Camellia problem

[David Nicholson]

This Camellia was garden centre bought at least ten years ago and apart from the past two years has always performed fairly well. It is placed in the same bed I use for all my Erythroniums and Corydalis and gets a good mulching with composted bark each year. Every other year I usually give the Camellia a watering with a sequestered iron tonic.

For the last two years many of the buds have dropped throughout the growing seasons and those that have not dropped have withered on the plant.

Two pictures below which are not very good but I was short of time to play with my camera settings and I hope they might just be good enough for someone to suggest what might be happening?

[Herman Mylemans]

This Camellia was garden centre bought at least ten years ago and apart from the past two years has always performed fairly well. It is placed in the same bed I use for all my Erythroniums and Corydalis and gets a good mulching with composted bark each year. Every other year I usually give the Camellia a watering with a sequestered iron tonic.

For the last two years many of the buds have dropped throughout the growing seasons and those that have not dropped have withered on the plant.

Two pictures below which are not very good but I was short of time to play with my camera settings and I hope they might just be good enough for someone to suggest what might be happening?

David, maybe a magnesium deficiency!

[ArnoldT]

Hi David:

Don't grow them here in New Jersey.  Too cold.

Found this:

https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/camellia-diseases-insect-pests/

[Carolyn]

Maybe too dry in late summer?
You also mention mulch. A member of the rhododendron society told me not to mulch under my rhodies, as they are shallow-rooted and the roots do not like to be buried too deep. i think camellias are quite shallow-rooted too, aren’t they? (Memories of moving one!) Possibly the same advice might apply? I hope there are some experts out there who can advise.

[ian mcdonald]

David, I read somewhere that Camellias can stand frost but early morning sun can scorch fresh flowers. Perhaps best planted in part shade to give them time to get used to temperatures gently warming up?

[ashley]

The suggestions above seem most likely but is contamination of the mulch, e.g. with herbicide, a possibility?

[Carolyn]

Ashley,
I think if it was herbicide damage, you would see damage in the leaves as well as the buds. The leaves look OK to me.

[ashley]

Agreed Carolyn, and nearby plants look OK too, so at least that option can be discounted.

[David Nicholson]

Many thanks everyone for your help.

Herman's view that my plant might be short of magnesium may well be right and I shall dose my plant with Epsom Salts if I can find some.

Carolyn's view that I may have kept the plant too dry through the Summer, and I plead guilty to that. As I said the bed gets a composted bark mulch every year and it might be to deeply rooted now.

Ashley, the leaves on mine are fairy stable but have always had it's fair share of yellowed ones hence the need for an iron tonic each year.

Ian, I am used to white flowers on another Camellia suffering browning from frost but I don't think that is the case with my red one.

Arnold, thanks for your paper, very interesting. I don't know when it was fist published but you seem to have a fair range of chemical aids available to help with problems. Not the case in the UK these days!

I did read somewhere that to much Potassium could be a culprit too.

I think over the next few days I will remove all the buds and the give the plant a spray of some kind. The I shall give it a whirl with the Epsom Salts instead of iron tonic. If I have the same problem next yearthen it's time will be numbered!

[Carolyn]

If I have the same problem next yearthen it's time will be numbered!
[/quote]

Yeah, just give it a good talking-to, David. That should do the trick!

[Jeffnz]

I think that there are some camellias that are inherently prone to showing yellow leaves, I agree with the other suggested remedy's and suggest a does of dilute Epsom salts, mag sulphate.
Well established camellias do produce a strong deep rooted root system and from my experience reasonably dry tolerant.

[Carolyn]

I think that there are some camellias that are inherently prone to showing yellow leaves, I agree with the other suggested remedy's and suggest a does of dilute Epsom salts, mag sulphate.
Well established camellias do produce a strong deep rooted root system and from my experience reasonably dry tolerant.

I always thought camellias were shallow rooted, so decided to investigate. Camelliainternational.org has some useful info, including this:

In most gardens around the world camellias thrive in slightly acidic soil with a texture providing good drainage, with air round the roots. As camellias grow they form deep roots for anchorage, a spreading fibrous root system to absorb water and nutrients and---surface roots, which become more obvious as plants reach maturity.

Always learning...... thanks Jeff!

Presumably the surface roots like to be near the surface, so a thick mulch would not be a good idea. The article also talks about too much sun causing buds to shrivel and drop. Has it been too sunny in Devon, David???