruned at all in last couple years , leaf yellowing more pronounced last couple weeks, but lighting in pic exaggerates how yellow the chlorotic leaves are , see the 3 leaf comparison ).
specific leaf damage also shown ( these the worst examples i could find in each case), plus (first pic) yellow vs healthy colour leaf ( left is burnt/crispy edge leaf , middle the one with webbing on underside - both close ups on newspaper) right leaf healthy.
2nd last pic is a leaf i left on the plant but shows some different kind of damage, only one i saw like that.
Have a look here @Desi_in_London - could be spider mites, but again - most plants have the odd bit of insect attention. Unless it's absolutely annihilated with them, it's unlikely to cause a major problem.
That other pic looks like a bit of leaf miner. I wouldn't lose sleep over that either. Don't worry about a few yellow leaves - it's normal for all evergreens to drop some and then produce more. It's likely yours might get much drier, being near that wall though, so you may want to make sure it has sufficient moisture, and a good mulch to keep it in. They grow like weeds here because they get so much moisture, and it's rainwater of course, which always helps. A healthy, strong plant will also shrug off pests more easily too. It's certainly not as bushy as it should be. You can give it some appropriate food next year, and don't be frightened to prune it back a bit to get it bushier too. People are frightened of doing that, and they needn't be.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
It would only be a problem if they were just sitting in a wet, water logged site.
They're not normally bothered by many pests. Have you a pic of the insects? If it's only a few on a couple of buds, it's unlikely to be a major problem.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl I was very diligent about following Monty's advice about watering the camellias and azaleas plenty over the summer, so they should be good on that score
Rhodos/azaleas are the same.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
camellia overall pic (last) is to show rough proportion of yellower leaves (much stragglier than SophieK's, not pruned at all in last couple years , leaf yellowing more pronounced last couple weeks, but lighting in pic exaggerates how yellow the chlorotic leaves are , see the 3 leaf comparison ).
specific leaf damage also shown ( these the worst examples i could find in each case), plus (first pic) yellow vs healthy colour leaf ( left is burnt/crispy edge leaf , middle the one with webbing on underside - both close ups on newspaper) right leaf healthy.
2nd last pic is a leaf i left on the plant but shows some different kind of damage, only one i saw like that.
Thank you !
https://internationalcamellia.org/pests-and-diseases-of-camellias
That other pic looks like a bit of leaf miner. I wouldn't lose sleep over that either.
Don't worry about a few yellow leaves - it's normal for all evergreens to drop some and then produce more. It's likely yours might get much drier, being near that wall though, so you may want to make sure it has sufficient moisture, and a good mulch to keep it in. They grow like weeds here because they get so much moisture, and it's rainwater of course, which always helps. A healthy, strong plant will also shrug off pests more easily too.
It's certainly not as bushy as it should be. You can give it some appropriate food next year, and don't be frightened to prune it back a bit to get it bushier too. People are frightened of doing that, and they needn't be.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...