On Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:09:23 GMT, Kate Morgan
wrote:

This year my husband gave me a Camellia Mary Williams, it was in flower
so I left it in a the pot intending to plant it out into the garden this
autumn. However clumsy old me had a fight with a kinked hose pipe and
the pot containing the camellia got knocked off the wall. Three long
branches got snapped off,can I use them,if I pot them up will they grow
? advice would be appreciated

clumsy Kate

Camellia cuttings are best made with semi-ripe shoots of current
year's growth, 3 or 4 inches long. They can be slow and reluctant to
root. If there are any such shoots on these branches (and you've kept
the branches in water since the accident), you could try rooting them,
but I think success is unlikely as they probably won't be ripe enough
yet.

I hope you are keeping the plant well watered and have fed it since
being given it. They set their flower buds in late summer and early
autumn for flowering next year. Dry roots, as often happens with
camellias in pots in a dry summer, will cause the buds to abort or
even not form at all, resulting in few or no flowers next year. A feed
with a high-potash fertiliser (e.g. tomato feed) about now and in a
month's time will encourage flower buds, and water it well with soft
water at least weekly. If you don't have soft water (from a butt, for
example), tap water with a teaspoon of vinegar per 2 gallon watering
can is the next best thing.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net