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

On 14/3/06 5:33 pm, in article , "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 ?

This is chlorosis. If your soil is limy, Camellias won't thrive and this is
a symptom of that, so you might want to use a soil testing kit to check it.
Give it a feed with e.g. Sequestrene and repeat as instructed. And have
you, by any chance, used chipped bark as a mulch round its base? I can't
see any in your pic., though.
snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

"M" [email protected] wrote in message
...
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
In addition to the comments made by Sacha I think you should try and remove
any limestone rocks or concrete that are adjacent to the plant.

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

"M" [email protected] wrote in message
...
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

I'll only repeat what Sacha suggested about trying sequestrene.
With acid loving plants, too much lime locks out the iron in
the soil (or something like that ) and the sequesetred iron
is recognised as a good tonic for all such plants in less
than ideal conditions. Although it does cost a bit. Your
pictures are fine IMO. If you use a site called Tinypic
http://tinypic.com/
you can host your photos from there. You just browse on
your computer to where the individual picture files
are, and upload them from there. The display times
are usually much faster as a result.

michael adams



....

"M" [email protected] wrote in message
...
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

I'll only repeat what Sacha suggested about trying sequestrene.
With acid loving plants, too much lime locks out the iron in
the soil (or something like that ) and the sequesetred iron
is recognised as a good tonic for all such plants in less
than ideal conditions.

quote

Here's some more information from a(n Australian) website

quote

Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency (Fe), or lime-induced chlorosis, is often caused by an
alkaline soil (high pH). As the pH of the soil increases above 6.0, the
availability of iron to the plant gradually decreases. A wide range of
ornamentals including both Australian native plant species and introduced
species is affected by iron chlorosis (see Table).

Importance of iron
Iron is needed by all plants. It is an essential precursor for the formation
of chlorophyll, which gives plant foliage its green colour. Chlorophyll is
an active element in photosynthesis, a process which allows the plant to
grow, mature and produce flowers. Iron is also important for normal activity
of enzymes involved in plant respiration.

Symptoms of iron deficiency
Plant growth and vigour are reduced when the iron supply is limited. Since
iron is not easily translocated within the plant, the symptoms of reduced
green colour, due to less chlorophyll production, appear on the new leaves.*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The visual symptom on these new leaves is interveinal chlorosis, or
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
yellowing of the plant between the leaf veins. In severe cases the entire
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
leaf may be white. This symptom is similar to that caused by magnesium
deficiency but iron deficiency is exhibited on the younger leaves, while
magnesium deficiency is exhibited on the older leaves. Symptoms of iron
deficiency tend to be more pronounced during winter.

Causes of iron deficiency
Iron deficiency does not only occur in alkaline soils but very often
develops in acid soils, frequently limiting the growth of such acid-loving
species as azaleas and rhododendrons. This condition may result from an
accumulation of the heavy metals, copper, manganese and zinc, relative to
the amount of iron present.

http://tinyurl.com/mrdsu

for -

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenin...ddocs/-71E8091
F577D52D24A2568B30004F3B2-F35B1CAC4054922BCA256BC8000291D4-7
CBD1D972BE5DD0D4A256DEA0027411F-1A0F1867E007236CCA256BCF000B
BF35?open

/quote

* this should possibly aid identification.

And sequestrene which contains sequestered or chelated iron
(no more Googling tonight) is recognised as a good remedy.
Many purveyors of seaweed feedd claim it contains chelated
iron as well, but that maybe needs further confirmation.

Although it does cost a bit. Your
pictures are fine IMO. If you use a site called Tinypic
http://tinypic.com/
you can host your photos from there. You just browse on
your computer to where the individual picture files
are, and upload them from there. The display times
are usually much faster as a result.

michael adams



....