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Suffering camillia

FireFire Posts: 19,096
in Problem solving
My neighbour has had this camillia for three years and it has always done well and was very healthy. It flowered this spring and then suddenly its health has got worse and worse. It's not in full sun. She has kept it well watered through the summer. It's not in full Any ideas?

Thanks




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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Does that brick construction have an empty bottom so the roots can go down into the ground, there are a lots of plants in there.
    I would say it’s too small for a Camellia.  
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    It's in a very narrow raised bed. Even in a good wet summer I think it would be hard to keep it moist enough for a mature camellia. It's probably outgrown the space.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I agree.  You also need rainwater for a camellia, not tap water.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There's no base on the bed. The pic looks foreshortened. It's not that narrow. It's been fine for years and suddenly hit problems. Camellias grow well in pots. Do you think she should prune it back?
  • Arthur1Arthur1 Posts: 542
    Probably lack of water. It doesn't matter how often you water, or how much  . If the water is not able to soak into the rootball then the plant will suffer.
  • rossdriscoll13rossdriscoll13 Posts: 234
    That looks like heat damage, damage caused by this years high temperatures.  But it could also be a result of lack of water.  How much water has your neighbour been giving it?  Aim to keep the soil moist and check with a trowel, if the top 10 cm of soil is dry water well with at least 7-10 litres of water.  Camellia’s are woodland plants and so therefore should be grown in dappled shade and be fed with sequestered iron plant food.
  • SYinUSASYinUSA Posts: 243
    They need acidic soil, so I'd check on that. I wouldn't feed it in this condition, but a soil acidifier would probably be ok to add even when the plant's in distress.

    I would probably leave the frazzled foliage for now, just to provide shade to what's left. It looks like it has enough healthy leaves left to recover. They grow relatively slowly but can still tolerate a fairly hard prune if needed.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited September 2022
    From the photo, the healthy leaves look just that, healthy.  I would prune out the dead branches and re-assess.  Camellia break very freely from old wood.

    I doesn't look like soil pH.  Camellias are claimed to like acid conditions, but mine have beed happy for years with tap water In a high hardness area.

    It has been a hard summer in many areas.  Many of my plants have suffered, but not my camellias, in the ground and half shade.

    It might be my nemesis: the original peat-free compost is not easily rewetted.  

    If you were to dig it up (which may be a last resort) you may find the the roots have not grown out of the original compost, and the rootball is dry even though the surrounding soil is moist.  In this case, I would try adding a very small amount of washing up liquid to the water you use.  (I have never actually tried this, but I am confident that it will work). Concentrate your watering on the rootball.

    In extremis,  dig it up (it might come up just with a pull), shake off as much as possible of the old compost and replant with garden soil.  Now is as good a time as any.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    PS .  I have a "Debbie" camellia in a really rain-shadowed position that I do water regularly.  It tends to drop buds months later if I don;t.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Fire said:
     It's been fine for years and suddenly hit problems. Camellias grow well in pots. Do you think she should prune it back?
    I think you’ve answered the question there.   It’s been ok for 3 years now it’s run out of steam,  it’s very straggly.

    They grow to be very large plants if they can grow naturally, I don’t think they reach their full potential in pots.  It’s ok if you want to do that but I believe that everything should be allowed to grow as naturally and reach it’s true level so, like Hydrangeas,  I wouldn’t use pots.

    I inherited a straggly one in a pot, cut it right down to about 6” from base, planted it out and in a couple of years it was quite big.  It never gets any sun, maybe very late in the evening as it’s facing North but it flowers beautifully each year,  I’ve never pruned it since it’s been in the ground.  you can prune any time of the year but if you do it late you probably won’t get flowers the following year,  it’s a sacrificial choice only you can make.


    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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