On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 17:27:12 +0100, Moo [email protected] wrote:

I have a Camellia which is about 3ft tall with drooping yellowy leaves.
For a few years this Camellia was in the ground where it received sun
for most of the day and often looked poorly and i didn't know why.

I now realise that Camellias shouldn't be subjected to full sun and need
feeding....Six weeks ago I transferred the Camellia to a pot filled with
70% Erricacous and 30% ordinary garden compost. Placed the pot in a
sheltered location which receives some sun during the day, the plant
still looks a little sad.

The compost is moist and I am concerned that some leaves are still
drooping,changing to brown down the sides, then yellow and then
dropping off. Although there are plenty of green shiny leaves on the
plant too.

I realise that in the past i have neglected this plant and am wondering
what more I can do. For example should I start feeding it with liquid
Erricacous eg: "Miracle Gro" and if so how regularly ?I don't want to
overdose it.

Thanks for any info.

Moo

Camellias don't mind full sun, although they are probably happier in
dappled shade. I have several that get all the sun that's going (and
all the salt-laden gales!), and they thrive. I associate excess sun
with a corky texture on the leaves, but not yellowing.

Yellowing leaves sounds like chlorosis. Was it growing in acid soil
before you potted it up? If not, then I presume a lot of that soil was
still on the roots and went into the pot with it. In principle that's
not a problem, and when it's settled in I would feed it with a
fertiliser intended for ericaceous plants as you suggest, although it
will be a bit late for feeding this year. It's not a good idea to give
a high-nitrogen feed after mid July as it encourages late growth which
doesn't ripen before the autumn. At the end of July you could give it
a high-potash feed to encourage bud-set for next year's flowers. If
you want to feed something to compensate for residual alkalinity in
the soil, use Sequestrine itself or something similar (Murphy do one)
containing no other fertiliser.


--
Chris

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