Growing Camellias In Containers
Camellias are always admired for their show of wonderful blooms that have many different colors. With almost 1,000 plant varieties, it can be daunting to choose which will be perfect for growing Camellias in containers.
You can start with “Pink Perfection,” a commonly grown camellia that produces double, pink flowers during the winter. “Adolphe Audusson” is a shrub that is at least a foot tall that produces deep red flowers in the spring. “Polar Ice” is perfect for Zone 6 and can grow up to 8 inches tall, producing 3” white flowers.
“Chansonette Spreading” produces cascading blooms and can easily grow in soil that has problems maintaining its acidity.
Starting your cultivation
Choose a location that has adequate ventilation that is protected from strong winds. Camellias also prefer a location that has a good amount of morning sun, but the protection of a shade during the afternoon. You can plant them anytime as long as you can control environmental conditions, although fall would be the best time to plant Camellias.
The specifications of your pot or container.
You will need several pots when growing Camellias in containers. You cannot start immediately with a large pot as it will affect the rate of growth of your plants. A small, 8-inch container will be a good starter for your transplants. Eventually you will need to change the size of the pot to a bigger one, so choose a pot that has a narrow bottom but a wide lip. You can choose between wood, plastic, terra cotta or ceramic. The important thing to consider when choosing a pot is the location of your plant. If you have a hot climate, a plastic pot that is made with UV protection that is light in color will be ideal as Camellias do not like their roots to get hot. Terra cotta pots tend to absorb water as well as heat when exposed to the sun. If you are unsure of your climate condition, then a container that is made up of wood will be ideal. This semi-porous material provides a good insulation for the roots of your Camellias without leeching out water from your plants. Eventually, you will need a container that is at least 24 inches or 2 feet both in depth and width.
The bottom should be lined with an inch either small pieces of broken terra cotta pots, pea pebbles. An additional layer of mesh blanket at bottom will help promote drainage as well as prevent soil from running out of the drainage holes during watering.
Preparing your soil or potting mix.
Some garden stores have a special potting mix especially made for Camellias. This is ideal as Camellias like an acidic environment. Camellia potting mix usually has an ideal pH of 5.5-6.5, although some have a pH of 7.0. The potting mix is made up with large amounts of peat moss or oak leaf mold, soil, and compost. The organic material is important for humus and acidic quality of the soil. If you wish to mix your own, never use fine peat moss to replace good-quality peat moss as it tends to be too wet or too dry. Never use your garden soil as it contains clay and also has micro-organisms that promote disease.
Seeds
Growing Camellias in pots can be started from seeds, although you will have hard time finding one. 2000 years of hybridization has made the chances of Camellias producing seeds very slim, with only very few varieties growing pods that produce seeds for cultivation. It takes a lot of time for your seeds to germinate. Camellias produce mature seeds in autumn and often germinate within a month or so. Other cultivars germinate in the spring even if optimal conditions are met. Once your Camellias produce seeds pods, harvest the seeds once the pods begin to break. It is important to plant the seeds immediately for immediate growth. The seeds have an eye where the radicle will break through during germination. The seeds must be positioned with the eye either facing up or sideways.
A seedling tray filled 4-5 inches deep of peat will be ideal for germinating the seeds. The peat must be moist for your seeds. Place the seeds on top of the substrate and cover with another thin layer of moistened peat. Cover with plastic and keep it by the window but away from direct sunlight. Once the seedlings produce 3-4 leaves, they are now ready to be transplanted to a small pot.
Transplants or Cuttings
Camellias are often propagated through transplants and cuttings. Transplants can come from the seedlings that you have grown yourself, or bought from a local garden store. If you have a good friend that is growing a well-established plant, then a cutting taken from a new growth can help you get started growing Camellias in pots.
When buying transplants make sure that the plants have green leaves and do not have any signs of illness such as droopy leaves, black patches in the leaves and such. Transplant when the weather is cool enough, preferably around late in the afternoon to help lessen the stress of transplanting. Before removing the plant, put in small amount of soil and layer a good amount of compost at the bottom of the pot where you will transplant your Camellia. Camellias should be carefully removed from the pot by holding the leaves instead of the stem. If you are not sure how, ask someone in your local garden store to show you how the plant should be removed from the pot. Tangled roots must be loosened by spreading them slightly to encourage growth. Dig a hole at the middle of the pot and place in your plant carefully. Carefully adjust the amount of soil so that your Camellia is placed in the exact same depth as its previous container. Make sure you have at least 2 inches from the lip of the pot to provide room for watering.
Care and Attention
You do not need to do too much maintenance when growing camellias in containers. Always make sure that you give them enough water by giving them a good soak once the surface soil is dry rather than giving your plants scant but frequent watering. You will need to re-pot your Camellia once it reaches the age of 1-2 years, depending on the rate of growth. To check if you need to re-pot your Camellia, take it out of its container and inspect the roots. If you can clearly see massive amounts of roots holding on to the ball of soil as well as growing out of drainage holes, re-potting is required.
There are 2 ways to re-pot a Camellia: one is through bare-rooting and the other through cutting the bottom roots. Bare-rooting is done by soaking Camellia in water. Let the potting mix loosen up and settle at the bottom of the pail of water. Have it prepared in the same way as when you have bought your Camellia and place an inch or two of compost at the bottom. Hold the Camellia and spread the roots, layering soil inch by inch as you do so. Continue spreading the roots and adding the soil until you have reached the same level as the original potting mix, tamping around the perimeter carefully as you go. Be careful not to damage the delicate root structure of your Camellia. Leave a 2-inch space between the soil surface and the lip of the pot again for deep watering.
If you do not wish or see no need to replace the potting mix, then re-pot by cutting 2-3 inches of roots around the entire bottom part of the plant. Fresh mix is added when the plant is returned to the container. The Camellia must be pruned to 2/3 its size and a root stimulant is given to promote root development.
There are fertilizers made especially for Camellias, but it is advised that you do not use the powdered form.
Organic fertilizers such as corn meal will be a good source of nutrients for your plants. If you want to go in-organic, a tree and shrub mix fertilizer will do well for the first 6 months before changing to 8-9 month Osmocote Plus thereafter will be good. Make sure that when you prepare any type of fertilizer that you give it in weaker preparations than stated in the packaging. Fertilize once or twice a month depending on growing conditions. Change your fertilizer to 10-15-15 once you see buds starting to grow. Change back to regular fertilizer once your Camellia has produced enough buds. Mulch your Camellias, taking care to leave a 2-inch clearance around the stem to keep weeds at bay as well as to help retain moisture during hot, summer months. These are just about all you will need to do when growing Camellias in pots.
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