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.

Six weeks isn't long, leave it alone- apart from watering as needed.
It won't like overwatering and it won't like hard water. Start feeding
later in the summer when it looks a bit better but stop before - lets
say mid August, you want the wood to ripen, you don't want soft new
growth at that stage.
It is always a bad idea to feed a poorly looking plant when you know
the cause is not malnutrition - in your case the plant is still
suffering from being transplanted and as yet there's insufficient
active root for it to benefit from feeding.
It will look a whole lot better next year.

=================================================

Rod

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