Re: Best container for a camellia japonica?

On 8/30/2008 1:26 PM, Patty Winter wrote:
I've finally realized that my camellia's ongoing flowering
problems might be due to having it in the wrong kind of
container. This year, the flowers didn't seem to have blight,
but only a few opened; the other buds dried up. I took some
leaves to a local highly regarded nursery, and their diagnosis
was edema. So I think the poor thing has wet feet.

The pot is glazed ceramic, with only one small drain hole.
I just found a reference to someone who carefully drilled
additional holes in a glazed pot to keep his camellia happy.
I have a friend who owns a good collection of masonry bits,
so that's one possibility.

Or should I switch to another type of pot entirely? E.g.
non-glazed ceramic (would that make the soil dry out *too*
fast??), or plastic with a lot of drainage holes?


Patty


A clay pot or unglazed ceramic pot will indeed dry quickly. However, in
drying, it will keep the roots cool. I highly recommend a clay pot at
least 18 inches in diameter. Merely water the plant more often.

If you want, you can put a clay or unglazed ceramic pot inside a larger
glazed pot; just put an inch or two of pea gravel at the bottom of the
glazed pot. Nevertheless, the glazed pot still needs a drainage hole.
Put a piece of window screen over the hole so that the pea gravel does
not leak out.

Plant the camellia in my do-it-yourself potting mix, which will stay
moist without getting soggy (providing the pot is allowed to drain).
See <http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_potting_mix.html>.

An 18-inch pot requires much more mix than the basic recipe produces.
Camellias are indeed acid loving; for a large batch of mix, use three
parts of peat moss to two parts sand. However, camellias prefer a
"lean" soil. Thus, use the amount of nutrients indicated in the recipe
even though you are preparing much more mix; DO NOT increase the
nutrients in proportion of the amount of mix. Include the zinc sulfate
(if you can find any) and the pinch of soil sulfur.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at <http://www.rossde.com/garden/>
.

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