On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:33:55 -0000, "M" [email protected] wrote:

During the Winter my Camelia had all green leaves but looking at it today
the top area leaves are turning yellow.

There are buds on the Camelia and I am wondering if I should now feed the
plant. The liquid feed that I use says to start in March. Also should I
remove the yellowing leaves ?

I have a link to pictures
http://tinyurl.com/frtzv

Apologies for the quality but best I could manage from the camera.

M

Assuming they're not just old leaves dying off, the usual cause of
yellowing of the leaves (chlorosis) is if the plant is growing in
alkaline soil, possibly due to the presence of chalk or limestone, or
being watered with hard water (although this last mostly affects
plants grown in tubs).

How long have you had it? Was it newly planted last autumn? Did you
plant it too deep? If so, the roots may be suffocating and not drawing
enough in nutrients, especially if the soil is poorly drained. Lack of
nitrogen fertiliser can also cause chlorosis in much the same way as
the poor root function just described, and another possibility is a
virus giving a result rather similar to variegation.

Do you know that your soil is acid? Have you got other camellias or
rhododendrons or heathers growing healthily nearby, or in your
neighbours' gardens? Have you been watering it with hard tap water?
Use rain water from now on if you have.

If none of these, then a virus is a possibility, in which case there's
not a lot you can do about it short of destroying the plant and
getting another. But I don't think such a virus actually causes much
harm.

I would say it's a little early for feeding yet; I don't usually feed
until after flowering. Use an ericaceous feed, widely available in
garden centres etc. as it will help combat alkalinity in the soil if
you have it (but isn't really a long term solution).



--
Chris

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