Camellias make excellent pot plants, and because of certain unusual cultural requirements, they are well adapted for growing on porches and sunrooms that are or can be closed in during Winter. They have been kept in good condition for many years, even to 50 or more with their root systems confined to the limited space of pots and boxes none of which exceed 26″ inches in width and depth.
Here, then, is an opportunity for a new adventure in growing fine plants not usually found in house collections. Camellias are Autumn and Winter flowering plants, desirable for house culture.
Low Temperatures And Air Movement Are Best
Optimum temperatures for Winter should be maintained at 40° – 45° degrees Fahrenheit. during the night; in the warmer daylight hours, the thermometer shouldn’t register higher than 55° or 60° degrees F. Occasional rises above this point will cause no injury, but changes from low to high temperatures or vice versa should not be abrupt, else flower buds may drop.
There should be free movement of air, at times, secured by giving attention to ventilation. Camellias are benefited especially by moist air about them, and the best results are secured if the humidity does not drop below 60 degrees. From that point, it should be carried upward until at times the air is saturated with moisture.
This condition can be maintained by wetting the ground about the plants, syringing the plants daily, and keeping water exposed to the air in open pans.
Preparing the Soil
Soil, of course, is made to order. Bearing in mind that the pot or box space is limited, it should be well enriched to give the plant a good supply of nutrients. A soil made up of one part each of good garden soil, peat or leaf mold, sand, and well-decayed manure will give good results.
It is always good to keep the organic matter content of the soil at a high level; peat, leaf mold, and manure are good sources, while sand will help with drainage and aeration. Plants should be firmly potted with ample spaces about two inches at the top of larger pots and boxes to be filled with a mulch for the sake of appearance and to help in maintaining uniform moisture.
Hot, dry, motionless air is not conducive to good camellia culture.
Types of Containers For Camellias
Containers of many different sorts may be used. For smaller plants, ordinary clay pots are very satisfactory, while for larger ones, boxes of rot-resistant wood, such as cypress or redwood, are best. Pots up to 12″ or 14″ are good; above that up to 24″ or even 80″ boxes are best. It is an excellent plan to have one side of the box hinged, so that it may be opened and dropped down.
This makes it possible to remove a root-bound plant from a box when the soil is to be replaced with new enriched material, or when the plant is to be transferred to a container of larger dimensions.
The Importance of Watering
Watering must receive careful attention. Plants should not be allowed to dry out, and the moisture content of the soil should vary very little. There is no set rule for watering, but the moisture in the soil must be maintained at a high level.
Good Drainage
Good drainage is a safeguard against overwatering. To secure this there should be an ample amount of broken pots, gravel, or crushed granite placed in the bottoms of the pots or boxes when the plants are set in them. Water used should be about room temperature, 72 degrees F. Frequent syringing is required.
This can be done with a small atomizer; once daily while the plants are inside during Winter they should be wet down until the water begins to drip from them. The best time to repot plants is immediately after their blooming season.
Summer Care
When Winter is over, the plants may be moved out-of-doors, and placed in the shade of trees where they can receive attention throughout the Summer, water is given as needed, plants are syringed frequently and fertilizer applied. If it is not possible to move them outside, then the porch or room where they are kept through the Summer should be as nearly as possible wide open to the air.
If exposed to strong sunlight, some shade should be provided. There is nothing better than cheesecloth stretched above the plants and so arranged that it may be moved from side to side to admit a greater or lesser amount of light. It is during the Summer months that flower buds enlarge and develop in preparation for opening in Autumn and Winter.
The price of Winter blooming is Summer care. High temperatures in Summer are not detrimental. They seem to be helpful in the growth and development of flower buds. However, it should be kept in mind that in hot, dry weather special attention should be given to watering and syringing.
The plants are to be returned to their Winter quarters just before the frost comes in the Autumn.
Feeding Camellia Plants
Fertility should be maintained at a high level. This can be done in several ways. Plants can be repotted, and when put in larger pots, there is an opportunity for adding new soil. But new soil can be added without a change in the size of the pot. This is best done by removing a plant from a pot, and working away at the old soil about the top and wherever possible at the bottom.
New soil should be replaced, and the plant returned to the same pot. Commercial camellia fertilizer can be scattered very lightly over the surface, and watered in. It can be placed in small holes made in the soil of the pot; apply it in liquid form, one ounce to two gallons of water. Weak and often – is a good old rule.
Use Insecticide
Unfortunately, scale insects sometimes gain a foothold. The best time to take care of these is just after the Spring growth has hardened up or again just before plants are moved inside if they have been kept out of doors during the Summer. The material most commonly used is a white miscible or Summer oil.
This can be used in Spring at the rate of one to one hundred of water, or in Autumn at one to 60 parts of water. The insecticide may be sprayed on the plants in such a way as to hit the insects or if the plants are small may be washed with it.
Varieties to Grow
Varieties of camellias belonging to three main species groups: C. japonica, C. sasanqua, and C. reticulata are all adapted for indoor culture. The number of varieties is large, and there is an opportunity for a wide choice of colors white, pink, red, and variegated. In the red series, color runs in various shades of light pink through deep pink to red that is almost black-red.
A small list of varieties, such as Alba Plena, white, complete double imbricated; Aunt Jetty, red, complete double irregular, sometimes variegated; C. M. Hovey, red, complete double, imbricated; Daikagura, carmine rose or variegated, incomplete double; Debutante, bright carmine rose, complete double irregular; Elegans, self-carmine or variegated, incomplete double; Mathotiana, deep carmine, complete double, incomplete imbricated, and Professor C. S. Sargent, red, complete double, irregular, of the japonica group, will be found satisfactory.
This list of course may be changed or greatly extended. Of the sasanqua group, Cleopatra, pink, partly double; lithe, pink, single; Mine-no-Yuki, double, very free flowering; Hinode-gumo, white margined with rose, single; Tanya, red, single and Usu-Beni, self-rose Bengal, partly double or complete double, irregular are good varieties.
New Varieties
Recently several new forms of C. reticulata have been introduced from Yunnan, China. These varieties are strikingly beautiful and very desirable. Propagation has been undertaken; although they are not yet available, they will be placed in the trade shortly.
44659 by H. Harold Hume