Red wrote:
Mt father-in-law has a problem with his 5 yo camellia budding, then the buds dry
out and shrivel going hard, not opening up and dropping off. Lots of flower
buds.

It was a pink, now it has got white and pink, bottom half white and top half
pink.

Kept moist and fed with Azalea and camellia mix, twice a year. Facing south,
never had this problem before. Roses planted with it and they are going great.

What should he be looking for.


I don't know, but I had a look in some books. Apparently the most common
cause for the buds dropping is environmental factors such as over or
underwatering. You seem to have all that covered. If the roses like it,
it may be too sunny for the camellias. Check the drainage and the soil
pH. A sudden rise in temparature or spraying with insecticides can cause
buds to fall off. There is also a mite - the buds would go brown, and
then fall off. It may also drop buds if it made too many.

The colour change is not significant I don't think. It could be some
kind of virus, but that usually causes streaking and is rather pretty.
There's nothing you can do about it, but it doesn't usually kill the
plant anyway. But I think it is more likely to be just a kind of fading
effect, which just seems to happen sometimes. Older petals fade to
white, and ones that are in the sun fade more.

HTH
Jane